Light strike with CC firearm. What to do?

[ernstdesigns]

I have owned a Ruger SR9C for 2 months and put approximately 650 rounds through it. I plan to use the SR9C and Hornady Critical Defense ammunition for daily carry.

After putting 650 rounds of the cheap stuff (Remington UMC FMJ Range and Target -green box, Tul Ammo FMJ -steel casing, and Federal FMJ range and target) through my pistol without incident, I decided to try out a better quality ammunition similar to the Critical Defense, which I plan to carry. I selected the Hornady ZombieMAX ammunition, as it is similar in size, grain load, shape, and includes the polymer tip just like the Critical defense ammo I hoped to carry. The only differences I could see was the color of the polymer tip and the case on ZMAX was brass, whereas the Crit was Nickel.

Rounds 1-7 went smooth as butter, but round 8 yielded just a click. After waiting a bit, I ejected the round, and noticed that it had a slight indent on the primer, but not the typical deep indentation I was used to seeing on my spent cartridges. My buddy took it, and chambered it in his SR9C and popped it off no problem. I don't know if this resulted from a weak firing spring or a bad primer. I fired another 17 rounds of ZMAX ammunition and 20 more rounds of the Federal Range and Target FMJ that day after the light strike with no more problems.

This failure makes me uneasy with my CC choices. How dependable does a CC weapon need to be?

So I would like your input.
Should I:
A: Look into some stronger firing pin springs?
B: Look for a different carry gun?
C: Consider using different ammunition than the Critical Defense?
D: Not worry about any of it, and chalk it up to a one-time fluke from the ammunition?

 

[Purple]

Sometimes the primers get set a bit deeper in the case than others. This usually happens with home loading, but I have seen it numerous times with factory ammo. Always test fire the gun at the range with the ammo you intend to carry. I have several boxes of ammo around here that are missing anywhere between 6 and 12 rounds - all have been sent down range through the CC guns that i intend to carry and with the ammo it will be mated with.

 

[birdman46g]

That happens sometimes with different ammo. I had the same issue with my Sr40c. There is a mag disconcet that goes around the fireing pin and if you remove that then you can fire a round in the tube with the mag out.As it is now you cant fire a round in the chamber with the mag out. It also helps stop the light strikes.Look on You Tube for how to remove the piece and it should clear up the problem, it did for me. JMO

 

[Wesco]

Like they said above most likely just a deep set primer. if your not having anymore issues id test another box and put it behind ya.

 

[Glock Fan]

Fire a MINIMUM of 100 rounds of your selected carry ammo. There may be minute differences that you can't readily see that may make a difference in how the cartridge performs. For all we know the two cartridges may use different primers. You don't want your gun to go "click" when you need it to go "bang".

You may want to note the lot number on the box of ammo that gave you problems at the range. If you get the opportunity, purchase another box of the same ammo with a different lot number to see if it gives you the same problems.

I firmly believe that the selection of a defensive firearm is a very personal choice. I personally put my defensive firearms through a lot of abuse and fire them under various conditions using various ammunition. To date, I have yet to find a round that doesn't work in my primary carry pistol. In some cases my pistol fired rounds that failed to fire in other pistols. Continue experimenting with different rounds and see what works and what doesn't work with your pistol. Know the capabilities as well as the limitations of your firearms.

 

[ernstdesigns]

Glock Fan - That is some great advice. Thank you. I will be picking up 100 rounds or more of the Critical Defense ammo, and see how that does through my gun.

 

[Nightmare45]

You most likely have already received the correct answer re: primer depth, in answer to how dependable does your CC weapon have to be? Your life depends on it.

 

[Glock Fan]

Glock Fan - That is some great advice. Thank you. I will be picking up 100 rounds or more of the Critical Defense ammo, and see how that does through my gun.

Once you find the round you like, be sure to cycle a box or two on a regular basis to keep your carry ammo fresh and to ensure that it will continue to function properly.

Good luck, and happy shooting!

 

[rilkil23]

Did you clean out the striker channel? You will find that Ruger puts a large amount of grease in the assembly and suggests that you clean the area before firing. Youtube has simple instructions how to remove the cover and my SR9 and SR9C have been perfect. PM me if you have any questions. Rugerforum.net has been a great resource for my pistols and rifles.

 

[webman1]

I bought my wife an SR9-c New, but sold as used due to a bad consignment deal. First rage trip, we had 8 light primer strikes out of 120 rounds of both Critical Defense and WWB. After some research, I found out the early models had this happen. I contacted Ruger which sent me a shipping label to send it to them for replacement. They replaced the Striker assembly, and had the gun back to me in about 9 days. Ruger customer is top-notch. After I got the gun back, We started having trouble with the empty shells ejecting, so I polished the feed ramp, (which is quite steep on that model) which solved that problem. Now the gun funtions flawlessly, and is my wifes daily ccw. Ruger should fix the gun at no charge to you. Good Luck

 

[mellophonium]

Had the same problem. Sent mine back to Ruger and they replaced the striker assembly. That fixed the problem until I got some cheap ammo. Started getting light strikes again so switched back to the better ammo and have had no problems since.

 

[rilkil23]

Did you figure out the cause of the light strikes?

 

[cluznar]

Clean out ALL the packing grease Ruger puts in the gun and oil it well before shooting. I have an SR9c with 700 flawless rounds thru it using FMJ and HP's both cheap brands and good stuff. Clean it properly and break it in right.

 

[walt629]

You have experienced one reason to go through "clearing" drills. There is no way you can ever be 100% certain that every time you pull the trigger, it will go "Bang!". And anyone that thinks they have 100% reliability in any piece of machinery is fooling themselves.

There are just too many things that can go wrong to be completely dependent that everything will work all the time. Today's modern firearms and ammunition are of the quality that you can depend 98% on everything working when you need it but tat 2% chance could mean the difference between life of death, so you need to be prepared for it when the failure comes.

Clearing drills and magazine switch drills are commonly overlooked by the casual CCW owner. Get yourself a pack of good quality snap caps. Load a magazine with all of them and practice. Take a shooting stance, pull the trigger, then clear the round. Do it again, over and over so that when you hear that click, your first reaction will be to clear the weapon instead of standing there wondering what just happened. Then go to the range. Have a shooting buddy load your magazine with a snapper somewhere in the stack. Get the feeling under actual live fire conditions.

And don't overlook the method you use to clear the weapon either. That "pointing the gun down range while pulling the slide back with the finger tip of the other hand" may be okay for the range, but you're going to want to learn how to do a forceful two handed cross arm slam clear.

Good luck with it.

 

[walt629]

Had the same problem. Sent mine back to Ruger and they replaced the striker assembly. That fixed the problem until I got some cheap ammo. Started getting light strikes again so switched back to the better ammo and have had no problems since.

Not picking on you Mello but I'll use your posting for my purpose if you don't mind too terribly.

I've seen a couple of people here claim that cheap ammo can cause a "light strike" in the firearm. Someone want to explain to me how it is possible for the 'strikee' to cause the 'striker' to strike more 'lightly' than 'normal' when the 'striker' is striking 'good' ammunition?

It's not possible people. Unless you are taking into consideration that excessive contamination from 'cheap' ammo may have encroached into the firing mechanism to causes a blockage or restriction in the strike force of the firing mechanism, there is no way one type of ammo will cause a solitary 'light strike'.

A bad bullet with a hard primer is more likely the cause of what everyone is calling a light strike.

 

[mellophonium]

That's cool. I don't mind being an example, sometimes. There was quite a bit of contamination from the "cheap" ammo. Kinda looked like metal shavings. When I switched to Winchester ammo there was no such debris in the weapon and no light strikes.

*edit* I do not recall the brand of "cheap" ammo I used.

 

[Glock Fan]

A bad bullet with a hard primer is more likely the cause of what everyone is calling a light strike.

They make "bullets" with primers? :haha:

 

[truetopath]

I make it a point to fire off at least 100-150 rounds of my carry ammo to make sure my EDC will eat it every time. I also make it a point to put hours of training in with snap caps to practice reloads and malfunction clearing, just so that I have that muscle memory built up. Just my .02

 

[walt629]

They make "bullets" with primers? :haha:

Picky! Picky! Cartridge with hard primer. How's that?

 

[walt629]

That's cool. I don't mind being an example, sometimes. There was quite a bit of contamination from the "cheap" ammo. Kinda looked like metal shavings. When I switched to Winchester ammo there was no such debris in the weapon and no light strikes.

*edit* I do not recall the brand of "cheap" ammo I used.

If you're seeing what looks like metal shavings, you might want to check the condition of the feed ramp for sharp edges or corners. Look at the old casings if you have any and see if they are scored. Metal shavings is never a good thing.