WheelyGuy

OK, I've had my new (to me) lc9 out for a couple of test runs. There's good news and (perhaps) bad news.

Good news; it worked fine with 3 out of the 4 different types of hollow point ammo that I tried; WWB 147 grain, and two different types of Hornady. The only one it didn't like was the Corbon 115 grain +p. And that's no biggie since I didn't really care for that anyway, just something I had left over from trying to find something that would work with the kel tec.

Bad news? For some reason I had repeated FTE's while using Winchester 115 grain ball. This surprised me since even the kel tec would shoot that with no complaint. It worked fine with the Speer 115 grain ball.

So what gives with that? I know autos can sometimes be a little picky about certain types of ammo, but I thought that 115 grain target stuff was acceptable to just about anything. And why with the Winchester but not the Speer?

The guy at the lgs thought perhaps the extractor was in need of replacement. Could that do it? And could that be the problem with the Corbon as well? The Corbon didn't feed properly, but if the extractor is slow in ejecting the old shell that could have caused that problem maybe?

I am pleased that it worked well with the hollow point stuff. I would be comfortable carrying Hornady in it, but if the extractor is a little gimpy would it go out on me at the worst possible time?

Advice is welcome, especially from you gun smith types who would know far more about this than I would.

bangstick

I had a fte problem with a batch of wwb in my lc9. It was the ammo. Check the brass the 100 box of wwb i had was really gummy\dirty\sticky. Never had a prob with any other brand including other wwb that was clean.

blinddog

Also, how many rounds do you have through your pistol? It may still be in the break in period and will get over the FTE after a few rounds. How is your grip? Just checking.If you dont have a couple of hundred rounds through your pistol it is not broken in yet and may still need some range time.

jsiberians

I shot a lot of wwb 115gr fmj for target and not a problem in the bunch.
I have heard that a light grip (limp wristing) sometimes causes some problems in pistols.
Make sure you have a firm grip.
Clean it good and try shooting again mayne another fresh box of ammo, could be a bad batch.
If the problem continues just call Ruger cust. serv. See what they say, heres the contact site info.:

Ruger Contact

Try the prescot location they handle all pistol models.

For my ccw I use the Win. Ranger TS 147gr hp.

WheelyGuy

Don't know how many rounds through it. I bought it used, and I've prolly put 200 or close to that through it, so it should be past any break in.

And it worked well with most of what I tried, so I don't think I'm limp wristing or anything like that.

I guess I should just give it a good cleaning and try again. Maybe get a fresh box of WWB and try that.

robkarrob

I had the same FTF with Winchester White Box target ammo. I switched to Federal Champion, from WalMart, and have not had a single FTF since, over 1000 rounds. I would guess the white box has a slightly harder primers.

rrockefe

I don't think anybody should accept FTF on any brand of ammo. That's just a convenient excuse for poor design and trying to work around it. Those guns should go back to Ruger without question. They did make a redesign on the firing pin which addressed this problem early in the year.

I sent mine back for the excessive length trigger pull after I called customer service. They said they would check it to spec and if it was out of spec they would refund my shipping expense. When I got it back the rework order indicated they had replaced the trigger bar and the firing pin. The trigger pull was improved to the point that I decided to keep the gun. I requested reimbursement for shipping since it was obviously out of spec and they complied without a problem, even though it did take a long time. Several forum posts during that time period indicated they also had the firing pins replaced during factory service even though they had not requested it nor had any problems with light strikes. I also had no problem with this at any time. So, clearly, they were replacing the old pins whenever they serviced a gun.

My trigger pull is longer than I prefer, but I can now shoot it without it banging up my finger on the trigger guard. It used to draw blood once in a while before I sent it back. I recently got a trigger pull gauge from Dillons to check my pistols and found this one goes off at around 6 1/4 lbs.

Throughout this experience there has never been a failure to go bang, or eject. Probably by now I have a couple thousand rounds through it.

AquaHull

I've seen a couple of squibs with WWB FMJ-RN bulk ammo lately. Both were in a Taurus , so I would like to just blame the gun maker, but I can't knowing it's not the guns fault the bullet stuck in the barrel.


So with that in mind, a FTEject could surely happen with an underpowered load as well as a stuck in barrel squib.

WheelyGuy

Dang it!! Finally had the LC9 to the range again (after a good cleaning) and still having the same problem. As far as hollow points, still doing OK. But with 115 grain ball the only kind it seems to like is Speer lawman stuff.

With the other stuff (winchester and federal) the same problem; periodically it would fail to extract the case after firing. And once I dropped the mag and pulled the slide back the empty case would just fall out, so its not like the stuff was dirty (it wasn't) or had expanded so much that it was fitting into the chamber too tightly.

I wonder if the extractor is weak. But why not with ALL ammo?

Guess I'll have to call Ruger. &#(%##@@!! Why can't things work for me the way they're supposed to work!!!

WheelyGuy

Well I've never been accused of being a quick thinker. But while I was leaving a message for Ruger service it hit me;

All of these extraction failures have occured with 115 grain ammo, including the Corbon 115 +p hollow point that it didn't like. All other weight rounds work fine.

What could be up with that?

moakes58

Nothing, I don't believe the extractor cares what weight bullet just left the barrel. I know you said you cleaned the gun, but I make sure a drop or 2 of lube gets down in the extractor & work it a little.

I have used at least 8 kinds of ammo on my LC9, almost all 115g FMJ range practice ammo, without a fail to extract. Good Luck & don't give up, it's a quality CCW for me.

WGolf

Most of what I shoot in my LC9 is 115gr. No problems. Any idea how old it is? Also, in the instructions for mine (2012 vintage) there is a warning that +P is a little hard on the LC9 and that it is not good for it. The othere warning state the LC9 is not rated for +P+. Don't know what else to tell you other than they may want to look at it at the factory. I also hate it when thingsdon't work like their supposed to. We have special curse words for this in engineering, but I'll post none here.