Bill Lear
Member
The other day, while chambering a Glock pattern P80 build the gun presented with a feed stoppage caused by the striker nose protruding through the breech face. This caused the rim of the feeding round to become trapped under the striker tip.
Needless to say I was concerned and so began to troubleshoot the cause.
First let me point out there is a single condition that could cause even a factory Glock to demonstrate a feed stoppage due to the cartridge rim being captured under a protruding striker. It goes like this: The gun is assembled, slide racked, then trigger pulled and left in this condition. Later, when the slide is locked back, or racked to chamber, the striker is unlocked and depending on gun tolerances, can migrate forward during the chambering cycle to jam the gun as described above.
The way to prevent this is rack the slide prior to inserting a magazine to cock the striker and capture it behind the striker release plunger. Once captured the striker cannot slide forward. Essentially, you should NOT leave your Glock or P80 with the trigger pulled, but with trigger forward which insures the striker is held by the cruciform and also by the striker lock plunger.
Now, back to the Poly80 issue. Once upon a time all parts for Glocks came from Glock, but today they come from a myriad of sources and often have quite different dimensions. In this case the trigger housing for a G43 came with a ledge that rides in the striker plunger slot of the slide that is quite tall. So tall that when the slide is fully locked back, this ledge effectively depresses the striker lock plunger allowing the striker to move because it is now UNlocked. The striker is mostly spring powered with a short space of "inertia" travel just before the nose protrudes from the breech face. When the plunger lock is depressed the striker can slide forward and stick out. Because of this high ledge, even if the striker started out cocked and locked behind the striker lock plunger, when the slide is moving forward, just as it passes off the ejector stud, the striker can be UNlocked and sticking out! Thus the gun "jams" as the cartridge rim is captured under the striker tip! What this boils down to is you should always chamber a P80 build with the muzzle UP so gravity works in your favor, or correct the issue.
First I examined OEM Glocks to find they don't have an inordinately high ledge that depresses the striker plunger at any time. Some P80 builds - obviously those using OEM trigger housings don't have this problem, but if you have an aftermarket trigger housing with a "right side" plastic ledge that juts up level with the underside of the slide, the "fix" is to grab your Dremel with a small-diameter spiral cutter on low speed and carefully reduce the excessively high ledge until you can run the slide (no barrel) all the way back, then move it forward 'till the striker is caught by the cruciform, then hold it at the point where the ejector is even with the breech face. Test that the striker is locked by trying to push it forward from under the slide. it should NOT move, it should be fully locked.
For those with genuine Glocks, the slide should always be racked to reset the striker BEFORE attempting to chamber a round. This prevents a striker-induced stoppage.
Needless to say I was concerned and so began to troubleshoot the cause.
First let me point out there is a single condition that could cause even a factory Glock to demonstrate a feed stoppage due to the cartridge rim being captured under a protruding striker. It goes like this: The gun is assembled, slide racked, then trigger pulled and left in this condition. Later, when the slide is locked back, or racked to chamber, the striker is unlocked and depending on gun tolerances, can migrate forward during the chambering cycle to jam the gun as described above.
The way to prevent this is rack the slide prior to inserting a magazine to cock the striker and capture it behind the striker release plunger. Once captured the striker cannot slide forward. Essentially, you should NOT leave your Glock or P80 with the trigger pulled, but with trigger forward which insures the striker is held by the cruciform and also by the striker lock plunger.
Now, back to the Poly80 issue. Once upon a time all parts for Glocks came from Glock, but today they come from a myriad of sources and often have quite different dimensions. In this case the trigger housing for a G43 came with a ledge that rides in the striker plunger slot of the slide that is quite tall. So tall that when the slide is fully locked back, this ledge effectively depresses the striker lock plunger allowing the striker to move because it is now UNlocked. The striker is mostly spring powered with a short space of "inertia" travel just before the nose protrudes from the breech face. When the plunger lock is depressed the striker can slide forward and stick out. Because of this high ledge, even if the striker started out cocked and locked behind the striker lock plunger, when the slide is moving forward, just as it passes off the ejector stud, the striker can be UNlocked and sticking out! Thus the gun "jams" as the cartridge rim is captured under the striker tip! What this boils down to is you should always chamber a P80 build with the muzzle UP so gravity works in your favor, or correct the issue.
First I examined OEM Glocks to find they don't have an inordinately high ledge that depresses the striker plunger at any time. Some P80 builds - obviously those using OEM trigger housings don't have this problem, but if you have an aftermarket trigger housing with a "right side" plastic ledge that juts up level with the underside of the slide, the "fix" is to grab your Dremel with a small-diameter spiral cutter on low speed and carefully reduce the excessively high ledge until you can run the slide (no barrel) all the way back, then move it forward 'till the striker is caught by the cruciform, then hold it at the point where the ejector is even with the breech face. Test that the striker is locked by trying to push it forward from under the slide. it should NOT move, it should be fully locked.
For those with genuine Glocks, the slide should always be racked to reset the striker BEFORE attempting to chamber a round. This prevents a striker-induced stoppage.
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