M9 Trigger Reset Problems and Fixes

Its always hard to make a diagnosis when you can't see the patient, but I would say that you're heading in the right direction by trying a different brand of ammunition and improving grip form next time around.

The Steyr M-series is built to tight tolerances and does not handle certain brands of ammunition well. Some brands of ammunition are so poorly manufactured that I avoid them at all costs anyways. The Steyr grip is different from most pistols and for good reason to facilitate a natural point to improve marksmanship. That said, some people have difficulty at first with "limp wristing," there are excellent tutorials on this website to help you achieve proper grip. However, practice makes perfect and I'm sure you'll get use to the Steyr grip very quickly.

I would also do a complete cleaning on your weapon as per the cleaning tutorial on this website as Steyr M-series pistols may have been in storage for years without cleaning before reaching the buyer. Go beyond a simple field strip if possible to reach all those hard too clean places. Often gunk does build up in the trigger housing and other parts that are not cleaned during a field strip.

If you really want to know what is wrong with your pistol take a camera with you to the range next time and take some pictures of your pistol, ammunition, spent casings, and the interior of your pistol afterwards. There are individuals on here who have experienced the same problems and been able to correct it that can help you.

Safe Shooting

mtobias,

i'm truly sorry guys, this turned into a super long post but i think i can help.

i own 2 steyrs. love 'em. bought an s40 used: trigger didn't reset. FREQUENTLY. did the only logical thing... bought a brand new M9. trigger didn't reset. sent them both to steyr repair (remember when we could do that?) they claimed to have fixed both of them, however day one at the range revealed that the trigger still failed to reset. he has subsequently confided in me a few tips tweaks and upgrades to ensure proper functioning, which in my experience totally worked.

step 1 pull your firing pin assembly out. there should be a guide pin, a spring and a notched piece of metal holding the spring on the guide post. this notched piece of metal is refered to as a weight. (as in it affects trigger pull weight via spring preload. part #45) some steyrs have two weights, some have one. the spring is unchanged. the single weight doesn't put enough preload on the spring to pull the sear onto the post while going into battery. which is the definition of your trigger reseting. if the firing pin spring compresses too much when the slide is coming forward, the tang on the bottom of the firing pin will simply ride over the sear, hence your trigger is not reset. (add light primer ammo and you can double tap/full auto all day long. and it SUCKS) the right fix is add a weight. the right now fix is tug on the spring to make it longer, which will add the necessary preload when reassebled. one of my springs is really stretched out, which is bad, but either gun will run with either one, so you really can't stretch it too much to get the gun to work. at some point you're increasing trigger pull effort. longevity of the really stretched out spring is unknown. mine's gone around 2000 rounds so far. incidentally, while you have the firing pin assembly apart, its a great time to polish that guide rod, as well as remove any burrs from your weight. a burr on the weight will make a nice scratch in your guide rod, conveniently at the point the trigger would like to break and make your trigger gritty and break inconsistently.

step 2 with the top end off the gun (slide barrel etc...) pull the trigger. listen for a definitive click. if you hear a click you have trouble easily solved. if no click good. (i'll tell you how to fix the click if you need me to later.) keep pulling it, what you'll notice is that there is one little spring that pulls on the sear, both forward and up that is on the opposite side of the drop safety. this holds the sear so that the firing pin can grab onto it when it goes back into battery. this spring also acts to push the sear into the drop safety. (I'd love to get the spec. on sear area frame width and sear width.) this can be trouble if you have a burr on the side of the sear that is touching the drop safety, it can prevent the sear from getting up onto the post. you should be able to push the sear down and have it pop right back up. it goes down so the firing pin can bypass it on recoil but needs to pop back up on the return. if it doesn't pop right back up, you got trouble. take the sear and the drop safety out and polish the two mating surfaces. be careful though, the more metal you remove, the more that the sear twists in between the sub frame rails and the more pressure it can exert on the drop safety.

step 3 dry fire. really slam the slide ( no way you'll hurt anything) it should reset everytime no matter how hard or soft you do it, but make sure you hold the trigger to the rear while the slide is moving. i'd shoot for two hundred clean dry fires before i wasted money on ammo. do it 30 at a time a few times a day with leather gloves to save your elbow and your skin. if that's gold, you're gold. but that's what all steyr shooters are. if not... you're still gold: we'll work on the gun.

try these few things. there are more things to consider but these are the first.

Reset problems gone!

OK, I don't know all the techical terms of the trigger mechanism and I don't have the manual in front of me, so I'll do my best.
I fired 150 rounds a couple of days ago with 0 reset issues! The last time I fired my gun, it was perfectly clean and would not reset at all...
What did I do? [After another cleaning...] I applied a small amount of light grease-type lube I got at WalMart to the underside of the sear in the following areas: the slots where the pin that the sear hinges on rides and the area where the metal arm that comes from the trigger interfaces with [what I think is] the drop-safety and the sear. I added a tiny bit between the sear and insides of the main frame rails. I also applied a small amount of the light grease-type lube to the interface between the trigger safety and the top of the trigger. Basically, everywhere that moves during the trigger reset.
Also, I made sure to remove all lube from the outside of the firing pin and the firing pin channel. I did put some Eezox inside of the pin, where the spring is. If that area is dry, the slide has trouble going fully back into battery when hand cycled.
This cured my problems, so hopefully it will work for you.