Ruger Forum

Soless · October 15th, 2011, 04:17 PM

I took the LC9 to range with me again today. I let a friend get familiar with while I was loading some ammo. I kept a zip tie sticking out of the chamber while he was handling the LC9 and he was able to pull the trigger and drop the hammer. I took a hold of the pistol and pulled the slide out of battery and was able to pull the trigger and drop the hammer several times. This is kinda of concerning. I don't know if the hammer has enough force to set off a primer out of battery and I also don't know if the barrel tilt doesn't allow alignment of the primer and firing pin until full battery. Just thought I throw this out there. Shoot safe everyone.

tgwillard · October 15th, 2011, 04:24 PM

I will have to try that with my LC9.

Ridge1976 · October 15th, 2011, 05:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Soless

I took the LC9 to range with me again today. I let a friend get familiar with while I was loading some ammo. I kept a zip tie sticking out of the chamber while he was handling the LC9 and he was able to pull the trigger and drop the hammer. I took a hold of the pistol and pulled the slide out of battery and was able to pull the trigger and drop the hammer several times. This is kinda of concerning. I don't know if the hammer has enough force to set off a primer out of battery and I also don't know if the barrel tilt doesn't allow alignment of the primer and firing pin until full battery. Just thought I throw this out there. Shoot safe everyone.

Was there a magazine in at the time? Have you removed the magazine disconnect?

KJ47 · October 15th, 2011, 06:02 PM

Mine will try to fire not 100% in battery, when I first bought it I followed the slide forward on the first round in the mag and it didnt go all the way into battery. Pulled the trigger and 'click,' though it was a weak primer strike but after looking at the round the firing pin missed the primer, I didnt realize at first because when the hammer dropped it pushed the slide all the way forward.

So yes it will try to fire with it not fully in battery and miss the primer.

Soless · October 15th, 2011, 06:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ridge1976

Was there a magazine in at the time? Have you removed the magazine disconnect?

It will do it with a magazine inserted. It'll do it without the mag disconnect and no mag inserted too.

I just made an impromptu video to show what I'm talking about.

http://youtu.be/WxqsqeogKl0

Soless · October 15th, 2011, 06:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KJ47

Mine will try to fire not 100% in battery, when I first bought it I followed the slide forward on the first round in the mag and it didnt go all the way into battery. Pulled the trigger and 'click,' though it was a weak primer strike but after looking at the round the firing pin missed the primer, I didnt realize at first because when the hammer dropped it pushed the slide all the way forward.

So yes it will try to fire with it not fully in battery and miss the primer.

I thought the barrel tilt might move the primer out of alignment. I was going to load a primer into an empty case to see if it would set it off. I still might to put my mind at ease.

KJ47 · October 15th, 2011, 07:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Soless

I thought the barrel tilt might move the primer out of alignment. I was going to load a primer into an empty case to see if it would set it off. I still might to put my mind at ease.

You can just try a snap cap, on mine if you slowly close the slide with a full mag of snap caps it will hang up just before battery from the extractor tension. Pull the trigger and you will see a firing pin strike well off the primer.

My LCP will cycle the hammer (trying it now) with the slide back a little but as soon as barrel starts to drop the trigger is completely disconnected. The LC9 you can go until the barrel is completely out of the locking lugs and the hammer will still cycle.

Probably a good thing since the extractor holds the case tight enough to the breech where if the firing pin was lined up it would probably fire out of battery.

Soless · October 15th, 2011, 09:03 PM

I used the loaded chamber indicator as a means of measuring in relation to how far the slide was out of battery.

Note:I used spent brass not fired from the LC9.

The upper indentation was done when the loaded chamber indicator was flush with the slide.

The middle indentation was down with the loaded chamber indicator halfway down.

Soless · October 25th, 2011, 09:07 AM

Curiosity got the best of me. I took an empty case with a Winchester primer and tried to set it off last night. All I got was small dents from a light strike. I was able to set one off with the slide about 1/8" back, but the barrel was still locked up so I don't think it's anything to worry about. I love this little gun.

bada61265 · October 25th, 2011, 09:25 AM

my SA 1911 didnt fire when i pulled the trigger on a bad reload, examining the cartridge the primer was about .020" raised and completely untouched by the firing pin. the tolerances are such i think in the ruger too. that the firing pin wont strike or have enough energy to fire an out of battery cartridge. though its good to confirm this if you are in doubt.

KJ47 · October 25th, 2011, 10:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Soless

Curiosity got the best of me. I took an empty case with a Winchester primer and tried to set it off last night. All I got was small dents from a light strike. I was able to set one off with the slide about 1/8" back, but the barrel was still locked up so I don't think it's anything to worry about. I love this little gun.

Yea, when the slide isnt closed a lot of the energy from the hammer gets soaked up moving the slide.

Its not a big deal really, at least not a big deal as my old PPK/S that if you moved the hammer drop safety back very slowly the gun would fire when the hammer dropped. Or my old Taurus 38 snub that if you stopped pulling the trigger mid-way shooting DA it would lock up like a safe.

Its amazing what you you can achieve if you keep fiddling with something

Master mariner · October 29th, 2011, 02:28 AM

My brand new LC9 FTF after about 25 rounds. The pistol went click and the round had a light strike on the primer. The piece had not returned to full battery. The tech at Ruger told me that the problem would clear after 50 to 75 rounds were fired.

Has anyone had a similar experience ?

Soless · October 29th, 2011, 06:44 AM

I have never had a problem like that yet. Was the ammo still in good shape?

tgwillard · October 29th, 2011, 04:24 PM

Master mariner: Many compact semi autos including the LC9 may exhibit tightness when new which translates into FTF because of the tight tolerances. Especially if your new pistol is for self defense I have seen it recommended to shoot at least 200 rounds through it, some being the type of round you intend to use in case of self defense.

JKTex · November 10th, 2011, 02:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Master mariner

My brand new LC9 FTF after about 25 rounds. The pistol went click and the round had a light strike on the primer. The piece had not returned to full battery. The tech at Ruger told me that the problem would clear after 50 to 75 rounds were fired.

Has anyone had a similar experience ?

Mine seemed to get worse after 20-30 rounds. I ran 80 though and it was still doing it, as well as locking the slide when chambering a round at just a hair from full battery.

I'm beginning to wonder if the real problem IS that it's just not going fully into battery. If so, I'll clean, lube and give it a few more rounds. After all, it's a short cycle gun and short cycle has obvious potential for problems. Physics is physics.