Lesson today with cleaning and lubricating

[Lucifer]

Today I decided to brush up on my shooting with my CCW pistols, a Shield 45 and a Shield 9mm.
I had failures with both!
The Shield 45 would have a FTF on the last round when shooting, not every time but often enough to cause concern.
The Shield 9mm would often not cock the striker when shooting...
Very distressed, I took both pistols and magazines apart and found that the magazines for the Shield 45 had a lot of internal black residue built up around the top of the magazine. I determined that the followers were sometimes unable to navigate up and through the residue causing the FTF.
On the Shield 9mm, I removed the striker assembly and it was dry as a bone, so I generously lubricated the striker assemble.
Promptly fired 100 round out of each pistol and the problems were gone. Needless to say, I am now a happy camper that both pistols performed 100%! Amazing what a little cleaning and lubrication will solve.

 

[Tu_S]

Need to ask, how often do you clean your guns?

As far as the "generous lubricated" striker, guessing next time you have a FTF after not cleaning it a while you'll find that the lubrication has trapped a bunch of residue and is gumming things up.

I've seen more than one firing pin/striker that was lubricated causing problems, where the worst one was someone decided to put grease on a firing pin and had it "freeze" up in cold weather.

 

[glenwolde]

Is FTF failure to fire or failure to feed?

 

[NewLiberty]

On striker fired pistols, generally you don't want any lubricant in the firing pin channel.

 

[Old cop]

These are some of the reasons I still carry a light weight J Frame.

 

[gunny4053]

Regular cleaning does wonders for firearm performance. Magazines are one of the most overlooked firearm accessories where cleaning is concerned, and one of the most important. A 1911 with bad mags is just a bad 1911. A bad 1911 with good mags can become a good 1911.

As Tu S said, the striker should be dry. A thoroughly cleaned and dried striker and channel will perform well for a very long time. There is normally a poly channel liner, and the poly striker bushing and keeper which combine to provide adequate lubricity. Adding oil holds dirt and debris, plus when shooting, the heat, if sufficient, will turn the oil to carbon and gum up the works again. I'd bet if you clean it again, dry that area thoroughly, and take her back to the range, it will perform as it should.

 

[gunny4053]

Is FTF failure to fire or failure to feed?

Based on his description, I'm going to say failure to feed.

 

[Krogen]

Today I decided to brush up on my shooting with my CCW pistols, a Shield 45 and a Shield 9mm.
I had failures with both!

This - CCW and failures - is a wake up call. We should all be so lucky as to find any failures during a range shoot instead of in other circumstances.

I think I'll go do some cleaning and inspection . . . .

 

[Lucifer]

Is FTF failure to fire or failure to feed?

Fail to feed...Sorry I didn't clarify.

 

[Lucifer]

Need to ask, how often do you clean your guns?

As far as the "generous lubricated" striker, guessing next time you have a FTF after not cleaning it a while you'll find that the lubrication has trapped a bunch of residue and is gumming things up.

I've seen more than one firing pin/striker that was lubricated causing problems, where the worst one was someone decided to put grease on a firing pin and had it "freeze" up in cold weather.

It was 4 months ago I gave a good lubrication. With that said I always clean and do a light lube after every range visit.
I was probable 4 years ago I took the magazines apart and cleaned them.
Cleaning the magazines fully apart and cleaning was a big opener...
The grease I used was common white lythamium, after after my session today, I sprayed WD40 and cleaned out all the grease...

 

[Eric300]

Wow...WD40, Lithium grease in mags, 'generously lubricated' the firing pin channel...just wow. Some of you guys need to take lessons on how to properly clean/lubricate a semi-auto firearm.

 

[Lee in Quartzsite]

On the Shield 9mm, I removed the striker assembly and it was dry as a bone, so I generously lubricated the striker assemble.

NEVER put lube on the striker or in the striker channel. It's in the owners manual. WD-40 is not a lube either!

 

[Lucifer]

NEVER put lube on the striker or in the striker channel. It's in the owners manual.

I have to go in and clean it all out!

 

[Tu_S]

...I was probable 4 years ago I took the magazines apart and cleaned them.
Cleaning the magazines fully apart and cleaning was a big opener...

Depending on how much you shoot, if the magazine springs are 4 years old they probably should be replaced. A worn out spring would explain your failure to feeds, and will usually start showing with the slide not getting locked back on the last round.

They put the stiff magazine spring that makes loading the last few rounds a PITA in there for a reason.

 

[mikerjf]

I used to have a 1911 that would have a light primer hit first shot, when it had been sitting a month or so. It was WD40 in the firing pin channel, gummed up over time. Clean and very light oiling, no problems since.

 

[Warren Sear]

Wow...WD40, Lithium grease in mags, 'generously lubricated' the firing pun channel...just wow. Some of you guys need to take lessons on how to properly clean/lubricate a semi-auto firearm.

I have yet to read an owner's manual that called for grease or WD40 to be used anywhere on a gun.

When proper lubricant (Break Free or similar) is applied to firearms, the parts should never look wet or drip oil. Only a very thin film is needed. More oil does not decrease friction.

 

[ImDrRich]

Thousands and thousands of 9mm through my Shield. Not one single FTF, stovepipe, or any other kind of problem. Truly amazing.

 

[STORMINORMAN]

I have used synthetic grease (SuperLube) on rails for years...

In BCGs as well.

Cheers!

 

[LVSteve]

The OP said the striker didn't cock on the 9mm Shield. I doubt that is a lube issue in the striker channel. However, it could be that the trigger bar has got sticky (bent? residue attached to lube?) and is staying in the disconnected position. I don't have Shield so I cannot speak for how the sear works, but if that is prevented from returning to its rest position at the proper time, the striker will not be cocked.

One other possibility is low power plinking ammo and/or a thumb dragging the slide preventing the slide going its full travel. The latter is not uncommon with smaller pistols, but I would have expected ejection issues to occur as well. What ammo was being used?

 

[Krogen]

Depending on how much you shoot, if the magazine springs are 4 years old they probably should be replaced.

Please give us your source information on this Tu_S. What's the origin of the 4 year number 'depending on how much you shoot'? Mechanical engineers tell us that it's the number of compression/decompression cycles that wear out springs, not simply age alone. A spring in a static compression or decompression state doesn't degrade.

 

[Lee in Quartzsite]

Depending on how much you shoot, if the magazine springs are 4 years old they probably should be replaced.

My M&P 45 is over 10 years old. My M&P 15 is over 20 years old. The mags in both function just fine and show no indication of weakened springs. Just sayin...

 

[Tu_S]

Please give us your source information on this Tu_S. What's the origin of the 4 year number 'depending on how much you shoot'? Mechanical engineers tell us that it's the number of compression/decompression cycles that wear out springs, not simply age alone. A spring in a static compression or decompression state doesn't degrade.

The 4 year number is from the OP's remark on the last time he took the magazines apart, which would mean the springs are at least that old.

Thought mentioning the dependence on how much the OP shoots would make the connection to how many times the springs have been cycled, but I guess you didn't get it

 

[Lucifer]

The 4 year number is from the OP's remark on the last time he took the magazines apart, which would mean the springs are at least that old.

Thought mentioning the dependence on how much the OP shoots would make the connection to how many times the springs have been cycled, but I guess you didn't get it

For clarity and avoidance of any confusion, during the pat 4 years, I have shot only twice annually with the Shield 45. I usually only shoot 50 rounds per sessions, so I have only 400 to 500 rounds through the Shield 45.

When I took apart the Shield 45 magazines there was an excessive amount of black soot covering the INSIDE top one-third of the magazine. I suspect blow back gases from firing the Shield?

While shooting, as the follower was rising up to the last round being fired, the spring is at its weakest and contacting with the black soot, it created enough friction that the spring/follower could not push the last round up fast enough to be picked up by the slide.

After I throughly cleaned the inside of the magazine and removed all the black soot, I proceeded to fire 100 trouble free rounds; 230 grain and 185 grain.

After firing the 100 rounds, I took the magazine back apart and was amazed as to how much black soot re-appeared, so another cleaning was in order.

Bottomline what I was reporting that not cleaning the inside of the magazine regularly after shooting can/may/could result in malfunctions as I experienced.

Hope this clarifies and confusion?

 

[Krogen]

The 4 year number is from the OP's remark on the last time he took the magazines apart, which would mean the springs are at least that old.

Thought mentioning the dependence on how much the OP shoots would make the connection to how many times the springs have been cycled, but I guess you didn't get it

And you would be right! I didn't get it . . . . Missed that info.

 

[Barb]

In April I used white Lithium to lubricate a 9mm semi. Around October things came to a standstill as bullets failed to feed into the barrel. Serious situation as my guns are not for decoration. Lots of gun cleaner, brushes, wipes, and yes a toothbrush. Made sure a whole clip would feed through flawlessly before I was finished.
Both of us learned a valuable lesson before it got us killed. Lithium grease does not belong on a gun unless we are preserving the weapon.

 

[Hawg Rider]

Magazines need to be cleaned and lubed regularly. After cleaning with a good quality CLP, wipe clean, and use a dry lube inside the magazine body, on the spring, and follower. Dry lube will lubricate without collecting dirt, dust, gsr, etc.

 

[Daryl Licht]

Carry guns can get pretty nasty, particularly if carried IWB. After I've carried one for a week or two it's cleared, stripped, cleaned and lubed. Be sure to clean out the holster as well. I have taken them out and shot them before cleaning all the lint and gunk off just to be sure they are going to work. The magazines are cleaned as needed after shooting. Most are not hard to take apart and get any trash or firing residue out, the biggest exception I've found to that being the Shield .45 7 rounders. Whoever designed that floorplate setup should be punched in the face repeatedly.

Was at the range one time with an old friend who had carried a LCP forever in a pocket holster. While we were there he decided that since it had not been fired in a long time that he'd give it a shot. His carry gun wouldn't fire at all. Good thing he learned that lesson at the range instead of in a dark parking lot somewhere.

 

[Doug M.]

I think it was Rob Leatham (who is far better qualified than me) who said if your gun does not work when dirty, there is something wrong with it. (Which ever competition shooter it was, he meant DIRTY; thousands of rounds between cleanings.) I'm too OCD to go that far, but it is worth knowing.

When I got my Shield, I read the owner's manual front to back before I took the pistol out of the case. These crazy engineers suggest certain things for a reason. Sometimes, the manual will shock you; for example, Wilson Combat is very insistent that their pistols not be cleaned until you have run 300-500 rounds through them. Pat Rogers (RIP) had a large number of ARs that were rarely cleaned, not more than once a year. He did that mostly for knowledge, achieving somewhere over 40K in "Filthy 14". He was very careful to use almost entirely military grade (BCM in his later years) and had no malfunctions related to dirt. Dryness? Yes. (I dd the math with him; a typical year of data involved 500,000+ rounds down range in classes.

 

[Chuck Edwards]

If you only have the two magazines that came with the gun, you need more magazines. Vet the ones you carry, clean and load them, then use the others for practice. Go to the range on New Year's Eve and burn through your carry ammo, reload those mags and keep on truckin'.

The black soot at the top of the mags is normal. Unless it gets really thick, it shouldn't impact the magazine's function. If it does, the fix is fresh magazine springs. I've had to replace the magazine springs in all my M&P magazines, .40 and .45, and the need became obvious when the slide failed to lock back on an empty mag - they still fed the last round. I don't have a Shield, so I can't speak to that.

 

[jschmidt]

I use teflon dry lube in all of my magazines to good effect