ZackJones Posted November 16, 2014 Share Posted November 16, 2014 My M&P is starting to develop light primer strikes for some reason. This gun has had a trigger job from a local gunsmith (who has since moved out of state unfortunately). Can you give me some idea what could cause this or what I could check to see if I can determine the cause? The ammo is good as I switched guns and the other gun ran 100% with the same ammo I was getting light primer strikes on. Thanks in advance for your suggestions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CPW1265 Posted November 16, 2014 Share Posted November 16, 2014 try to clean the firing pin channel. I had the same issue before and every thousand rounds i take a qtip to the firing pin channel and clean it up. Hope it helps Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMike Posted November 16, 2014 Share Posted November 16, 2014 You might also try one of these, once they come back in stock and if the problem isn't solved after cleaning the striker channel: http://www.speedshooterspecialties.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=103_91_185&products_id=1022 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bkreutz Posted November 16, 2014 Share Posted November 16, 2014 try to clean the firing pin channel. I had the same issue before and every thousand rounds i take a qtip to the firing pin channel and clean it up. Hope it helps x2 on this, I actually put a new striker assembly in and still got light strikes, then I cleaned out the channel (especially at the end near the hole. The buildup was preventing the pin from traveling as far as it should have. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
horseman Posted November 16, 2014 Share Posted November 16, 2014 I also use a pipe cleaner to clean the firing pin hole. If cleaning does not fix I would put in a new striker assembly. Only because the heavy spring did nothing but make the trigger pull worse for me. New Assembly was the fix after over a year chasing the problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
High Lord Gomer Posted November 16, 2014 Share Posted November 16, 2014 I ended up putting extra power striker springs in all of my M&Ps after having light strikes in several of them. With an Apex sear I don't notice the stronger spring. If your trigger job included flattening out the back of the sear, you might not notice any, either. I have never had a light strike after putting in the extra power striker springs (many, many thousands of rounds). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flash74 Posted November 16, 2014 Share Posted November 16, 2014 Without knowing what your gunsmith did , it is a guessing game. Put all stock components into your pistol and I bet the light strikes dissapear. S&W designed these guns for law enforcement use. Stock, they pretty much work no matter what. Start messing with them and malfunctions can be introduced. I would only recommend Apex parts to improve the triggers. They are drop in and there are hundreds of reviews extolling their virtues. I am sure there are gunsmiths who do exceptional work, (Burwell) but Apex is the only company I would trust for my M&P's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZackJones Posted November 16, 2014 Author Share Posted November 16, 2014 Thanks for the replies. I've cleaned the striker channel. It was dirty for sure. I will try it out the next time I get to the range. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMike Posted November 17, 2014 Share Posted November 17, 2014 Thanks for the replies. I've cleaned the striker channel. It was dirty for sure. I will try it out the next time I get to the range. Zack, hate I missed you at the Toys for Tots match in SC on Saturday. Another thing you might check is the info regarding the Trigger Bar Loop Adjustment in the video link below. It has been reported from many different M&P shooters, whom have experienced light primer strikes, that the trigger bar loop may be out of adjustment. I experienced some light primer strikes on my Pro 40 and did this adjustment and I haven't had any since. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZackJones Posted November 18, 2014 Author Share Posted November 18, 2014 Zack, hate I missed you at the Toys for Tots match in SC on Saturday. Same here. You could have told me how to fix my gun . Thanks for the video link. I'll check it out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuspectXX Posted November 21, 2014 Share Posted November 21, 2014 Good info right there. Bookmarking for future us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZackJones Posted November 23, 2014 Author Share Posted November 23, 2014 Quick update. I made it out to the range on Friday and I'm still getting light primer strikes even after cleaning the firing pin channel. I guess I'll try stripping and cleaning the entire gun as well as checking the trigger bar loop. This should be interesting because I've never taken an M&P apart before. Youtube here I come... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CHA-LEE Posted November 23, 2014 Share Posted November 23, 2014 There are a crap ton of "light strike issues" threads on this forum with a lot of good information. The search function is your friend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZackJones Posted November 23, 2014 Author Share Posted November 23, 2014 There are a crap ton of "light strike issues" threads on this forum with a lot of good information. The search function is your friend. I actually did a search before posting but the threads I found were from the 2009 - 2011 time frame and primarily dealt with primers not being seated. Perhaps your search-foo is better than mine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CHA-LEE Posted November 23, 2014 Share Posted November 23, 2014 Light strikes on M&P's that are not due to crappy ammo are..... (1) worn out striker spring or extremely dirty striker channel. If you have shot more than 5k on the existing striker spring, it's probably due for a replacement. If you haven't recently performed a detailed cleaning of the striker assembly and channel then start with that. (2) in rare cases the tip of the striker gets bent or knocked off. With the slide off and barrel removed, you should be able to hold down the striker block then manually push the striker forward so the tip passes through the breach face. There shouldn't be any catching or resistance felt as the striker is pushed forward. The tip of the striker should also be clearly visible poking through the breach face. If not, replace the striker. (3) there could be a timing issue between the striker block and the striker. when the striker is released from the sear and comes for the striker block plunger should be pushed up out of the way. This is usually an issue that novice trigger job smiths run into because they don't acount for this timing when doing the trigger job. The easiest way to validate if this is an issue is to pull the striker out and look at the striker block leg on the base of the striker to see if it is getting beat up by hitting the striker block partially when the gun is fired. To eliminate this as a possible issue you can temporarily remove the striker block then test fire the gun to see if it still has light strike issues. You are disabling a safety by doing this though so you shouldn't keep it in this configuration. (4) there could be a premature barrel to slide unlocking or not fully locking up issue. This is easily verified by looking at the existing primer hits on your spent brass. If the hits are not in the center then you have a lockup/unlocking issue. This is usually due to a worn out recoil spring. If you have 5k or more on the existing recoil spring you should replace it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
High Lord Gomer Posted November 24, 2014 Share Posted November 24, 2014 Great post! Thanks for taking the time to write that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MilkMyDuds Posted November 24, 2014 Share Posted November 24, 2014 You have to remove the rear sight on the MP9 Pro to get the striker assembly out, correct? It's a pain in the *** My MP9 Pro ate through about 7000 rounds, and today it had the first light primer strike issue. Looks like it's due for a complete dissembling and cleaning, possibly replacing the striker and recoil spring. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZackJones Posted November 24, 2014 Author Share Posted November 24, 2014 I think I am going to swap sights while I have it all apart. Now seems like a good time to swap them out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MilkMyDuds Posted November 24, 2014 Share Posted November 24, 2014 Thinking about it, I have the APEX competition striker spring put in while the gun was new. It has been about 7000 rounds. Anyone knows if the APEX spring has same lifetime as the stock MP one, or would it last longer? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CHA-LEE Posted November 25, 2014 Share Posted November 25, 2014 You have to remove the rear sight on the MP9 Pro to get the striker assembly out, correct? It's a pain in the *** My MP9 Pro ate through about 7000 rounds, and today it had the first light primer strike issue. Looks like it's due for a complete dissembling and cleaning, possibly replacing the striker and recoil spring. You do not have to remove the rear sight to get the striker out. Look for disassembly videos on YouTube Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CHA-LEE Posted November 25, 2014 Share Posted November 25, 2014 Thinking about it, I have the APEX competition striker spring put in while the gun was new. It has been about 7000 rounds. Anyone knows if the APEX spring has same lifetime as the stock MP one, or would it last longer? The Apex competition striker spring does not last as long as the stock spring because it is weaker to start off with. Replacing the striker spring every 5k is a good best practice to do in order to ensure solid primer hits. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bkreutz Posted November 25, 2014 Share Posted November 25, 2014 You have to remove the rear sight on the MP9 Pro to get the striker assembly out, correct? It's a pain in the *** My MP9 Pro ate through about 7000 rounds, and today it had the first light primer strike issue. Looks like it's due for a complete dissembling and cleaning, possibly replacing the striker and recoil spring. Here's a thread about cleaning (including the striker channel) I made on the S&W forum, you might find it helpful. http://smith-wessonforum.com/smith-wesson-m-p-pistols/400655-m-p-cleaning-101-a.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whitea87 Posted December 6, 2014 Share Posted December 6, 2014 (edited) Your not alone. I'm having the same issue with my wife m&p. But its round count is close to 30,000. I installed a new striker assembly, cleaned channel...nothing. Edited December 6, 2014 by whitea87 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CHA-LEE Posted December 6, 2014 Share Posted December 6, 2014 I don't understand how some people think that you can shoot endless thousands of rounds without needing to proactively replace springs. Nothing lasts forever guys. If you want your firearm to perform reliably then you need to maintain it reliably. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
High Lord Gomer Posted December 6, 2014 Share Posted December 6, 2014 But I paid extra for the ZMM! (Zero-Maintenance Model) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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