Light Primer Strikes

[MARKUSEJ]

I have been getting some intermitent light primer strikes lately. I am using Ralph's trigger in my G20 with his reduced power striker spring. In additiion my reloads are using CCI small rifle primers. What is a good way to fix this without going back to the stock striker spring. I am thinking of trying a lightened steel striker. Also what brand of primers would be better/softer. I am pretty sure the small rifle primers are not helping my situation

[Rocket35]

I would suggest getting rid of the CCI primers. Try out federal, WSP, or Rem primers.

[driver8M3]

i've been using vanek triggers (both the production illegal version and the production legal version) for 2+ years (about 30k rounds) and i've never had a light primer strike with winchester small pistol primers.

[the duck of death]

Lighten the striker, no need to buy one do it yourself.

[SA Friday]

It's the primers. Change and ops check. Then think about the striker.

[Exiledviking]

Have you checked for crud in the firing pin channel?

[bayoupirate]

Use Federal Primers and Be sure the breech face of the slide is clean, the striker tip is clean and the striker cavity is clean.

That should do it.

[Kimberkid]

Listen to the Pirate.

I can tell you that is exactly what Ralph is gonna say. That has solved 99% of the problems that have happened with that trigger. Also, feel free to call or email Ralph if you arent sure about anything, he really doesnt mind it at all.

[the duck of death]

Hmmmmmmm.

Edited April 3, 2006 by the duck of death

[bountyhunter]

Check the nose of the striker for dings from hitting the safety plunger. That's what was giving me intermittent light strikes. If so, reshape the top egde of the trigger bar where it engages the disconnector so the trigger will go a shade farther back before it releases the striker.

[MARKUSEJ]

I am definetly going to switch primers. I checked the striker and can't see any contact. Too bad I just bought a case of the small rifle primers. Does the lighter striker help it hit the primer with more force, or does it ned the weight?

[TBF]

Use Federal Primers and Be sure the breech face of the slide is clean, the striker tip is clean and the striker cavity is clean.

That should do it.

Excellent advice.

Check the nose of the striker for dings from hitting the safety plunger. That's what was giving me intermittent light strikes. If so, reshape the top egde of the trigger bar where it engages the disconnector so the trigger will go a shade farther back before it releases the striker.

Bountyhunter,

Can you describe this mod in a little more detail ?

I had a very similar problem with the striker hitting the safety plunger due to not enough overtravel ( My bad , adjustable overtravel stop ) .

If this issue could be solved , I think trigger feel would be improved quite a bit.

I liked the feel of the trigger with no overtravel, the stop screw seemed to counteract the flex in the trigger bar ? I dunno.

Travis F.

[Kimberkid]

Do 1 thing at a time. Clean the channel and striker first, then try some ammo with federal or winchester primers. If that doesnt fix it then try another approach. There isnt much sense in changing everything when it may be a very simple fix.

[bountyhunter]

Check the nose of the striker for dings from hitting the safety plunger. That's what was giving me intermittent light strikes. If so, reshape the top egde of the trigger bar where it engages the disconnector so the trigger will go a shade farther back before it releases the striker.

Bountyhunter,

Can you describe this mod in a little more detail ?

I had a very similar problem with the striker hitting the safety plunger due to not enough overtravel ( My bad , adjustable overtravel stop ) .

If this issue could be solved , I think trigger feel would be improved quite a bit.

I liked the feel of the trigger with no overtravel, the stop screw seemed to counteract the flex in the trigger bar ? I dunno.

Travis F.

The only way to "solve" it with no overtravel would be to TIG weld the edge of the trigger bar that engages the FP safety plunger so it raised it earlier in the trigger stroke. I experimented with some silver solder to verify it, but that isn't strong enough to rely on (so I removed it). The ramped edge towards the rear of gun is the edge I mean. Understand, you are reducing the "safety" effect of the FP blocking safety as it may be slightly engaged at the trigger's rest position. This would be for a comp gun only and is almost certainly illegal for any stock gun.

My gun had no overtravel adjust, but I added the Sotelo trigger kit and it didn't quite match the dimensions of my frame. The striker was releasing with the trigger a shade forward compared to stock and I was getting some light strikes. I could see dings on the nose of the striker, which is about 100X softer than that FP safety plunger (I tried to take a bit of metal off that thing and I wore out three files).

I fixed mine by removing a bit of metal off the top of the trigger bar where it engages the lip on the disconnector. That meant the trigger had to go a shade farther back before the trigger bar dropped low enough to release the striker.

I'm an engineer and can't resist over analyzing things, so I removed the striker spring and re=assembled the gun and did some measurements as to how far back the trigger has to be to get 100% free motion of the striker past the safety plunger:

Even with stock components, the trigger's "totally unblocked" position is at a point farther back than where the striker releases from the trigger bar.

This means you have a bit of a "race" condition as the trigger releases the striker and the trigger is going backwards. You may also have a condition where the striker dings the plunger a bit and still fires. I suspect some "light strikes fixed by stiffer spring" cases may have some striker interference by the plunger.

At any rate, I found the "marginal" strike function using a BIC pen as a projectile. It would shoot briskly if I "snapped" the trigger back, but didn't go as well when I pulled the trigger VERY slowly and forced the trigger to break without much rear momentum.

I used Q-tip behind the trigger to allow me to release the striker "just barely" and the pen did not come out at all!

Anyway, all this led me to think I needed more "headroom" and so I filed a shade off the trigger bar to get the trigger to release farther back (where it does with stock componenets) and the light strikes disappeared.

YMMV.

Edited April 4, 2006 by bountyhunter

[BritinUSA]

There should be no need for rifle primers in a Glock. I suggest switching to small-pistol primers (CCI should be fine) and ensure that they are seated correctly.

Rifle primers are a tad harder than the pistol equivalent.

[MARKUSEJ]

Well i have examined my glock and I am noticing some peening on the striker. I think it is contacting the FP plunger. I have a lone wolf overtravel stop. I have backed off the overtravel to give it more room. What do I do to stop the contact with the safety plunger. I understand how shotening the trigger bar at the back will allow the striker to move back farther. Any ideas

[bountyhunter]

Well i have examined my glock and I am noticing some peening on the striker. I think it is contacting the FP plunger. I have a lone wolf overtravel stop. I have backed off the overtravel to give it more room. What do I do to stop the contact with the safety plunger. I understand how shotening the trigger bar at the back will allow the striker to move back farther. Any ideas

I understand how shotening the trigger bar at the back will allow the striker to move back farther. Any ideas

That's the one I did. The other fix is to have some metal welded onto the rear edge of the "bump" on top of the trigger bar that raises the plunger. You don't want it taller, you want to build up the edge that contatcts the plunger so it raises earlier in the trigger stroke.

If anybody has better fixes, I'd like to know as well.

[Kimberkid]

I wont accuse any particular part by name or manufacturer but, IMO, mixing trigger kits is a bad idea. Ralph's triggers are meant to be installed to a stock gun. The vast majority of the very few problems found with Ralph's triggers have come from people trying to use only part of his kit, or adding other stuff like different brand overtravel stops, lightened strikers and stuff like that. Dirty guns and mix and match parts make up about 99% of all the problems I have heard of to date.

If you have a problem, call Ralph. He wants to know whats up, so if there is a problem he can fix it.

[SouthpawG26]

+1 on watching the mixing and matching of parts. Particularly different brands of connectors all release the striker at different distances. I was using the Sotelo kit with a Ghost 3.5 Ultimate connector, which gave a really nica, short trigger travel, however, I found that the striker occasionally "headbutted" the plunger a bit, with about 1 in 50 light strikes. I'm back to a Glock 3.5 with this trigger kit.

[SouthpawG26]

+1 on watching the mixing and matching of parts. Particularly different brands of connectors all release the striker at different distances. I was using the Sotelo kit with a Ghost 3.5 Ultimate connector, which gave a really nica, short trigger travel, however, I found that the striker occasionally "headbutted" the plunger a bit, with about 1 in 50 light strikes. I'm back to a Glock 3.5 with this trigger kit.

Edited April 7, 2006 by SouthpawG26

[the duck of death]

I gave you the solution but nobody seemed to read it. LIGHTEN THE STRIKER.

I just did a trigger job on my new G26 on 6 Apr, then ran 50 rds(the 1st time it had been shot) thru it with no malfunctions.

It has a lightened striker and a 15 loop OEM striker spring.

Did you read the NO MALFUNCTIONS part?

Oh yeah, the trigger pull is 2 1/2lbs, crisp and so little take up I had to take some off the bird's head so it would have a strong reset.

Added: forgot to mention it lights up CCIs just fine. In fact CCIs are in my carry ammo.

Edited April 7, 2006 by the duck of death

[bountyhunter]

I gave you the solution but nobody seemed to read it. LIGHTEN THE STRIKER.

Yeah, but if the trigger bar/disconnector is set up so that the FP safety plunger is impeding the motion of the striker, you could still get light strikes. That was what was doing it on my G35. Based on my measurements, even the stock trigger releases the striker at a position where the FP plunger is not high enough. IMHO of an old engineer, the system relies on your finger getting the trigger back fast enough and the striker giving that plunger the old Dale Earnhardt "Excuse me, boy, coming through!" bump on it's way to the primer.

It doesn't surprise me a lot of Glocks have light strikes. It does surprise me nobody is making an aftermarket trigger bar to fix it.

[the duck of death]

*QUOTE*

Yeah, but if the trigger bar/disconnector that the FP safety plunger is impeding the motion of the striker, you could still get light strikes.

Yep, but don't you think this is the exception rather than the rule? I think dirty striker channels, weak striker springs and high primers are more common. It's easy and cheap to lighten the striker(no cost if you have a Dremel) so why not do it. The only reason I can think of is reticence of people to work on their guns.

[bountyhunter]

*QUOTE*

Yeah, but if the trigger bar/disconnector that the FP safety plunger is impeding the motion of the striker, you could still get light strikes.

Yep, but don't you think this is the exception rather than the rule?

Not based on my gun. The trigger position (using all stock components) required to entirely move the plunger out of the way is nearly aainst the back of the trigger housing. The striker releases considerably forward of that point.

I haven't looked at enough Glocks to know how they all stack up, but I suspect the design relies on the trigger getting back quickly as the striker is released.

Here is an interesting test you may want to try:

Do a "controlled" release of the trigger, using a Q-tip behind the trigger so it releases the striker but doesn't "overshoot" much. Use a plastic pen in the bore to see if the striker is giving it a good whack. I'll wager a "controlled" pull will have the striker banging into the safety plunger.

[the duck of death]

*QUOTE*

The trigger position (using all stock components) required to entirely move the plunger out of the way is nearly aainst the back of the trigger housing.

You might try this: shorten the bird's head, that will move the safety plunger finger further to the rear when the striker falls. If you do this remember a little goes along way. You'll get lots of practice taking that Glock apart.

I just did a trigger job on my new G26 and took so much pre travel out I had to shorten the BH to get a good positive reset.

So things can be adjusted, just go slow until you know what your doing.