[TedG]

I had a few rounds that failed to fire today. There were indents where the primer was struck, but obviously not hard enough. After being ejected, I reloaded them in to the magazine and they fired. This happened 3 separate times with many "good" firings in between. The firing pin spring is a standard LWD. All of the ignition parts are stock parts.

Has anyone experienced this? Did you solve the problem?

Thanks.

 

[Sonnytoo]

What ammo are you using?
Sonnytoo

 

[Butch]

Other than telling us what ammo you were using, the first thing I'd do is to put the factory firing pin spring back in and see if it works right.

Any oil in the firing pin channel? How much has the gun been fired?

 

[dpadams6]

were the light strikes on the primers off-center too...?

 

[Kilroy]

How does it work with the factory original firing pin?

 

[TedG]

First off, I appreciate your help. Thanks.

The entire upper is LWD. It's a G34 length slide and barrel and the internals are all LWD. I had it lubed up pretty well. The ammunition was American Eagle and I've never had a problem with it in my G17 or G26. It has less than 200 rounds fired through it.

Here's another thing... sometimes, when I draw the slide back, the firing pin is in a forward position. I can see this from the underside of the slide. The firing pin is forward and if I lightly push rearward on the firing pin release tab, the pin moves rearward from the spring tension. Weird? It doesn't do it every time I pull the slide back, but it does happen enough to notice.

 

[TedG]

How does it work with the factory original firing pin?

An original Glock OEM firing pin also stays forward when retracting the slide.

 

[TedG]

were the light strikes on the primers off-center too...?

Dead center.

 

[Hauptmann6]

The entire upper is LWD. It's a G34 length slide and barrel and the internals are all LWD. I had it lubed up pretty well. The ammunition was American Eagle and I've never had a problem with it in my G17 or G26. It has less than 200 rounds fired through it.

The firing pin channel should be clean and dry. Take it apart and clean it but do not lube the pin.

 

[TedG]

The firing pin channel should be clean and dry. Take it apart and clean it but do not lube the pin.

Took it apart and cleaned and dried. I guess I'll just have to wait til the next range day. Thanks.

 

[chris in va]

Actually, here's a quick little test of your firing pin hit. Slide a pencil down the barrel, eraser side down. Pull the trigger (all safety requirements first) and see how far out the pencil comes out the barrel. If it just jumps a bit and doesn't come out, you'll know something's amiss.

 

[Troy106]

buy better ammunition

 

[Sonnytoo]

Butch was right on. Your ammo is hot enough so it should go bang every time. Your striker spring (firing pin spring) is too light, and likely does not have constant spring pressure regardless of the position of the striker, or it wouldn't "wander" around in the striker channel like that.

These are good primer hits....typical depth. Note that these were NOT from a glock. Glock firing pin is chisel shaped; so are the primer hits, like an elongated trench.

...and these are light primer hits that may have occurred at any place in your shooting. These indicate that the firing-pin spring must be replaced with a standard spring. Your's is likely a reduced power spring. IMHO
Sonnytoo

 

[Grovenator]

The obvious: Non GLOCK parts on a GLOCK. Just sayin.

 

[Butch]

Sigma?

 

[Glockrunner]

Maybe light primer hits BUT NOT from a GLOCK.

 

[voyager4520]

sometimes, when I draw the slide back, the firing pin is in a forward position.

Normal.

Did the Lone Wolf Dist slide come with the firing pin channel liner? If you put a firing pin assembly into the slide without having a firing pin channel liner inside the firing pin channel, that could definitely cause problems. If you don't know if it has one, you can take your firing pin assembly out, shine a flashlight into the firing pin channel, and there should be a plastic sleeve inside the channel. Here's the part, the end with the beveled lip goes toward the muzzle and you simply firmly press it in there until it won't go forward any more:
http://www.lonewolfdist.com/Products.aspx?CAT=185

And here's the LWD tool to help install it: http://www.lonewolfdist.com/Detail.aspx?PROD=6595&CAT=111

Besides that, what type of recoil assembly are you using? Are you using the factory guide rod or an aftermarket one? A lighter than stock recoil spring can definitely cause light primer strikes, because the light spring sometimes won't return the slide fully to battery - just enough to allow a light primer strike. I'd also try using the Glock made firing pin spring.

Here's a list of possible causes from the Glock Armorer's Manual:
Failure to Fire:
Slide out of battery(DO NOT force slide forward into battery)
Deformed/defective round
Underpowered ammo
Damaged/weak recoil spring
Damaged recoil spring tube
Mating surfaces of slide, barrel, and receiver excessively dirty
Gun dirty/obstructed chamber
Shooting with unlocked wrist
Light, centered primer strike:
Hard primer
Obstructed firing pin channel

I doubt American Eagle is the problem.

 

[TedG]

Voyager.... excellent reply.

I installed a channel when I assembled the slide, though I didn't know there was a "proper" end to go in first. I have ordered a new channel.

I am using the standard Glock G17 recoil spring. Now that you mention it, I'm leaning toward that as a root cause. I am going to order the next higher # recoil spring.

Thanks again.

 

[frankmako]

i have seen soft hits because of dirty upper/too much oil in upper/oil in upper/improper cleaning and oiling upper. i would take the upper apart, clean all parts with #9. blow dry and put back togeather. you can take the old firing pin channel liner to check if you have the correct end in the proper way. then put it back in. use a dental pick tool to pull the liner out.

 

[LWD Armorer]

Ted G,
I looked at your order, you ordered a GLO-63 (OEM firing pin spring 5lbs.). LWD does not make a firing pin spring.

Voyager4520 hit the nail on the head of what to check.

Wolf makes a 6lb firing pin spring, here is a link: http://www.lonewolfdist.com/Detail.aspx?PROD=1388&TERM=wol-

If you continue to have issues and do not know what else to do, you can always return it to me. I will fix or replace, and test fire to make sure.

Not sure if this has been brought up. How is the drop safety test? Does the firing pin move freely with ease?