light strikes and dead trigger

[waktasz]

Had a few failures to fire last night at a match. 4 to be exact. Two of them had primer hits but didn't go bang. Two others did not have primer hits, and there was no "click" when I pulled the trigger. Is this the infamous sear reset issue? How do I fix it?

I have had some light strikes before so I replaced the striker assembly with a brand new one from S&W, and now after about 400 rounds with no issues I am getting the light strikes and no sear resetting too.

I bought the gun used and it came with a trigger job. Is there anything I should investigate before I consider swapping some factory parts back in?

[High Lord Gomer]

I'm still trying to figure out the lack of reset on one of mine, so no help there.

I have had light strikes on 2 or 3 of my M&Ps and have switched to extra power striker springs on ALL of them. I've never had another light strike after switching to the extra power striker springs. I honestly don't notice any difference in the trigger with them, either (I do have the Apex sears in them).

[Sarge]

My PRO was very finicky. A few things I would look at first. Does all ammo pass chamber drop test? Is the gun ,for sure, 100% positive, no doubt about it, all the way in battery? Are the light strikes exactly in the middle of the primer?

If I had any ammo that was tight in the chamber in the least the gun did not want to close completely. It was barely out of battery. The gun might be resetting but not all the way shut.

If you rule all of the above out then I would put the gun back to 100% stock and see how it runs. But check all your ammo first.

Good luck!

[waktasz]

Thanks. I will check my ammo. It is a bit on the long site, I will back it down some.

[Sarge]

Mine was too long as well when I finally checked it. Take the barrel out and clean it good. Drop a round in. KER PLOP is what you want, nothing less. Then tip the barrel and it should slide right out, nothing less. When I loaded Montana Golds it ran fine too but when I switched to molys it seemed their .356 diameter was just not suited for my M&P.

[waktasz]

Will do.

I had problems with Molys too when loaded to the same OAL as my 115 FMJs. This was the first time I had shot with my new 147 FMJ load. I don't usually shoot an untested batch at a match but this was just a local indoor IDPA shoot so I thought I'd give it a shot.

[CHA-LEE]

The light strikes sound like the striker is hitting the striker block before its pushed all the way up. If there was a trigger job done on the gun before you got it, they may have tuned the striker block leg on the old striker to work reliably with a modified striker block plunger. Take the striker out and look at the leg sticking out of the side of it. If that striker block leg has any scrapes or galled up metal on the leading edge of it this is due to the striker block plunger not clearing this leg before the striker is dropped. You may have to tune the striker block leg so that the timing is right.

As for the striker not dropping you need to troubleshoot this issue more. The next time it happens look at the back of the slide between the frame and slide below the striker retainer cap. You should be able to see the Sear and Striker through this gap. You will be able to see if the striker is still latched behind the sear or not (in other words its cocked). If the striker is still latched behind the sear then the trigger bar is not resetting properly. If the striker is in front of the sear (decocked) then you have a striker plunger block issue.

If you do not feel confident with figuring this stuff out yourself please get the gun to a competent gun smith.

[waktasz]

Thanks for that.

I checked and don't see any strange markings on the striker or plunger safety.

I'll double check my OAL and load up some rounds and head to the indoor range where I can actually troubleshoot any issues, instead of racking out the dud rounds to try and finish a stage.

[Trvlngnrs]

I'm having the dead trigger issue with my 9c with the Apex Tactical DCAEK kit. I emailed Randy of Apex Tactical concerning this; Here is my email and his response:

"I have a M&P 9c that I recently purchased from G&R Tactical with the DCAEK installed. I am experiencing a frequent problem in which the trigger does not reset when released, and then is "dead" on the next shot."

His Response with price x'ed out:

"The dead trigger is related to sear bounce as the sear spring is just too small. Our fix is to install the larger MA style sear spring and plunger which is now being phased in by Smith on all new production guns. The larger spring is able to respond faster to the recoil impulse than the anemic spring setup. If you send us the sear housing block assembly, I can mill it for the larger sear spring and plunger. The cost is $x.00 for the new sear spring and plunger. Return shipping is $7.50 for priority mail. I will turn it around in a day. Let me know if this will work for you. -Randy

Hope this helps,

Trvlngnrs

[waktasz]

Interesting.