I’ll take a stab at it before you reply...
The light strike problem..
Pull the striker out. As you do notice any resistance. This should be straightforward and like clock work...press down on the plastic housing thing, remove the plate from the rear of the slide, push down on the block (click) and the striker comes out. If any friction is felt, I would look for a reassembly error when you put in the competition spring.
No strike when everything is assembled...
If I’m reading your first post correctly, it sounds like the stiker is hitting the block.
If I remember correctly..by CLOSING the loop (candy cane) it allows the trigger more travel rearward before the sear is engaged and the striker is released. This will also give the cam on top of the trigger bar more travel to deactivate the striker block.
If I’m correct about this, and if you close the loop to much, you’ll end up not releasing the striker at all. If that happens, open the loop a small amount at a time until you have a very small but noticeable amount of over travel (mine is about a business card thickness), short reset and enough travel to deactivate the block. CB