occasional misfire with SW9VE

[randy86314]

i bought a used SW9VE from a coworker 3 months ago. it worked very well during several trips to the range with my reloads. however, 2 weeks ago, it began to misfire; that is, it sometimes made only a loud click when i pulled the trigger. the firing pin made a very light indent in the primer, closer to the outer edge of the primer than to the center.

i began to observe the conditions under which the misfire occurred: after each shot, i observed the position of the barrel hood in the slide. when the barrel hood was level with the slide, the pistol fired ok. when the barrel hood did not rise to the level of the slide, trigger pulling yielded only the "click".

my reloaded cartridges drop freely into the chamber, and the bullets do not protrude into the rifling. i clean it thoroughly after each trip to the range.

can any of you suggest a possible cause of my misfire? why doesn't the barrel go fully into battery after each shot? i would appreciate any assistance.

ps: i knew nothing about the pistol when i bought it. i am gratified by the overwhelming positive remarks generated by ownership and experience with this pistol. now, i hope i can find a light which fits the accessory rail.

 

[MK]

First thing I would do is take the slide
off and do a real good cleaning of the
rails, etc on the slide. Also the tab guides
on the frame just to make sure nothing is
stuck to one or whatever. When clean put one
drop of oil on each tab and see if any better.
I can't make mine do that no matter how slow
I let it go into battery. So would lead me to
believe it's either got some crud or something
that is not letting the slide go all the way
forward, or something is wrong with the recoil
spring and the spring pressure is weak.
Make sure the recoil spring is mounted on the
proper step. It should be on the lower shallow
step closest to the barrel. If on correctly,
there will be a gap between the back of the
spring, and the top step on the barrel.
Also, if you look at the spring from the side,
if it's on right, it will be exactly parallel
to the barrel and slide. If it's on the wrong
upper step, there will be no gap, and the
spring will be going slightly uphill towards
the back of the slide.

 

[G-ManBart]

Clean the extractor hook and check to make sure it doesn't have a burr or a nick on it. If the rim on the cartridge can't slide smoothly up into the extractor hook it can stop the slide from closing 100% and cause the problem you describe.

 

[shawn mccarver]

Originally posted by randy86314:
i bought a used SW9VE from a coworker 3 months ago. it worked very well during several trips to the range with my reloads. however, 2 weeks ago, it began to misfire; that is, it sometimes made only a loud click when i pulled the trigger. the firing pin made a very light indent in the primer, closer to the outer edge of the primer than to the center.

i began to observe the conditions under which the misfire occurred: after each shot, i observed the position of the barrel hood in the slide. when the barrel hood was level with the slide, the pistol fired ok. when the barrel hood did not rise to the level of the slide, trigger pulling yielded only the "click".

my reloaded cartridges drop freely into the chamber, and the bullets do not protrude into the rifling. i clean it thoroughly after each trip to the range.

can any of you suggest a possible cause of my misfire? why doesn't the barrel go fully into battery after each shot? i would appreciate any assistance.

ps: i knew nothing about the pistol when i bought it. i am gratified by the overwhelming positive remarks generated by ownership and experience with this pistol. now, i hope i can find a light which fits the accessory rail.

Sounds like you need a DNC (dust 'n clean) and a lube. If that does not do it, you need to start looking at the parts at issue - firing pin, extractor hook, magazine feed lips, feed ramp, edges of barrel and slide, springs, etc., etc. If the problem is not so obvious it jumps out at you, then send it to S&W, describe the problem and they will make it right.

 

[conn ak]

Also check the guide rod, recoil spring assembly hasn't drifted down a bit on the barrel step. My 9F had a habit of the rear of the guide rod assembly sliding slightly lower than where it should rest, the upper step on the underside of the barrel. A new recoil spring prevented this short stroking.

 

[MK]

Is the barrel guide rod steps the same on
the "F" as the VE?
On the VE, what I consider the upper step is
not where it should be. Or at least when looking
at it with the spring side of the slide pointing
up.
With the VE barrel, you will see where the
barrel turns from it's round shape to flat.
At the rear of the flat area, you will see a
first step, which is only a very slight bit
higher than the beginning of the flat area.
And the step area is only about 1/8 inch or so
long. Then you see it rise straight up about
1/4 inch or so where it ends and then takes
about a 1/8 inch cut to the rear, which is an
angled cut slightly downwards, then rises about
1/8 inch, again at an angle, and than protrudes
outward a bit to form an upper step of sorts.
That's the one I usually call the upper step.
Should not be on that one.
The flat rear of the guide rod should be on the
lower very short shallow step, with the flat
end of the rod against the vertical step.
When in this position, you will see a gap from
the flat end of the guide rod, and the upper
step. The rear of the rod should be sitting
on top of that very shallow short step, which
is just a tiny bit taller than the overall
"flat area" which extends forward to where it
meets the round barrel shape.
Heck.. I decided to draw a crude picture in
case I'm confusing people.
The main thing is that the flat rear of the
rod is flat up against the vertical part.
If it's too low, and not on the first step,
there would be a small gap between the flat
and the vertical step.
I assume this may have been the problem conn ak
was having. ?
If it's too high, it would want to rest on
the canted upper step, which will leave it
so loose it might fall out if you turned it
upside down. Also the rod won't be perfectly
parallel with the slide and barrel.
I guess the main reason I posted all this is
to reduce confusion as to which step is which..
Some might consider the canted upper step as
the "upper step".. Hopefully, this doesn't add
more confusion..

 

[conn ak]

Yes, I have a 40VE and recently sold a 9VE. The 9F has the same set up under the barrel. I think my problem with the 9F was the spring did not maintain the proper tension to hold the guide rod true. Whatever, the result was similar to the original posters problem with incomplete cycling. Hasn't been a problem since the new spring. But the other posters are on target with potential causes as well.

 

[ShelbyV8]

If your handloads are on the lower side of the power scale bump bump them up to the higher side. Most malfunctions in 9mm polymer handguns are caused by low power ammo and/or limp wristing.

 

[gmchenry]

Thank God the disconnector is working. You sure wouldn't want it to fire if the barrel isn't fully locked-up with the slide.

 

[MK]

Originally posted by conn ak:
Whatever, the result was similar to the original posters problem with incomplete cycling. Hasn't been a problem since the new spring. But the other posters are on target with potential causes as well.

Yep, I just wanted to clarify what I meant as
the upper step.. I'd hate to see someone put
it on the wrong one.. In some cases, the slide
could end up getting jammed, and be hard to get
back off.

 

[Mickstix]

For anyone who's curious.. I just put a Wolf reduced power striker spring in my Sigma9VE and it's totally turned it into a "clicker".. About 10% light strikes now.. (Was a 100% "go bang" gun before that alteration) As my buddy put it, the Sigma isnt the gun for tinkering with.. Just put it in the glovebox, nightstand, etc. and have it ready to go if/when needed.. The stiff trigger is what it is.. (The lighter spring certainly made the trigger feel better, but the inconsistancy killed the deal for me.)

 

[randy86314]

i appreciate your responses and suggestions. i keep the pistol clean, and i dont have a limp wrist.

it is interesting to me that there have been issues with the recoil spring. i will order a new one tomorrow and let you know what happens. the system seems a bit fragile if the recoil spring can shift and prevent complete lockup. isn't there a block in the frame which pushes the barrel upward into battery?

are my reloads underpowered? perhaps. they seem to generate more recoil that my one box of factory ammo.

but my fired cases show signs of cratering at the firing pin hole, which crater is subsequently flattened. i think cratering is generally caused by large an oversized firing pin hole, compared to the firing pin. perhaps the crater is not flattened but is sheared off by the firing pin hole as the barrel unlocks. i will look for bits of brass in the firng pin hole.

yes, it might be beneficial to dehorn the extractor a bit.

i'm not sure about the disconnector comment. after all, the striker operated normally, and it did hit the primer. did incomplete lockup create a misalignment which restricted the firing pin? i really need to learn how this creature operates.

and the striker is very sharp, expecially compared to 1911 and rifle firing pins i have seen.

about the wolff striker spring: your frequent misfires surprise me. wolff springs are usually terrific.

 

[MK]

I can't really say there have been issues with
the recoil rod and spring. Maybe a few from
others, but has never been a problem on mine.
The main reason I mentioned it was just to make
sure it was on right.
Ya know, the more I hear about yours, I think
it might be a good idea to send it on back to
the factory for a check.
If you have to do anything really drastic, for
example having to modify the extractor, etc,
I think it would be better to let them do it.
I know I would, if it wasn't anything readily
obvious.
I'm not a believer in re-engineering something
that normally works right as designed.

 

[randy86314]

oh my goodness. i don't know how I forgot that i installed a wolff 3-1/2 lb. striker spring 6 weeks ago. i quickly replaced it with a new factory striker spring; I fired 40 rounds thru it over the weekend without incident. I can hardly believe that i didn't correlate the switch with the subsequent misfires.

thanks for all your responses.

 

[OKFC05]

oh my goodness. i don't know how I forgot that i installed a wolff 3-1/2 lb. striker spring.. I can hardly believe that i didn't correlate the switch with the subsequent misfires.

Familiar story........

 

[Mickstix]

Randy, glad ya (remembered) figured it out!

I dont know why Wolff would come out with SUCH a reduced power spring? Especially when it causes misfires so frequently? The original Sigma9VE spring is 4.75lbs.. The Wolff reduced power is 3.50lbs.. Seems like quite alot of room between the two, for a more reliable spring, yet still have a nice improvement on the trigger pull?? Im tempted to try a Glock spring (4.0lbs) But w/o hearing some confirmation stories from folks who've done it, I'll prolly just stick with the stock spring and stiff trigger.. My trigger is notably better than it was when new, but Ive dry fired the thing ALOT..

Anyone here have experience with the 4.00 Glock striker springs??

 

[ZO6Vettever]

My NIB 9VE had 7 light primer strikes and 2 stovepipes in 425 rounds of assorted ammo. The trigger felt like it was binding at the sear housing. I sent it to S&W and 10 days later (Yesterday) got it back. The shop report said "adjusted trigger" and "modified the barrel". They did a serious polish on the barrel, I can actually see where they opened it up a bit. The trigger still feels a little gritty but dry firing it feels like a differant pistol. You now know when it's going to break, I think I'm going to love it. They also replaced the recoil guide and spring but didn't note that on the shop report. The original had a nick where it sits against the step on the barrel. I didn't think what they did had anything to do with the light primer strikes so I called them. They just said they test fired it and it is fine. I read in these comments that the recoil spring could be a culprit so I'm hoping it's fixed. When I get to a range I'll fire the crap out of it and hope it's good to go.

 

[ZO6Vettever]

Randy, S&W sells a light for the VE Sigma rails.

http://www.smith-wesson.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/P...y_rn=16271&training=

 

[randy86314]

re: the light rail. i am seeking a rail on which i can mount a flashlight/laser combo. i think an outfit called laserlyte has one.

re: striker and trigger. i did some trigger work as outlined elsewhere on this forum. it made a huge difference in the trigger pull. all the stops and starts disappeared. it surprises me that the sear slides against the plastic frame, which can and probably will change over thousands of rounds. changing the striker spring is the simplest method to reduce the trigger pull, but it is now apparent that we shouldn't mess with that spring.

 

[gmchenry]

Originally posted by randy86314:
I can hardly believe that i didn't correlate the switch with the subsequent misfires.

Originally posted by randy86314:
re: striker and trigger. i did some trigger work as outlined elsewhere on this forum. it made a huge difference in the trigger pull. all the stops and starts disappeared. it surprises me that the sear slides against the plastic frame, which can and probably will change over thousands of rounds. changing the striker spring is the simplest method to reduce the trigger pull, but it is now apparent that we shouldn't mess with that spring.

You dicked with the gun by modifying multiple components in the fire control group but couldn't figure out why your gun was unreliable?