Question on SJC Open G17 FTF?

[Jay6]

OK, I recently sent my open gun back to SJC for a tuneup and to replace the trigger with something new they had put together. Since I have gotten it back I tried to fire some ammo made with S & B small rifle primers (had never tried them just got a deal) and it would not set them off with just a small dimple on the primer. John and Steave told me it may be the primers so I switched back to CCI and Federal small rifle primers which is what I shot roughly 10K through last year with no problems.

Now the last two matches I am getting around 5 or 6 out of 100 that will FTF. There also appears to not be a hit on the primer at all. As this has happened in a match I am 95% sure I felt the striker drop but because I cleared it so fast and was thinking about the stage I can not be 100% sure. After checking these rounds the primers appear to be a TINY bit high but well within what would have shot fine last year (they also all case gauge). John and Steave are going to get back to me about what the problem might be but I thought I would see if anyone else had some ideas as well.

I am thinking a change out of a little stiffer striker spring and recoil spring would be a good place to start.

[Nik Habicht]

What happens with either stock trigger parts or factory ammo? If either change makes the gun reliable, then your current trigger/ammo combo isn't compatible....

I'm loading on a 1050, so my primers are uniformly seated (because it occurs on the downstroke like all other operations) and I'm still using a stock striker spring -- the more I shoot, the more interested I am in reliability....

[Glockcomma]

I got away from Federal small pistol primers in my SJC guns because once in awhile the striker would pierce the primer and get blasted with hot gases flame cutting the tip of the striker making it less striking(I just made that word up, at least in this application). You might check the tip of your striker and make sure it's intact.

Tim

[Jay6]

I got away from Federal small pistol primers in my SJC guns because once in awhile the striker would pierce the primer and get blasted with hot gases flame cutting the tip of the striker making it less striking(I just made that word up, at least in this application). You might check the tip of your striker and make sure it's intact.

Tim

I checked and the striker is intact

[hal1955]

The striker leg might be dragging on the trigger bar on the way down if you do not have enough over travel.

[nphd2000]

Any contact between the striker and safety plunger? I had a plunger that was rounded and polished and the trigger bar tang that pushes on it was thinned and polished, they would slip past each other and the plunger wouldn't clear the striker every time.

[Jay6]

Any contact between the striker and safety plunger? I had a plunger that was rounded and polished and the trigger bar tang that pushes on it was thinned and polished, they would slip past each other and the plunger wouldn't clear the striker every time.

How would I check that? Would there be wear on the plunger?

[nphd2000]

Check the plunger and the striker. Remove them from the slide and check the groove on the striker where the plunger rides. You may see a "contact" area on the striker more than the plunger. There is also the "shake" test where you shake the firearm back and forth (unloaded of course). With the striker in the fired position (rack the slide to cock it then pull the trigger to release the striker)you should hear the striker sliding or bouncing front to back. If you don't hear the striker bouncing back and forth something is dragging.

[WildWest N AZ]

This post caught my attention because ive got an SJC built 35. Never heard of this issue or have i had this issue come up with mine or others ive talked with that have SJC guns? Ive got the reduced weight springs and such in my blaster and also i used fed primers with out any problems. Ive talked with John many times in the past with tons of questions? Thy have always gave me sound advice... Id call John again and see what they now suggest since you changed out the primers and the problem is still happening?

[eric nielsen]

If you take the slide off & carefully walk the trigger thru its full travel, watching the safety tab, you'll see how it only pops up enough to trip the safety plunger RIGHT at the end.

With the gun back together, you dry-fire the gun, hold the trigger back with very light pressure, and shake the gun back & forth. You should hear striker going tink-tink with free movement. If not, back out the overtravel screw & try again.

Even better is to have free movement without touching the trigger at all. Depending on how springy your parts are, this might be more margin of error than you really need for match shooting, but a good idea for a defense/duty gun.

Also you can shine a flashlight up thru the empty magwell to watch your trigger-bar push up on the safety plunger. It's real easy to dial in so much over-travel-stop that the tab never gets solidly on the plunger.

Edited March 10, 2010 by eric nielsen

[kamann]

You said they replaced the trigger with something new, in that case I'd just send it back to John to fine tune it, or put your old trigger back in it if you were happy with it.

[kamann]

Actually I'd like to know what it is that they are doing with their triggers. John can make a sweet trigger thats for sure.

[JBP55]

In your first post you said you might change out the firing pin spring and the recoil spring, I think that would be a good place to start before sending the gun back.

[cookselk]

I'm getting a few light hits on my primers right now also. I can feel the striker dragging in the channel liner. Either the spring cups or the spring itself. I have a lighter striker spring in it and I can see the spring cups wanting to separate. I imagine that the glock spring with it's double tight wind at the end holds the cup together better.

When I put the glock spring back in the light hits go away but so does my "nicer" trigger pull .