Went to the range today, was shooting some s&b 124 grain fmj. Had 5 soft strikes out of 50 rounds in my sd9ve I asked the shop guys what it could be, they asked if I had gotten any trigger work done I hadn't just trying to get to the heart of the matter. Thought I'd run it by the best place I could get accurate answers from. Thanks everybody in advance.

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Were you able to compare the indents on fired and fail-to-fire rounds before you disposed (some way) of them?

Apparently you did and was there a difference?

I kid you not if I knew how to take down a post from tapatalk I'd do so. I just figured it out, I took the firing pin out and there was a whole bunch of brass shavings in the firing pin port and on the firing pin it's self, just cleaned it like there was no tomorrow. I'll update if it doesn't work but I'm pretty sure it will work since everything looked pretty ship shape as far as parts. I was just scared the firing pin was messed up or something, I had a hard time believing that s&b would have failures.

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But building off of your question, I just had to rechamber the round and fire again and it would go. Like I said though it turned out to be some shaving in the firing pin port and on the pin it's self. I spent about 30 minutes go googling it then I checked a glock forum for the heck of it and noticed that the build in there didn't seem too far off from the sd9ve and wouldn't you know it had the baby cleaned up real quick after that.

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While S&B is known to have somewhat harder primers, S&W is well aware of this ammo, and should design its pistols to reliably fire this ammo. This is true especially in light of the fact that these pistols have been sold - or given - for use in Afghan law enforcement, where European ammo with hard primers is more prevalent.

The fact that S&W pistols are frequently reported to have light strikes is a disqualifying factor, in my opinion, for defense use.

Sorry to editorialize, but a firearm that will not reliably go "bang" each time the trigger is pulled is of little use for any purpose, and constitutes a dangerous nuisance.

Get a different brand of gun. Sorry S&W, but there are just far too many light strike reports, not only with pistols, but with S&W revolvers.

I'll give my finding a try first, if that doesn't work I'll consider the following thank you sir.

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This overarching statement does not fit my own experiences over the past 40 years, shooting many S&W revolvers and pistols -- a long list of model numbers, old and new (revolvers with firing pins on the hammer nose and the new style; 3d Gen semi autos with hammers, M&Ps and SDs with strikers, etc.). And using all types of ammo, including handloads with primers reputed to be "hard" (CCI) and "soft" (Federal and Winchester).

Very often when we hear about light primer strikes with revolvers, it can be traced to installation of lighter springs or a loose strain screw that someone has fiddled with to make the hammer lighter. With semi-autos, the most common cause mentioned is a blocked or dirty firing pin (or striker channel).

These are maintenance issues, not design or manufacturing issues; and none of these problems is specific to S&W handguns. I have had none of these problems firing what must add up to hundreds of thousands of rounds in S&W handguns that I keep essentially (if not perfectly) clean. (I have seen striker channels with gunk in them, but they still worked; the solution is to clean them every couple of thousand rounds).

Case in point was the OP's problem: issue detected; solution was to clean the striker channel.

So, I am having a lot of trouble giving credence to the statement that all S&W revolvers and semi-autos are disqualified for (self) defense use because they "will not reliably go 'bang.'"

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S&W Rover

Honestly, I'd never thought about having to clean the firing pin on this particular gun, forgive me for my ignorance but the thought had never occurred to me that the firing pin could get that much brass in there. Oh well she's all clean now, just gotta test it and make sure she works.

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While it's never been an issue for me with my S&W 3rd Gens my boys ran into it with their Ruger SR9c & SR40c's. They'd get jacket shavings in the striker's channel which required frequent cleaning to avoid light strikes. They also ended up adding Galloway's heavy striker springs too.

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Waiting for the break of day

Interesting, ill just add it to my routine cleaning.

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Where do these brass shavings in the firing pin channel come from?

I'm not entirely sure, all I know when I took out the pin it had shavings all over it, and when I shot some bore blaster down the channel a whole mess of shavings came out but looked clean as heck. I could imagine either from the primer or casing but probably the primer it's self, since all my casings come out looking pretty much what it looked like pre fire aside from the top end of the casing.

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I've seen the same thing with my SD9VE

Since they're often semi-circular I believe they come from the jacketed bullets.

Though I have limited experiences with striker fired pistols it's my opinion they're more prone to light strikes, from debris, because of lower impact power. Hammer fired seem to have more impact power to overcome such, even though they still get debris in them too & surely can end up with the same problem. Anybody else?

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Waiting for the break of day

My sd9ve has about 1500 rounds thru it and i also have had 2 light strikes in the last 500 of reloads seems to be fine with factory loads from fed magtec and blazer. If it matters the reloads are from scorpion.

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SD9VE

Check the primers on fired cases and you'll usually find a 'smear' around the firing pin indent.

The primer tends to bulge slightly during firing, to a greater degree into the striker opening in breech face. This slight protrusion is shaved off by the edges of the opening when the barrel unlocks from slide and the cartridge base slides downward against the breech face.

I see. Too bad there isn't a way to remove the sharp edge from the hole and eliminate the problem.

I believe it can be done, if you work carefully.

I started firing an original Sigma .40 earlier this year, after an eight year hiatus. After a few hundred rounds, she started giving more and more light strikes. Examination revealed the striker safety plunger bore was packed with primer shavings.

Apparently on this pistol, S&W's first venture into "Glocklike" pistol design, the size/shape/sharpness of the breech face striker port, and configuration of passageways in the striker/striker safety plunger network led to shaving deposition in the plunger's bore. With a sufficient build-up, the plunger's movement decreased enough to impede the striker movement.

Someone here did mention this, and smoothing the striker port as the solution. I've touched it up with diamond needle files, but haven't fired it enough to confirm the solution--tho it did seem to reduce the smearing/shaving on fired primers.