[banddr2]

I just want to report my first FTFire since I took six coils off of my striker spring a couple of months ago. I was doing some 25 yard work with my 9mm QA today, using Winchester White box. It was very windy, about 15 mph, and still was able to group in the 4 to 6" range, this is just an awsome firearm!!! Since I was doing careful aiming I was pulling the trigger slowly and had one round out of 100 that failed to fire. I inspected it and there was a primer strike, put it in again and with another slow pull of the trigger, failed again. I recocked and snap pulled the trigger and it fired. This is the first failure in about 400 rounds since I did the modification. Otherwise my QA has been flawless out of the box both before and after the removal of the coils. Thought this might be of interest to those who have and are considering removing coils from their striker spring, happy shooting

 

[Navy87Guy]

Just out of curiosity (not that I'm planning on doing it), how much of a difference do you notice between the trigger pull pre- and post-modification?

I'm trying to figure a mechanical reason that pulling the trigger rapidly versus slowly would affect how hard the striker hits the primer....since it's all about distance and spring tension. The striker travels back to the same starting position no matter how fast you shoot...which means the same spring pressure. In fact, you might argue that pulling fast could actually reduce striker power, because F=ma and the spring would have to overcome greater rearward force due to the striker moving back faster (although I think that's probably canceled by a positive stop at the back of the travel). What makes you think the speed of the trigger pull had anything to do with the round firing?

Thanks,
Jim

 

[Hal8000]

I was afraid of this happening. I would never assume to know better than the manufacturer in matters like this. It’s alright, I suppose if your only going to use the firearm on the range, but if protecting my family is a reason to own the gun, I leave it stock and proven…

There is the possibility that it was simply a “bad” round, with a faulty primer, primer set, or casing… That is not out of the question. More rounds down range will prove that…

Don’t forget that one of the P99’s best features as far as I’m concerned (at least over a Glock) is the second strike capability… Just pull the trigger again! I’d just give it a couple of hits, then call it bad and shuck a new round and keep going! You can look at the round later to determine what’s going on, meantime, it’s a good time to practice “what to do when it don’t go bang!”

 

[Nocturnal]

Of course in a defense situation you're probably better of racking the slide and discarding the round after it fails to pop on the first try. Then again maybe the adrenaline will cause you to pull the trigger again anyway

 

[BreakerDave]

Quote[/b] (Hal8000 @ April 25 2005,12:24)]Don’t forget that one of the P99’s best features as far as I’m concerned (at least over a Glock) is the second strike capability… Just pull the trigger again! I’d just give it a couple of hits, then call it bad and shuck a new round and keep going! You can look at the round later to determine what’s going on, meantime, it’s a good time to practice “what to do when it don’t go bang!”

Don't forget that the modification was done to a P99 QA so, like a Glock, there is no second strike capability (unless the user partially racks the slide).

I was worried about this modification as well.  Two gunsmiths I had spoken with about reducing trigger pull on the QA thought nothing could be done until a kit comes out.  When I asked them about cutting coils from the striker spring, they believed it would compromise the gun's reliability.  It looks like they were right...

 

[Hal8000]

Oh yeah! Your right of course! Didnt mean to make an AS of myself.  

 

[sniper350]

Something to think about gentlemen,

Of the many fire fights I have been engaged in (in 10 years I have worked on a Tactical team)

Afterwards,I have never said "darn" that trigger pull seemed to be a little heavy or hard to pull.    LOL

It was lucky there was a grip left on my gun most of the times!

If you want your gun to go "Bang" when it counts.......be very careful about straying from factory specs.

JF

 

[Nocturnal]

Wise words from the field indeed.

 

[Navy87Guy]

I don't have anything like sniper350's real-world experience, but I know that when I was under "simulated stress" during a two-day defensive pistol course, I don't think I ever noticed the DA pull on my Sig, let alone the difference a few coils from the recoil spring would have made. It's sort of the same thing with the "AS" shot on my P99...about the only time I notice that extra bit of trigger travel is when I'm dry firing.

I'm not the adventurous type...I don't think I'll be trying any homemade mods to my carry gun. It works fine, lasts a long time. I think I'll keep it that way!

Jim

 

[banddr2]

Navy87Guy,  I don't understand the quick versus slow trigger pull either, it is just what happened.  As to the difference in trigger pull after the modification, it made a big difference in long range target shooting.  Short range, not so much.  This is my target gun, I would not be interested in a lighter QA for a carry gun, as I think it is light enough from the factory, maybe too light for some.  The modification has helped my target shooting, which is my main reason for doing it.  I have alway lightened the hammer springs on my other walthers and sigs and have never had a problem. In those cases I always used Wolff springs, which are not available for QA's(there may be a reason for that). It could of been a bad primer, this was factory Winchester White box which has an excellent reputation for reliability.  I will report again when I get about to 1000 rds and see if it happens again.

 

[alex]

Quote[/b] (banddr2 @ April 27 2005,12:23)]

shot an additional 100 rd value pack of wwb today and no probs. with 5 coils removed from factory spring. the huge-ass box looked like a dirty swiss cheeze after being pounded by my .40 at about 30 yds

 

[banddr2]

Range report update:

I shot an additional 200 rds today with no failures of any kind. I am going to consider the original FTFire problem a bad primer, which is very unusual, but possible. Today I shot: white box, speer 115 & 124+p, 115 hydroshock and 124 Federal HP's. Accuracy is still incredible

 

[onebigcubano]

Problem solved.

I also agree...even as a noobie shooter my first IDPA match I didn't even notice the first long, hard pull nor did I notice the DA to SA transition from the first to the second shot.