Ejection Problems, (Primer Scraping upon ejection)

3374 Views 14 Replies 5 Participants Last post by celsee, Dec 8, 2005

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Discussion Starter · Nov 15, 2005

I am a new member here and I have owned my Steyr M40 for about a year now. I have been able to fire much this year and love it. But I have had a bit of a problem with the ejection of the empty shells.

The shells eject out fine but I noticed on the primer, a scrape that extends upto but not into the brass. I cannot figure out what is going wrong. It seems as if the firing pin is catching the primer on the way out.

I also have had a few problems with the slide not going fully into battery as others here have. That only happens after about 100 rounds or so.

I am most concerned about the ejection problem, Can anyone help?

Has anyone experienced this problem?

TIA

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Discussion Starter · #2 · Nov 15, 2005

http://www.steyrclub.com/modules.php?na ... r&start=15

OK I remember pictures of primer drag marks and having this discussion, can anyone dig up the thread, I can't seem to find it.

bigtaco

· #3 · Nov 15, 2005

as long as it ejects fine, i wouldn't worry about it.

it's possible that the primer scratch occurs as the round gets pulled up from the magazine. chamber a round and jack it out to check.

it's also possible that the pointy lci is dinging it on the way out. my lci would ding the brass until i touched it with some 1000 grit. now i don't even get brass flakes.

G

Discussion Starter · #4 · Nov 15, 2005

Hmm, where would i polish it/ or touch it up with sandpaper?

I would love to eliminate this problem, I get brass flakes like I spilled a box of corn flakes.

But as I look at the brass, the scrape begins at the point of primer strike and is extended outward to the brass but not on it.

Deluxe247

· #5 · Nov 15, 2005

If the FP is actually catching/dragging on the the spent case then I would clean out the firing pin channel and the FP itself if you haven't already. Did this happen from day 1 or did it start occurring over time?

The FP channel can get pretty cruddy after a while especially if you have been shooting a lot.

The LCI (loaded chamber indicator) is notorious for causing the brass flaking. The spring is a little too strong.

As far as not going into battery, there are three things that usually cause this:

1. The extractor is full of gunk and does not move through it's full range of motion and can't get over the rim of the case. Go here to find out how to clean/remove: http://www.steyrclub.com/modules.php?na ... page&pid=3

2. The rails on the bottom of the slide that force the next round into the chamber might be "binding up" on the rounds in the magazine. You might want to polish this area (where you see the brass build-up):

Use a Dremel if you can with a felt polishing attachment or real fine sandpaper. The key here is a little polishing at a time though, don't go overboard.

3. Limp-wristing. This will cause all kinds of problems with these light weight pistols.

-D

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G

Discussion Starter · #6 · Nov 15, 2005

Thank You very much, I will try these and see how it performs.

Thanks again

steveinaz

· #7 · Nov 15, 2005

Primer "drag" can also be an indication that your recoil spring is ready for replacement.

To check:
With an unloaded weapon, empty magazine in place, point it skyward at about 11 o'clock; pull back on the slide and "ride" it foward slowly while depressing the slide lock/release, allowing the slide to move past the empty mag. At the last 1/4" of travel, let it go. The slide should lock completely---if it doesn't your recoil spring needs replacing.

G

Discussion Starter · #8 · Nov 15, 2005

Thanks for that bit, I tried the recomended and the slide does not return all the way. The recoil spring is weak and needs replacement.

Are there any suggestions on where to purchase a aftermarket spring? Something a bit stronger than what was in there to begin with.

TIA

steveinaz

· #9 · Nov 15, 2005

Can't help you there bubba, I'm sure somebody will chime in that knows a source...

uncle_walty

· #10 · Nov 17, 2005

I have the primer drag from the FP on my M9, S9 and M357 almost all the time. Just thought it was a trait with the Steyr striker, like the ding on the brass from the LCI. Easy to tell which piece of 9mm brass is mine. Other than a rare FTE, usually when the gun hasn't been cleaned for a few hundred rounds, they all function fine. I clean the FP channel every time I clean the Steyrs since I've gotten a couple of light primer strikes before from brass flakes and stuff in the FP channel.

There is nothing to bring the Steyr FP/striker back after it hits the primer. i figured that the brass probably hits the ejector as the FP is riding over the sear and thus the FP tip maintains contact with the primer and drags over it as the brass is ejected. Haven't really taken a good look to see if that's really the case.

bigtaco

· #11 · Nov 18, 2005

just round over the tip of the pointy piece of metal that hits the brass. use one hand to push the lci from the rear of the slide and lightly rub the point with some 1000 grit.

works like a charm and keeps all that mess from getting in your firing pin channel and in the sear mechanism.

just don't take too much off, but you'd be there all day with 1000 grit before you took too much off.

celsee

· #12 · Dec 5, 2005

FTE'S! The bain of my life!

I have had my m9 for 7 months, have ran 650+ rounds through it, and it continues to give me an average of 2-3 fte's every 50 rounds. It happens when the gun is clean or dirty, on all my mags (5), at no particular shell in the mags; I have kept the ejector clean (remove to clean), the fp clean; I have tried leaving the gun dirty; I have gotten rid of the lci by grinding it down with a dremel. My next idea is to replace the ejector parts, am waiting on the availablility.
What I come up with is: the casing ends up just a little out of the barrel and the next round jams against it, as if the ejector comes off the case as it starts back; in reading this post I am now wondering if I have a weak recoil spring and the ejector sometimes does not clip onto the next round. I have tried the test given in this post to test the recoil spring; it is somewhat ify but still is a good place to start! Any new info on when the Steyr-USA Georgia will be up and running?
A thought on the fp dragging off the primer; I get this all the time and was having the problem with the lci denting the casing base; I noticed the travel of the fp would line up with the dent left by the lci. This leads me to believe (imho) the fp dribbles as the barrel drops just after firing.
-CLC

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bigtaco

· #13 · Dec 5, 2005

the part you're referring to as the ejector is actually the extractor. the extractor pulls the empty from the chamber, the ejector is fixed to the sub-frame of the pistol and bumps the empty out after it has been extracted.

have you tried both bevel orientations, big bevel in and big bevel out? mine works either way but it stands to reason that having the big bevel in and the small bevel out will make the extractor stiffer, ergo hang onto the round better.

one more question: this is most important!!!

do you tap your mags?

it is imperative with any magazine fed weapon that all the rounds are pushed to the rear of the mags (seated). it's standard military protocol to tap an m-16 mag on your thigh or helmet immdiately prior to insertion, even if you tapped it prior to storage.

the empty wants to fall down through the mag well, but the extractor keeps pulling it to the rear, as the new round holds it up to the point where the ejector can bump it out. try extracting a round without the magazine in place, you'll see what i mean.

what CAN happen is the empty being pulled from the chamber gets caught on the lip of the new round (the place where the casing and bullet meet). if the bottom of the empty hits this place on the new round, it can be enough to stop the empty's rearward travel while the slide continues back, creating a doublefeed.

my glock shooting instructors think tapping mags is baloney because glock mag springs are so stiff, it's virtually impossible to seat the rounds. i had never had a problem with fte s (other than umc, you're not shooting umc are you?) but i quit tapping my mags for ONE evening and had 2 jams. at which point they suggested i get a glock, at which point i never skipped tapping my mags and haven't had a problem since thank you very much.

the other possibility is that the chamber is TOO tight and won't relese the expanded-from-heat casing. but i suspect that if the chamber were too tight you would have failure to go into battery problems as well.

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G

Discussion Starter · #14 · Dec 5, 2005

met a guy today w/ a M9 he had just gotten back from steyr for FTE issues.
he ha d two w/ wwwb on his first mag once he got it back, but all his reloads ran fine.

they are up and running, call to arrange sending it in.

celsee

· #15 · Dec 8, 2005

I am very new to semi-autos and did not know about the double tapping, tried it on another 50 rounds, could feel the rounds move on the tap, but still had 3 fte's in 50. I had a new type of fte, the empty almost made it out, caught up btwn slide and barrel, half in/half/out.

I think it is time to call and ship this one in. I really like it but if can't resolve this problem the gun isn't much good to me.

Oh, I had tried rotating the extractor pin; did not help.

Thanks for the info! --clc

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