Glock 17 Light Primer Strikes

**Yoder** · July 31st, 2009, 05:19 PM

I just started having a major problem with the last 50 rds I shot. I went from a 11lb to a 13lb recoil spring and increased the powder on my reloads to 4.6 gr of Titegroup with 115 gr FMJ OAL 1.150.

I stripped down my Glock slide yesterday and cleaned everything. Removed the firing pin assemblly and cleaned everything out. I know I put everything back together correctly. Today on my 5th box of reloads I started getting misfires. At first I thought cheap Remington primers then it happened about 5x. All but one had defined indents where the piring pin hit. One it looked light. I tried each round a second time and they all fired. I'll rip down the gun again and check it but is it possible to seat primers too hard? I'm using a Lee Turret press to seat the primers. Could this be an assembly problem?

**knighthawk06699** · July 31st, 2009, 05:24 PM

Originally Posted by Yoder

I just started having a major problem with the last 50 rds I shot. I went from a 11lb to a 13lb recoil spring and increased the powder on my reloads to 4.6 gr of Titegroup with 115 gr FMJ OAL 1.150.

I stripped down my Glock slide yesterday and cleaned everything. Removed the firing pin assemblly and cleaned everything out. I know I put everything back together correctly. Today on my 5th box of reloads I started getting misfires. At first I thought cheap Remington primers then it happened about 5x. All but one had defined indents where the piring pin hit. One it looked light. I tried each round a second time and they all fired. I'll rip down the gun again and check it but is it possible to seat primers too hard? I'm using a Lee Turret press to seat the primers. Could this be an assembly problem?

Sounds to me like to need to replace your striker spring. Very easy and simple spring to replace.

**RobW** · July 31st, 2009, 07:37 PM

Originally Posted by knighthawk06699

Sounds to me like to need to replace your striker spring. Very easy and simple spring to replace.

Could be the gun, or you could have a primer seating problem with the press. It's easy to short stroke and not 'push' the primers home fully. The firing pin seats the primer for you! We were chatting about reliability on a progressive the other day - this is the number one reason I prime off the press.

--RobW

**punxsutawneypete** · July 31st, 2009, 10:08 PM

Particularly if I have a match coming up I put all my reloads through a Lee Priming Tool. This gets rid of jamming a cylinder with a high primer and supposedly makes the primers a little more sensitive. It would also let all of the power of the firing pin go toward ignition.

**Yoder** · August 1st, 2009, 11:10 AM

I checked all my reloads and the primers all look flush. I took the gun apart this morning and noticed the firing pin safety was worn. I remembered playing around with where the trigger spring attaches a few weeks ago trying to drop trigger pull weight. I tweaked where the spring attaches and bent it forward slightly. Looking closely at the gun I believe this adjustment prevented the firing pin safety from fully depressing when the gun fired. It looks like the firing pin was just grazing the firing pin safety slowing it down and possibly causing the light primer strikes. I just tweaked it back and I'll test it out today and see how it works. I think the moral of the story is don't screw with your gun. From now on only factory parts.

**allglock** · August 1st, 2009, 11:17 AM

Originally Posted by Yoder

I think the moral of the story is don't screw with your gun. From now on only factory parts.

Thats some wise thinking!

**Yoder** · August 2nd, 2009, 05:12 PM

Well, I tested it out and I don't think it's the gun anymore. I noticed a couple times slide not returning all the way. It stopped short about 1/8 inch short and I had to hit the slide forward. If I hit the slide every time the gun had no problem. I just put a heavier spring on my gun, but I also increased the powder. It's only a 13lb spring so it should have been OK. I also decreased the amount of crimp I was using. I found if I put a lot tighter grip on the gun it worked almost every shot. Now I've had this gun a long time and I've never had to alter my grip for it to function correctly. I think I'm going back to my 11lb spring and comparing my old rounds with the new reloads with a set of calipers to see the difference. So far I have to say reloading is a big pain in the ass.