More photos further down in the thread!!!
If you purchased a Ruger LC9 and are experiencing repeated unexplained misfires, don't sell that pistol. Fix it instead.
Here is what happened. I reload my own ammo and use good quality components. I purchased a new Ruger LC9 a while back and shot my reloads with no problem whatsoever. I was running low on 9mm so I went to my local reloader supply house to pick up some more bullets and primers. Surprise, Surprise, with all this talk of Obama getting re-elected and coming after our guns, all the reloading supplies in common calibers were flying off the shelf. There were no 9mm bullets or small pistol primers in stock to purchase. I elected instead to head over to Walmart and buy a few boxes of Remington 115 grain FMJ for some plinking practice.
I headed out to the range and shot a few mags in my Sig 9mm. No problems whatsoever. I then took out my little Ruger LC9, unloaded the handloads out of the magazine and filled it up with Walmart Remington rounds. I shot a magazine full and reloaded. I fired a shot and then the next one misfired. From then on, every other round misfired. I had to eject the round and then put it back in for it to fire... What the heck?
I went home and took the pistol completely apart and inspected the firing pin. The pin had brass shavings all over it. I presumed that this is not normal. I've never seen it with any of my other pistols. I figured that the brass shavings were blocking the firing pin causing the problem. I cleaned everything and decided to chamfer the top of the firing pin hole a bit so the case would not rub on the top of the firing pin hole while loading. This seems to work nicely on a 1911 from what I've heard.
Satisfied with my gunsmithing job, I put it back together and went to the range this weekend with NGSHARPSHOOTER. I fired off a couple mags of the Walmart 9mm Remington with no problems. I offered to let him shoot it and wouldn't you know it... It misfired on his second shot and then proceeded to misfire several more times. Wow, was this a letdown. I decided to do some more research.
I found out that it wasn't the case rim rubbing on the top of the firing pin hole causing the problem. It was the bottom... The short barrel on this and some other CCW pistols tilt down at a sharp angle after the round is fired. It has to do this to eject properly and load the next round. The softer primers on cheap Walmart budget ammo tends to mushroom out more than good quality primers, especially the ones I use in hand loading. When the primer bulges out around the firing pin, a little bit of that primer gets shaved off as the barrel is tilting down to eject the spent case.
Long story short... Here's how to fix it. Chamfer the firing pin hole... all the way around. This will prevent the brass from the primer or case rim from being shaved off by the sharp edges on the firing pin hole. In turn, you can expect 100% dependability out of the Ruger LC9 from then on.
I can't believe that Ruger would put out such a nice little pistol and not chamfer the firing pin hole. I have also read about people sending their LC9 back to Ruger only to have them replace the slide and barrel and tell the customer not to shoot cheap ammo. They still are not fixing the cause of the problem in my opinion. Chamfer the hole and forget about it.
You can chamfer it with a round tipped dremel bit but I recommend you not use a Dremel tool. Do it by hand so you don't mess up anything.
Here are some photos I found of the primer metal being shaved off and the result of chamfering the firing pin hole.
Credit for photo: http://www.homedefenseweapons.net/883-ruger-lc9-failure-to-fire-ftf/
Credit for photo: http://alabamaopencarry.com/forum/index.php?topic=2247.15
If you purchased a Ruger LC9 and are experiencing repeated unexplained misfires, don't sell that pistol. Fix it instead.
Here is what happened. I reload my own ammo and use good quality components. I purchased a new Ruger LC9 a while back and shot my reloads with no problem whatsoever. I was running low on 9mm so I went to my local reloader supply house to pick up some more bullets and primers. Surprise, Surprise, with all this talk of Obama getting re-elected and coming after our guns, all the reloading supplies in common calibers were flying off the shelf. There were no 9mm bullets or small pistol primers in stock to purchase. I elected instead to head over to Walmart and buy a few boxes of Remington 115 grain FMJ for some plinking practice.
I headed out to the range and shot a few mags in my Sig 9mm. No problems whatsoever. I then took out my little Ruger LC9, unloaded the handloads out of the magazine and filled it up with Walmart Remington rounds. I shot a magazine full and reloaded. I fired a shot and then the next one misfired. From then on, every other round misfired. I had to eject the round and then put it back in for it to fire... What the heck?
I went home and took the pistol completely apart and inspected the firing pin. The pin had brass shavings all over it. I presumed that this is not normal. I've never seen it with any of my other pistols. I figured that the brass shavings were blocking the firing pin causing the problem. I cleaned everything and decided to chamfer the top of the firing pin hole a bit so the case would not rub on the top of the firing pin hole while loading. This seems to work nicely on a 1911 from what I've heard.
Satisfied with my gunsmithing job, I put it back together and went to the range this weekend with NGSHARPSHOOTER. I fired off a couple mags of the Walmart 9mm Remington with no problems. I offered to let him shoot it and wouldn't you know it... It misfired on his second shot and then proceeded to misfire several more times. Wow, was this a letdown. I decided to do some more research.
I found out that it wasn't the case rim rubbing on the top of the firing pin hole causing the problem. It was the bottom... The short barrel on this and some other CCW pistols tilt down at a sharp angle after the round is fired. It has to do this to eject properly and load the next round. The softer primers on cheap Walmart budget ammo tends to mushroom out more than good quality primers, especially the ones I use in hand loading. When the primer bulges out around the firing pin, a little bit of that primer gets shaved off as the barrel is tilting down to eject the spent case.
Long story short... Here's how to fix it. Chamfer the firing pin hole... all the way around. This will prevent the brass from the primer or case rim from being shaved off by the sharp edges on the firing pin hole. In turn, you can expect 100% dependability out of the Ruger LC9 from then on.
I can't believe that Ruger would put out such a nice little pistol and not chamfer the firing pin hole. I have also read about people sending their LC9 back to Ruger only to have them replace the slide and barrel and tell the customer not to shoot cheap ammo. They still are not fixing the cause of the problem in my opinion. Chamfer the hole and forget about it.
You can chamfer it with a round tipped dremel bit but I recommend you not use a Dremel tool. Do it by hand so you don't mess up anything.
Here are some photos I found of the primer metal being shaved off and the result of chamfering the firing pin hole.
Credit for photo: http://www.homedefenseweapons.net/883-ruger-lc9-failure-to-fire-ftf/
Credit for photo: http://alabamaopencarry.com/forum/index.php?topic=2247.15
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