I'm beginning to believe that we may have a problem with how the pins have been hardened.

I just pulled the striker out of my M&P. Its had several thousand rounds through it. It doesn't have a mark anywhere.

I know the SD VE series is thought of as the plane Jane budget M&P, but dang. It seems S&W is really trying to get the most bang for their buck.

We really don't know that there is an issue yet. Some guns do this sort of thing when they are new and then as they break in, it stops and never becomes an issue. I wish I knew someone who could measure Rockwell hardness of the striker, but then, of course, we'd have to know what the design called for and its unlikely that S&W would make that available. I'm going to put a few hundred more rounds through mine. I have the pin all smoothed down and polished now and everything is working perfectly (as it always has). Lets see how it looks with a bit more wear on it.

As far as getting bang for the buck, I think that its more likely that a manufacturer would minimize the cosmetic aspects rather than to skimp on engineering. After all, this gun is issued as a "duty weapon" for police forces around the world and the impact of creating a bad gun would be unacceptable to an organization like S&W. Indeed, I find that the gun has lots of internal rough edges to smooth, but none which would impact its operation.

Agreed. Even though my striker is worn as much as it is it still fires every single time unless I use some cheap foreign ammo. And I mean every time.

Other that the striker I have not noticed any other manufacturing defects on either of my SDVE's.

Bill

What cheep foreign ammo does not fire in your gun ?

I bought some Geco (Swiss) in bulk from a local gun shop pretty cheap and out of each box of 100 I would get 1 or 2 failure to fire due to the unusually hard primers.

Bill

Thats good , well not good but I shoot a lot of Tulammo , BrassMax & Perfecta. You know the cheapest stuff I can find
Just wondering what if any affect those hard primers could have on the striker ?
Two years well over 5000 rds not one problem what so ever ( knocking on wood ) still loving this pistol

More than half of what goes through my gun are my reloads. Granted, I'm pretty careful with my stuff but its still not factory ammo. I have shot WWB, Tulammo, Aquila, some Russian stuff that I can't remember the name of, as well as American Eagle, Federal HPs, a good bit of Hornady, Blazer Brass, and whatever is on sale at Wally World and other places (I've paid $9.95/50 recently). My SD just eats up whatever it gets fed. I still have not had a failure. I don't think the striker tip looks a bit different than it did when brand new.

And I, too, really do like this little gun. Its definitely a keeper.

The galling. I believe, is the result of the Striker colliding with the striker block. That's a very hard piece of metal -- clearly harder than the striker, and way, way harder than the toughest primer ever created. And the striker itself is a robust piece of metal. The galling is occurring in a very small area which, when new, is rather pointed. That would concentrate the force over a very small area when it hits the striker block. The actual firing nose part of the striker is more robust than the area which is being affected by the galling.

It is absolutely hitting the safety plunger and causing the damage on the side but the flat tip on the pin is from hard primers. The only other thing that I can think of is if the timing is not spot on and the barrel unlocks too soon it could drag the case downward while the pin is still protruding through the breach face. I have noticed drag marks on the primers.

Bill

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I talked with S&W on Friday. The striker assembly is a factory installed part only. The will not sell one or even the striker pin. I've decided to just ignore it. The gun still fires perfectly. every time.

I worry more about not being able to obtain parts than I do about the gun. I've owned firearms for 56 years, and I've been my own gunsmith for most of those. But it has always been my practice to keep a small stock of "consumable" parts like springs and firing pins and grip screws and the like. Having those parts has many time allowed me to return a gun to service immediately.

While the issue with the gun is of no consequence to me and my relationship with S&W, the issue of having no parts is.

I will likely trade this gun for another Sig 2022. I have parts for it. Sad. I've been carrying S&W since 1967.

With as many of these pistols being sold, I would think that someone will sell an aftermarket striker made out of stronger material and make a lot of money . I would buy a few.

Bill

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Remember the Alamo!

I'd be in line right behind you.

Right on. I've always maintained my guns without having to send them back to the maker for minor things like replacing firing pins, extractors, etc.
As far as I can see there is no "lawyer safety factor" in selling me a striker or extractor for self installation.

Ruger does the same thing...except Ruger will sell you springs and cups, but not the entire striker assembly. I don't understand the logic here...but if S&W and Ruger are paying to ship the gun to them, and ship it back, to do a 5-minute parts swap, then I have to wonder at their business sense. Maybe their legal beagles have advised them that paying the shipping and labor is cheaper than a possible judgment...and with the courts being so anti-gun these days, anything is possible.

Finally home and here are some more recent photos.

Bill

IMAG0231.jpg
IMAG0247.jpg
IMAG0264_1.jpg
IMAG0268_1.jpg

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Remember the Alamo!

Well the 9 mm is off to Springfield and the girl at FedEx said that it should arrive there Tuesday afternoon. Let's hope for a quick return.

Bill

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Remember the Alamo!

Bill, has it returned yet?

No, not yet. I am a patient person so I understand these things. Can't wait until it's back home though.

Bill

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Remember the Alamo!

After being told by S&W customer service that it's "normal wear", I'm curious if they replaced your striker. If it's normal, why replace it? True yours is worn much more than mine, but I'm definitely not satisfied with their response to my inquiry.

If that is considered normal wear on mine then that should be a big deal. It fired every time but like I said, I was able to push the pin out through the breach face without pushing the safety plunger out of the way. Reliability is one thing and safety is another and if yours continues to wear as mine did they should take a look at the design and at least look at your pistol.

Bill

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Remember the Alamo!

I'm very curious to see what they do to rectify it. I hope they replace the striker, but I also hope they can tell us why its happening in the first place.

Ok, my SD9VE is back at home. 23 days is not a bad turn around in my opinion. I am offshore right now so I had my wife scan the work order and it says that they replaced the striker.

Bill

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Nice! I'm glad they replaced it... Hopefully they do the same when mine wears more. Did they give any explanation for why it was getting chewed up? I'm curious to see if this new one wears just like the old one or if there was a problem they quietly fixed.

The work order isn't very clear as to what exactly was done but it says "replaced striker". There was no explanation for the issue but you are right about them replacing the part. I am very happy with S&W and their warranty.

Bill

work order.jpg

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Gentlemen, just so you know, Glocks do it, too. Not as bad, but definitely the same. They even have a small step on their safety plunger to help alleviate the problem.
I would guess hardness and timing issue. Hopefully, S&W replaced the striker ***'y and the striker safety plunger. If it gets that bad again, return it to S&W for further inspection by them.
If it was mine, I would be checking the trigger bar for timing release as well. But that's just me. I have never seen any of them out of time, so that's a WAG. Never seen one as bad as that. Hmmm. Something is going on, w/o a doubt.

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LEO, Instr, Armorer, Gov's 20

I solved the worry of parts failure by buying an extra gun. One SD9VE is just for the range and the other, after a few hundred test rounds, is the carry gun/glove box gun/nightstand gun. When I get a few extra bucks I'll pick up #3 and it can be a backup.

Best Regards,
ADP3

Yeah, I keep my sd40ve in my Jeep and I will buy the LC9s for my carry. The sd9ve will just be a range gun even though it has a new striker. As I said before it was firing every time but I just wanted to know what could have been causing the galling.

Bill

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Perhaps the timing issue (of the striker block not raising fully before the striker passes) is caused by the slide being ever so slightly out of battery, yet still firing. Or maybe the machined tolerances on that particular slide (when fully closed) are causing the slide to be in an ever so slightly different position which would affect the timing issue posters are referring to. Just a passing thought as I do not own this particular model gun.

What always concerned me about this galling issue is that some people experience the issue and others do not. This was the case with the Springfield XDS and its striker galling issue. Springfield would tell people who had the problem that it was normal and the wear would stop. Yet Springfield couldn't explain why another XDS gun owner shooting the same amount of rounds was not experiencing the problem.

Maybe slight differences in machine tolerances on the incline plane of the trigger bar where it pushes the plunger up. Possibly that combined with rapid fire. Maybe different strengths of plunger springs. Who knows? It still has me scratching my head.

Bill

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I would look and see if the sear bar is dropping the striker early, before the trigger bar lifts the striker plunger safety up far enough. Or the safety plunger does not travel freely in the slide.
Matter of fact, the more I think about it, I would take the slide completely down and check for correct safety plunger operation. Are there any machining burrs in the striker and or safety plunger tunnels? Something that would bind or delay the safety plunger operation. With the slide off, and the striker out, push on the striker safety plunger and see how it feels. Does it catch or is hard to push in? Does it travel all the way into the slide? Use a flashlight and look down the striker tunnel and see if the plunger is operating deep enough to clear the striker. If the striker safety plunger is not traveling it's full distance smoothly or it is catching on something, bingo!, there's your problem. I have seen that in several brands of handguns, w/ the 80 series Colt 1911's being the worst(usually due to a backlash adjustable trigger, installed by owner and not adjusted correctly. Real common problem on 80's series 1911's! And after the firing pin safety plunger gets torn up due to the owner's mod's, the trigger goes to H*ll, and they blame Colt and the 80's series triggers!).
And with the striker being "Peened", I will almost guarantee the striker safety plunger is torn up, as well. That would be my first guess, anyhow. If you don't feel that you could do that, send that gun back to S&W w/ a detailed letter illustrating the problem, they will fix it.
I wish I had it in my hands, as I would love to find the problem and fix it. I like SD's a lot. Neat pistol for the money.

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LEO, Instr, Armorer, Gov's 20

I had already checked everything that you suggested before I sent mine in and nothing stood out. The trigger bar appeared to be pushing the plunger completely out of the way but there is no way to see it with the striker in the pistol. The striker looked beat up but there were no marks on the plunger. It looked like it did when it was new. The first thing that I checked was if the plunger moved freely and it did. No machining burs or binding. That's why it is a mystery to me as to what would be causing this. I am planning on a long day at the range when I get back on land to see if there is any difference with the new striker and if it seems like they had to do some adjustments. I have MANY photos at every angle of every part that I took before I sent it in so I should be able to tell if there were adjustments to the trigger bar or anything else.

Bill

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I'd probably give Smith and Wesson a call. I own a Ruger SR9 with about 2k+ rounds through it and despite the SR9s internet reputation for hit and miss metallurgy the striker has absolutely no wear on it so I wouldn't call it a striker fire issue

Hmm. As an educated guess(And that is a debate by those who know me...lol!), I would say either a soft striker(Observing the massive amount of damage on the striker), and/or perhaps a timing issue that well might be only addressable by S&W. Although I am less likely to support the timing issue. While it's possible(and anything can happen from Manufacturers these days), it is remote that something on the slide is mis-cut. But still possible. This pistol has me stumped. Perhaps S&W has fixed it. Let us know when you get the chance. Good Luck.

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LEO, Instr, Armorer, Gov's 20

dtm_oskar, Read this thread from the beginning and you will see the whole story. I had around 5500 to 6000 rounds through it and then sent it in and had the striker replaced. Not because it wasn't firing but just to see what would be causing the unusual wear and due to it being a safety issue.

Ofc.JL, I will update as soon as possible. It is very strange to me too. I was thinking soft metal also but as to why this one and not a lot of others, I have no idea.

Bill

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Remember the Alamo!

My WAG is that we know S&W builds MIM strikers. Not my favorite way to make small parts, but it is the future so we are stuck with it. For the most part, MIM works fine, but on occasion, it doesn't. As in perhaps a poor hardening process on a batch of strikers. Yours gets a small ding on it(and almost all of them do, just like Glock), and with a "soft" striker, it just starts to fail all the way. If everything else on your pistol is optimal, then I would say you got a striker that was soft in the wrong spot. New striker should fix it. If it does it again in a 1000 rds, Hello S&W with a detailed letter, to fix correctly or replace.
Keep us posted, BR.

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LEO, Instr, Armorer, Gov's 20

I have a friend that is a machinist and I should have him make me a bar stock striker. It would probably start eating the plunger up though.

Bill

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I wonder if it really would. I think that the issue must be related to the way the striker is hardened. I wonder, too, if the bean counters at S&W might have eliminated a process in search of greater profits? I sure wish that this was a part that was readily available.

Yeah, that was my facetious attempt at a stab. I am sure that the plunger is plenty hard.

Bill

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Remember the Alamo!

I have never seen a striker that worn. I have seen them a little less than half that, and not on a SD, either. It was from an older Glock! Like a Gen2 G17. But the striker did not fail past the striker lock plunger, and was still "humming" along. We only found it on a detail strip to clean it. I buffed up the striker a bit, just to take the sharp edges off of the damaged area, and put it back together. It is still shooting.
I think I have pretty much decided you got a "soft" striker and it worn out prematurely. I would bet the new striker will fix it from here on.

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LEO, Instr, Armorer, Gov's 20

Well I'm finally back home and will go shoot today with the new striker in my 9. I'm going to shoot a couple hundred and will check for any anomalies.

Bill

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As expected, not one single issue. I would shoot 50 then look at the striker, shoot fifty more , look, but didn't see anything even after 200. Also shot the .40, my 1911 and a little bow practice. Nice day.

Bill

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Remember the Alamo!

I think we clearly have a run of striker pins that were not properly hardened. After I polished mine, its better but still is getting a small mark again at the tip of the ramp. Another 500 or 600 rounds and it'll probably be galled again.

S&W won't send/sell me a striker, and I have all the apex stuff, including the AEK trigger installed so I'd have to take it apart to send it back. It'll probably just be a matter of time till I quit using it. Its kinda sad. I really like this little gun. A replacement striker should be an easy thing to get, even if they required me to send mine back before they sent one out. Maybe their attorneys know they have an issue and are trying to get them all back.

No. The only thing different is the new striker, striker spring and spring cups. Everything else looks the same.

Bill

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Thanks Bill. I'm going to try to find a next-level manager or something at S&W to see if there is a way I can a replacement. I put a couple of hiundred of my reloads through it and the corner of the ramp on the strike is getting pretty well deformed again. I'm thinking that if O offer to send them my slide -- at my cost -- that they may replace the striker. I'll have to see. I wish I could measure the hardness somehow. I'd be curious to know if it changes.

I post something if I get anywhere with them.

JWH; All due respect to this "Guy" from a LGS, but I call BS on that story. I am a certified S&W armorer and have been for almost 20 years. I get new parts, NP. The SD line of pistols is by far S&W's best selling gun, they make them, just as they make their M&P. As far as the striker galling problem, it's very common. Not to the extent BR had, but having a striker with a small corner of the secondary safety edge knocked off of it is normal. Open up any Glock and look. Same thing happens to them. BR had a really bad case that I believe can be attributed to a bad heat treat. In modern manufacturing, parts testing for QC is done by batch sampling and not on every individual part. Bad parts get thru, unfortunately. Only manufacturers I know of that test every part on the weapon is Colt(M16,M4 series to the U.S. Govt.,by law), FN(on their M16, for same reason), and Bravo Co. Their might be a few more that I am not aware of, but it's the exception, not the rule. BR had S&W replace striker and problem solved, I believe.
Thanx.
Good for you, BR. Keep us informed if anything goes wrong, but I bet all will be fine.

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LEO, Instr, Armorer, Gov's 20

Ofc.JL

You are absolutely correct in calling BS on this and I should have known better than to repeat something that I heard. I guess I was just a bit frustrated by not being able to get a simple part, but I should have known better than to share my frustration. I'll be quiet.

I deleted my post so as not to continue to offer unsubstantiated information to others. I feel kinda stupid.

Nah, JWH, no prob, Bro. No offense taken. You know how the chatter is at a LGS, from "Ex-spurts"...lol! I wish I had a dime for every piece of BS I have heard in the stores, I would be extremely wealthy by now.

Big problem w/ manufacturer's now is liabilities. They consider sending parts out to the public as a No No, anymore. Sad we have come to that, but it's true. They also want to make sure that the weapon is functioning correctly for again, the same reason. That's why they send pre paid labels to get the offending weapon back to repair it, ASAP. Scared of liability. Period.

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LEO, Instr, Armorer, Gov's 20