[AGoyette]

Hi there,

My eldest daughter loves my M40-A1 but does not like the recoil. So this weekend she bought an 2004 M9 at the local gun show. We took it home and I showed her how to clean and lube it. We fired it at the range today. She loves it, but with all three mags. the slide would not lock open after the last round had been fired. The trigger safety does not reset 75-80% of the time when dry firing it, but it worked fine with live ammo. Also her first shot today we got a light primer hit. We were shooting UMC factory ammo, 115 grain, jacketed round nose. Ideas?

 

[MrApathy]

Does the slide lock back on empty mag when pulling slide by hand?
odd about the trigger safety not reseting during dry firing shouldnt matter if dry firing or live ammo.
Was the gun used or mags used?
Did the striker channel get cleaned out and lightly lubed?
UMC ammo doesnt have that hard of a primer CCI,S&B and some comblock stuff has tough primers
UMC falls in the middle.

my original M9/M40 could setoff cci small rifle primers it doesnt get tougher than that.

 

[AGoyette]

To answer your questions. No, the slide doesn't lock back about 80% of the time. It is better with an empty mag in it. Yes I took out the striker and thoroughly cleaned it, the spring & the striker channel. I also blew it out with canned air to make sure that there was nothing clogging the hole. It was filthy! I did forget to put some oil on a qtip & rub the qtip in the channel. So the only oil was Hoppes. The gun is used (build date is April 2004) and it came with 3 mags. I have to assume that they are used too. It did not lock open after the last shot with any of the mags.

 

[dasher635]

Have a look at this.

http://www.steyrclub.com/vb/threads/2943-M9-A1-issues-Check-this

Enjoy,
Tim

 

[Syntax360]

If the slide isn't locking back, the mag springs are shot and need to be replaced.

 

[elsullo]

I have seen many posts on many boards about MANY brands of pistols malfunctioning with Remington UMC 115 grain ammo, and also with the 115 grain Winchester White Box. These are both minimally powered cheapo 9mm cartridges, and cause a majority of easy fixes for malfunctions---try better ammo! Especially, try 124 grain and/or Plus-P ammo..................elsullo

 

[MrApathy]

If the slide isn't locking back, the mag springs are shot and need to be replaced.

beat me to it

trigger safety spring may need to be replaced.

 

[AGoyette]

I tested her gun with an empty mag tonight. It locked open every time. Next idea?

 

[ETH77]

Check how she places her right thumb when shooting. I'm assuming she's right handed. When my Steyr was new to me, I inadvertently released the slide because I was pressing on the slide release while shooting. Making sure that the thumb is below the slide release keeps that from being a problem.

 

[dasher635]

Did you take a look at the link I sent you? There are mags that have wrong springs and wrong followers. I have an S9 and a M9 with about 20 mags. I found some with short springs and .40 followers instead of 9mm.

http://www.steyrclub.com/vb/threads/2943-M9-A1-issues-Check-this

After correcting mags followers, springs and extractors, my guns are rock solid.
Enjoy,
Tim

 

[AGoyette]

ETH77,
Your question is a valid question since the eldest is not used to shooting a Steyr (unlike the youngest who has shot mine quite a bit). I don't remember if the slide locked open when I shot the M9. I just asked my youngest daughter if it locked open after the last shot for her and she said no, it did not. She is used to shooting my M40-A1 and has no issues with it. So I don't think she was putting fingers where they are not supposed to be since she is used to the configuration of the Steyr.

 

[madcow19]

Unfortunately, no one's hand (yours included) can replicate the forces or speed that occur when firing a live round, so just because the slide locks back when you manually rack the gun, doesn't mean it will do it when it's traveling 10 times faster.

I had problems with my brand new C9-A1 not locking open. The original springs in my 15 rounders were on the shorter side of the spectrum, but Jeff at SAI sent me some new ones (same as the 17 rnd mags) and it's been flawless since. Made it really hard to get the 15th round in, and when you get it in, it can make it hard to rack the gun if you insert them with the barrel in battery, but it reliably locks back. Some maybe contact Jeff, he might send you some new ones. Otherwise the quickest solution is to get some new magazines. Brownell's had 17 rounders on sale a while back. I just looked and they're back to "regular" price but still in stock...


One more thing, Remington ammo, especially the 115 JHP, has given me the most trouble of any ammo. I had 1 FTE in 600 rounds of WWB, a few hard primers with Tula (steel cased), but the 100 rounds of the Rem JHP gave me 3 FTE and a lock up. Again, Jeff said there's been some complaints with that ammo. Never had a problem with 124 gr anything.

 

[AGoyette]

Latest update...
I bought myself a 2011 M9-A1 (to go with my M40-A1). I also bought myself an extra mag. to go with that gun. The extra mag. is the +1 mag as are the two mags that came with the gun. The daughter is off traveling with her gun. When she comes back I will try her gun with my mags to see if it is a mag issue. I do know that the new gun extracts the brass beautifully, but ejecting is another issue. I put the 1911 plunger spring in (since it was already cut down) and it made it worse. So I am going to remove it. Next I am going to have my husband shoot it just to eliminate limp wristing (which I don't think I am doing, and he said I did not do when he watched me shoot on Father's Day) and I am going to try different ammo. The plus side is the eldest daughters M9 extracts and ejects beautifully.

 

[madcow19]

What exactly is the nature of your ejection problems? My C9 spit brass very randomly, often on my head. Once again I called Jeff at SAI and he sent me a new extractor Did the 1911 trick at the same time. Brass ejection is still rather random but flies far enough that one hasn't hit me in the head yet.

I think trying know good magazines is a great way to diagnose what's wrong. We like to call that swapnostics!