[peter skellen]

Hi guys. It finally happened: the dreaded BROKEN STRIKER! Why the hell does it happen? Metal Fatigue? Manufacturing defect? :wall: And yes, I use snapcaps.

To make it worse. Our country was embargoed by the Austrian Government in terms of firearms export, thus makin it difficult to get parts. Aww man!

 

[ETH77]

What can I say, it happens. It happened to me too. I suspect it's just a propagating defect site in the sintered metal of the striker. It may be connected with the "wipes" on the cartridge where the firing pin indentation is - there have been several pictures posted. Do you have the new or the old extractor?

 

[peter skellen]

@ETH77, I guess this still has the old extractor (mfg. date circa 2006). I agree with you about the connection with the wipes on the cartridge. I guess the tip of the striker is still embedded on the dented primer during the process of ejection, thus putting sideward pressure on it causing a fracture. Do you think the LCI is also involved with this problem?

 

[ETH77]

It might be, but my striker broke after my LCI had been smoothed off.

 

[unit1069]

It might be, but my striker broke after my LCI had been smoothed off.

Where can I get a striker and how much does it cost?

 

[ETH77]

Call SAI, Jeff has the parts. If you want a spare, I think they have them. For price, Jeff is the man with whom to speak. Note that other than mine, this is the only striker breakage I can remember being posted. It is not a frequent occurrence.

 

[Shadow]

Oct 2010 M40-A1, babied and use of snap-caps...Striker-death #2 reporting in! >.< Got this thing last December, calling Jeff this afternoon..
FWIW the LCI can't be related, as mine doesn't have it (latest gen). My thinking is alongside Peter's - but not involving ejection. If you pop off your slide, and feel the striker in the slide without removing it (wiggle the back), it has quite a bit of wiggle room, mechanically speaking. If the tip is off, or loose, just by a hair, then in the process of coming forward onto the primer, it can strike at an odd angle.
I'd be interested to know how many more of these occurrences have happened...and would SteyrArms cover the repairs?

 

[theridane]

Yesterday I noticed that I had been CCing a firearm that goes "click" instead of "bang". That's potentially lethal.

The gun's an S9-A1, January 2009. My striker break looks exactly like yours - around 6 mm are missing. This is after maybe 500 rounds through a brand new gun. Purrs like a kitten.

I looked down the striker channel and found an irregularity at the far end where the striker hits during dry fire. [SM]-A1 owners, could you do me (us) a favor? Remove your striker and look down the striker channel. Do you see a smooth surface at the far end (drilled or lathed), or do you see something rough? I'll try taking a pic of the channel with a macro lens later. Turns out it was just some general gunk. Brass, lube, dust. Nothing that could kill a healthy striker.

My Steyr dealer is shipping a replacement (for $70), but it'll take two weeks to get here for some reason. I'll try to whip something up on a lathe in the meantime.

 

[Syntax360]

$70?! WTF - where are you located? I cannot believe Steyr would not make this right at no cost...

 

[babj615]

$70?! WTF - where are you located? I cannot believe Steyr would not make this right at no cost...

I agree. Have you contacted Steyr directly?

FWIW, $70 sounds way too high, and I think Steyr would likely just swap it for you.

 

[theridane]

Czech Republic. We call our local traders "gold miners", 100% markup is not uncommon. It's usually cheaper (2, 3 times) to ship everything from China, US or anywhere else, unfortunately there is a ludicrous amount of red tape when it comes to gun parts.

But no, I haven't tried to contact Steyr directly. I'll give it a try (best case I end up with a spare, if pricy, striker).

 

[theridane]

I wonder why the business end of it isn't as massive as e.g. Glock's.