ahtsay Posted July 7, 2007 Share Posted July 7, 2007 Had a bad day at a match today...all of a sudden, my STi Edge has become a "semi-bolt action". Every 6-10 rounds, nothing happens when I pull the trigger. I would have to rack the slide to continue shooting until the next hiccup. I get 2 light strikes in a stage if i'm lucky...if not I get more than 5. I really don't know whats wrong. It has been running perfectly for almost 7K rounds without any malf, and then all of a sudden, this happens. People at the match said it might be my ammol; I haven't changed anything to it at all. And I checked the primer seat, its flush with the rim. I pulled out my firing pin also and checked the spring...looks perfect to me. So whats wrong with the gun??? i got really frustrated that I didn't finish the match. The only "problem" that I can think of is that my gunsmith cut my main spring when the gun was new. However the gun ran perfectly after that, I experienced maybe 2 light primer strikes before today. Thats 2 or 3 light strikes in 7000 rounds. Anyways I hope you guys can help me on this. I'm not very experienced, I've been shooting for only about a year. Someone told me to change my firing pin to an extended one....i can do that...but it still doesn't answer the question of what happened. Thanks in advance guys!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yoshidaex Posted July 7, 2007 Share Posted July 7, 2007 without taking a look at the actual problem gun, a proper diagnosis is unlikely. Its possible your mainspring could be part of your problem. If you know what weight spring is supposed to be in it, get a replacement one and measure your current one and the old one side by side to see if oal is different. Why would your smith cut the spring? To achieve a lighter poundage spring? He should have installed a proper length and poundage spring. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scooterj Posted July 7, 2007 Share Posted July 7, 2007 Could be stretched primer pockets. Is all brass from same lot? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChuckS Posted July 7, 2007 Share Posted July 7, 2007 What ammo are you using? I am sure that the recent Federal primer shortage is rasing hell amoung us with light main springs! What I have been told is that the primer hardness goes (soft -> hard) Federal, Winchester, CCI. Also, you checked the firing pin but did you clean and lube the hole in the slide? Crap built up in there could limit travel and/or reduce FP velocity. Just some thoughts. Later, Chuck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ahtsay Posted July 7, 2007 Author Share Posted July 7, 2007 I think I've found the culprit. I checked my ammo on a flat table and, guess what I found...rocking ammos. I don't load my own ammo, I have it commercially loaded. I never had this problem before with them, this is the first. Unfortunately I have 1000 rounds all of which came from them. I wouldnt want to check each and everyone of them. In any case, thanks so much for those that replied. I'm just curious...how can such a small difference cause light primer strikes? You can barely see it, but its there. I guess I learned something today.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trader Posted July 7, 2007 Share Posted July 7, 2007 You have found the culprit. Primers must be fully seated for positive ignition. I do not know why your gunsmith cut your mainspring. I use reduced power mainsprings that are full length ranging in lbs from 19 down to 15, depending on the gun, and have never had a misfire. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jjanglin Posted July 7, 2007 Share Posted July 7, 2007 shouldnt be cutting the mainspring,if ya need a lighter trigger it can be done with a reliable 18 or 19 lb mainspring-doing stuff like that just ends up causeing problems. Jim Sailors Custom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ahtsay Posted July 8, 2007 Author Share Posted July 8, 2007 Thanks Jim and Trader, I plan to change my main spring jus to be on the safe side. Would a 15lbs MS be too soft to reliably ignite the primer? Having second thoughts on whether to use 15 or 17 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Sierpina Posted July 8, 2007 Share Posted July 8, 2007 Thanks Jim and Trader, I plan to change my main spring jus to be on the safe side. Would a 15lbs MS be too soft to reliably ignite the primer? Having second thoughts on whether to use 15 or 17 I would recommend the 17 pound spring. It will give you a cushion on the high primers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jjanglin Posted July 8, 2007 Share Posted July 8, 2007 I dont recommend any thing lighter than 18 lbs, Like I said "the trigger pull you want can be schieved with just about any main spring" Also using a Limcat or MClearn long firein pin is good also. Jim Sailors Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ahtsay Posted July 9, 2007 Author Share Posted July 9, 2007 Thanks for all the needed advice guys!! Jim I have just changed the FP into a Limcat....hopefully with this change the gun will still fire even with not so perfect ammo. I noticed although the Limcat is longer than stock sti, the back-end (where the hammer strikes the FP) is shorter giving me a different feel when I pull the trigger. Can't wait to go to the range. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OpnBlstr Posted July 9, 2007 Share Posted July 9, 2007 I do not know why your gunsmith cut your mainspring. I use reduced power mainsprings that are full length ranging in lbs from 19 down to 15, depending on the gun, and have never had a misfire. Many pistolsmiths cut a coil or two off the spring to make the slide movement more linear from fully closed to fully open. If you put a heavy mainspring in and cycle the slide by hand you will feel a very strong initial resistance to movement provided by the hammer and spring then very free movement after the hammer cocks out of the way. This translates to jiggly sight movement which is noticeable by many high level shooters. Your smith has probably built a few guns for GM shooters and listened to their feedback. They can be picky and see things happening during the firing cycle most other shooters overlook. By taking a 17# spring, properly shaping the FP stop, and slowly shortening the spring, you can create a perfect balance between opening resistance and hammer speed. By adding a proper recoil spring to the equation you can do some amazing stuff to reduce sight jiggle. I can tell you that the Limcat won't increase reliability with high primers. They still need to fully seat before the anvil can crush the compound and if they are high, it will use FP energy to seat them the rest of the way. The Limcat and McLearn firing pins will let you use higher pressure loads with N310, etc since they reduce the occurrence of primer shaving into the FP hole. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gdaym8 Posted July 10, 2007 Share Posted July 10, 2007 where do you get your reloads. They should be checking them before they ship. You have purchased garbage ammo. Just a thought. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ahtsay Posted July 10, 2007 Author Share Posted July 10, 2007 Thanks OpnBlstr, being a newb, I really don't know why he cut it but I guess it improves the set-up of the gun. I'm bringing the ammo back to where I got it, hopefully they can fix it in time for the match this weekend. GdayM8, the reloader is local (Philippines) and they have been very very good and I only hear good things about them....until this batch. Maybe they had a newb doing the reloading as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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