please help. Ruger had several failure to fires

waymore · August 4, 2012, 11:03 AM

I went to range yesterday and had several failure to fires with my Ruger LC9. I am including a picture of the problem I repeatedly found. You can tell that the primer was struck with firing pin but the bullet would not fire. this happened about 6 times in 50 rds. I don't think the ammo was the problem bc I fired about 50 rds of same ammo through my sig sp2022 without a problem. It was extremely frustrating dealing with this yesterday. I'm hoping someone might have some good advice or ideas of what is going on.

thanks,

jason

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moxie · August 4, 2012, 11:57 AM

Could be some dirt or dried oil/grease slowing down the striker. You might try flushing with solvent, drying, and dry firing a number of times. Then try shooting it again. If the problem persists, contact Ruger. They will want you to return it.

Creeper · August 4, 2012, 12:44 PM

Quote:

Could be some dirt or dried oil/grease slowing down the striker.

I'd be inclined to agree with moxie. A build up of brass/copper/schmutz can limit striker (firing pin) forward travel.

C

waymore · August 4, 2012, 01:02 PM

"Could be some dirt or dried oil/grease slowing down the striker. You might try flushing with solvent, drying, and dry firing a number of times. Then try shooting it again. If the problem persists, contact Ruger. They will want you to return it."

I don't think this is the case. I cleaned this gun thoroughly just last weekend and dry fired the thing about 300 times because I got a laserlyte trainer and target. Is there anyway that dry firing could have damaged the gun? I normally use snap caps in all my guns while dry firing but i do not use it in this gun because the barrel is too short to have a snap cap chambered and the bore laser at the same time.

this makes me extremely insecure about this gun. I was considering using as my carry pistol, don't know if I can trust it anymore.

here is a picture of laserlyte in case not familiar with the product. (gun in pic is not mine)

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**JohnKSa** · August 4, 2012, 01:33 PM

From what I've seen elsewhere on the web, one Ruger tech recommended to an owner that he not dryfire "excessively" with his LC9. I did find at least one instance of a broken firing pin that the owner attributed to dryfiring (apparently a lot of dryfiring).

In addition, the magazine must be in place any time the LC9 is dryfired.

testuser · August 4, 2012, 02:19 PM

This could still be an ammo issue. Primer sensitivity varies from brand-to-brand and hammer springs/striker springs also vary from weapon-to-weapon, making some handguns less sensitive to hard primers.

I'd buy a few other brands and try those first. I'd especially try Federal, it's been my experience that Federal primers are some of the most sensitive.

If you're still having problems, then, it will need to go back to Ruger. It it isn't then ammo, then it's liekly an issue with the firing pin and/or striker spring.

PetahW · August 4, 2012, 02:48 PM

I would simply send it directly to Ruger Customer Service (legal under Federal Law) with a cover letter & pics, describing your issue & a request to fix same.

IIRC, Ruger has a "secret" recall on that model, anyway.

.

Webleymkv · August 4, 2012, 03:03 PM

I agree with testuser in that I'd probably at least try a few different brands of ammo before assuming it's the gun. If you don't have the same problem with a different brand of ammo, I'd simply write off Remington in that gun and carefully test your chosen carry ammo before relying on it (really, you should do that anyway). If, however, the problem persists with other brands of ammo, give Ruger a call. Ruger has excellent customer service and will take good care of you. When/if you call them, be sure to ask about a prepaid shipping label as they are known to sometimes not offer one unless the customer specifically asks.

waymore · August 4, 2012, 03:09 PM

PetahW
Senior Member
*
Join Date: September 19, 2008
Posts: 2,234
"I would simply send it directly to Ruger Customer Service (legal under Federal Law) with a cover letter & pics, describing your issue & a request to fix same.

IIRC, Ruger has a "secret" recall on that model, anyway."

Petah could you p,ease elaborate on the secret recall? I've been doing some digging online and I'm finding that several other people have had the same issue with light striking issues. some people are saying their gun has been sent to Ruger and came back working better. some people have sent it to ruger and comes back doing same stuff and just believe this gun is very picky about the ammo it accepts. it sounds like this model has a large firing pin channel that accepts more residue than other guns.

I would have probably not purchased this gun if I'd known it was so picky about the ammo it shoots. even if I do use the "right" ammo for this gun and it starts to shoot more consistently I will always be worried in the back of my mind that the firing pin channel could be collecting debris causing a miss fire in a situation where I need the gun to fire.

I hope someone in this forum who owns an LC9 Ruger can give me some feedback on their experience with this gun.

I will get back out to range with some different ammo selections as soon as I get a chance. I'm pretty disappointed about this but if Ruger does have a fix for this gun I will be delighted. I should have probably done more research on this gun before I purchased it, but I've never had any reservations about anything Ruger has sold.
.

waymore · August 4, 2012, 03:15 PM

"I agree with testuser in that I'd probably at least try a few different brands of ammo before assuming it's the gun. If you don't have the same problem with a different brand of ammo, I'd simply write off Remington in that gun and carefully test your chosen carry ammo before relying on it (really, you should do that anyway). If, however, the problem persists with other brands of ammo, give Ruger a call. Ruger has excellent customer service and will take good care of you. When/if you call them, be sure to ask about a prepaid shipping label as they are known to sometimes not offer one unless the customer specifically asks."

I will certainly do this. I fire hundreds of round before I carry any firearm. I was just hoping to get a good feel for the gun with range ammo before I did some more research on what type of carry ammo to use. Thanks you for the advice on shipping. If I find that it shoots consistently with a certain type of ammo but still fails to fire with two or three other types of ammo I will be sending this to Ruger.

moxie · August 4, 2012, 04:26 PM

Since you're convinced it's not "schmutz," than by all means return to Ruger. But don't wait. That gun should work 100% with ANY ammo. No point in spending more $$$ on it.

Vermonter · August 4, 2012, 07:18 PM

Quote:

I hope someone in this forum who owns an LC9 Ruger can give me some feedback on their experience with this gun.

I wrote on this forum a while back about my issues with a Ruger LC9. I would encourage you to look at all threads started by me and read the ones regarding this firearm. I will give you a short version of my experience with it here.

Basically the Ruger had a slide stop lever and firing pin fail in under 1000 rounds. I forget the specific round count though it is in the threads. Long story short it went to Arizona three separate times for repair and came back all three "fixed".

I did not trust it after the second time back. The third time I was hoping to trust it enough to sell it. After it continued to fail I sold it to my LGS for almost nothing and put those proceeds towards my first Glock. I am wearing the G27 that replaced my LC9 currently and I trust it with our lives.

I did not excessively dry fire, I did maintain my weapon as I do all weapons in my possession. I did not hit anywhere near an excessively high round count. This was supposed to be the LCP of the 9mm world and my example fell way short of that.

I really hate to share negative experiences because I truthfully believe there are lemons in everything. My issue was with notoriously good Ruger CS. They offered to replace it with another firearm of the same caliber however they didn't make on that fit my needs.

I would give them a shot to make it right. My copy was one of the very new off the line examples and was the first in my LGS. It may have been a lemon beyond repair who knows.

Bottom line mine failed way too many times in way too many different ways for me to trust it with my life. There are others here who love their examples and trust them. Just proof that lemons do exist.

With Kind Regards, Vermonter

fastbolt · August 4, 2012, 07:28 PM

Send it back to the company and let them repair it.

I've only seen 2 LC9's in recent months.

Both were bought for use as off-duty weapons by cops.

Both of them exhibited light-strike failures-to-fire for the owners.
I handled and fired one of them with 3-4 types of factory ammunition and also experienced light-strikes.

One was returned to the factory for repair by the owner. He said the problem reoccurred (with duty ammo) after it had been repaired, and he traded it in on something else. (That was the one that also exhibited light-strikes in my hands before it was repaired, but I didn't get a chance to try it afterward.)

The other owner is in the process of returning the gun to the factory for repair. Guess we'll see how it does afterward.

Marquezj16 · August 4, 2012, 11:17 PM

LC9 owner here. I've read most of the LC9 problems that other people had on this forum and others...

I have been really lucky with mine. Zero failures with all ammo used (Winchester, Federal, Hornady, Remington, Blazer in HP and FMJ).

oh btw, looking at your picture, when you pulled the slide back, did the round get stuck in the barrel or did you put it back in there?

checkmyswag · August 4, 2012, 11:26 PM

Quote:

This could still be an ammo issue.

This almost for sure.

Try different types, you should be able to find what it shoots reliably.

FloridaVeteran · August 4, 2012, 11:29 PM

Hopefully this is relevant enough to the thread. I make it a point to ask indoor range owners which guns they have stopped using as rentals and why. You can get a ton of good information that way. I think their "what to avoid list" is more valuable than their "favorites."

afone1 · August 4, 2012, 11:30 PM

That's why I carry a J-frame. 100% reliability.

warningshot · August 5, 2012, 01:08 AM

New gun...New model...Experience of user unknown...Factory ammo...Remington Factory ammo...My vote is maintenance. See Lube.

Whirlwind06 · August 5, 2012, 07:34 AM

Boy this third of 4th thread I have seen in the past week or 2 about problems with the superior designed and more expensive LC9.

I'm sure Ruger will fix it for you. Maybe send you a new slide from what I have read.

Vermonter · August 5, 2012, 09:22 AM

Marquec and swag..... I think you guys are the only happy LC9 owners on the internet

. To be very honest I think Ruger would have eventually come to a good solution for me but after all the time I put in I simply gave up.

I didn't want an SR9C which was their offer so I went in the Glock direction.

I think you should be fine in dealing with ruger just give it a go.

waymore · August 5, 2012, 01:50 PM

"
oh btw, looking at your picture, when you pulled the slide back, did the round get stuck in the barrel or did you put it back in there?"

The round was stuck but came out after forcibly pulling out the magazine and racking the slide. It happened the same way each time.

bslo · August 5, 2012, 01:53 PM

I had the same issue with my LC9. Erik at Galloway Precision helped me with the fix. The early model LC9s had a firing pin spring that was too long. Ruger sent me a new spring. The firing pin spring Ruger sent was indeed significantly shorter than the original. I installed it with help from the Galloway precision video, took about 8 minutes. No more misfires. If you are not comfortable taking the slide apart, call Ruger. They will take care of you!!! Also thanks Galloway Precision, love your products and service! Don't get frustrated, just get it fixed, no problem!

waymore · August 5, 2012, 02:00 PM

I sent an email to Ruger with pictures. I found an email address for a Ruger representative who helped a customer with the same problem on another board.

checkmyswag · August 5, 2012, 03:20 PM

Vermonter...I don't own one. But the one I did was 100% with self defense ammo.

Should it have shot everything including the Remington used by the OP...perhaps. But it was 100% good to go with the "good" stuff.

I was once a pretty big Ruger fan. Not so much anymore but still do like their revolvers, bolt guns and 10/22.

Feed that LC9 what it wants and you should be go. If that doesn't work for you sell it and move on.

Watch your lane.

FloridaVeteran · August 5, 2012, 10:23 PM

Swag's comment reminds me of my PMR-30. I paid close attention to its growing pains and to the company's recommendations about ammo. Using the ammo that they recommend, I have had no problems at all.

It seems logical to me that leading-edge semi-autos are designed for specific bullet-weight/pressure combinations, in order to make the slide function properly relative to the springs and forward-backward motion. In the PMR-30, as I understand it, they had to sort out the physics of cycling a very high-pressure round of small diameter and long cartridge length and do things that no one thought of before. Thanks to their smarts the gun works, whereas 10-20 years ago it might have been thought impossible.

While this particular Ruger is not, to my knowledge, advertised as leading-edge technology in cartridge-handling, it is a challenge to get a lightweight sub-4" barrel pistol to push out >.380 rounds reliably without specifying minimum ammo parameters.

I have owned many Rugers and loved them all - they're like Caterpillar tractors. They handle the most badass cartridges for which they are "calibered." I'd be surprised if the problems noted in this thread are not resolved either by a Ruger mod, since they pay close attention to criticism, or by closer compliance by the guns' owners to recommended ammo (if recommended, which I hope is the case).

Hopefully, before long I will be able to buy a Ruger 1911 without my wife noticing. I'm at critical mass with 1911s, but unfortunately I'm not yet at critical cash.

August 4, 2012, 11:03 AM	#1
waymore Senior Member Join Date: August 20, 2009 Posts: 103	please help. Ruger had several failure to fires I went to range yesterday and had several failure to fires with my Ruger LC9. I am including a picture of the problem I repeatedly found. You can tell that the primer was struck with firing pin but the bullet would not fire. this happened about 6 times in 50 rds. I don't think the ammo was the problem bc I fired about 50 rds of same ammo through my sig sp2022 without a problem. It was extremely frustrating dealing with this yesterday. I'm hoping someone might have some good advice or ideas of what is going on. thanks, jason [IMG][/IMG] [IMG][/IMG]

August 4, 2012, 11:57 AM	#2
moxie Senior Member Join Date: October 17, 2006 Location: TX Posts: 513	Could be some dirt or dried oil/grease slowing down the striker. You might try flushing with solvent, drying, and dry firing a number of times. Then try shooting it again. If the problem persists, contact Ruger. They will want you to return it. __________________ If you want to shoot...shoot...don't talk! Tuco USAF Munitions 1969-1992 RVN 1972-1973

August 4, 2012, 01:02 PM	#4
waymore Senior Member Join Date: August 20, 2009 Posts: 103	"Could be some dirt or dried oil/grease slowing down the striker. You might try flushing with solvent, drying, and dry firing a number of times. Then try shooting it again. If the problem persists, contact Ruger. They will want you to return it." I don't think this is the case. I cleaned this gun thoroughly just last weekend and dry fired the thing about 300 times because I got a laserlyte trainer and target. Is there anyway that dry firing could have damaged the gun? I normally use snap caps in all my guns while dry firing but i do not use it in this gun because the barrel is too short to have a snap cap chambered and the bore laser at the same time. this makes me extremely insecure about this gun. I was considering using as my carry pistol, don't know if I can trust it anymore. here is a picture of laserlyte in case not familiar with the product. (gun in pic is not mine) [IMG][/IMG]

August 4, 2012, 01:33 PM	#5
JohnKSa Staff Join Date: February 12, 2001 Location: DFW Area Posts: 24,986	From what I've seen elsewhere on the web, one Ruger tech recommended to an owner that he not dryfire "excessively" with his LC9. I did find at least one instance of a broken firing pin that the owner attributed to dryfiring (apparently a lot of dryfiring). In addition, the magazine must be in place any time the LC9 is dryfired. __________________ Do you know about the TEXAS State Rifle Association?

August 4, 2012, 04:26 PM	#11
moxie Senior Member Join Date: October 17, 2006 Location: TX Posts: 513	Since you're convinced it's not "schmutz," than by all means return to Ruger. But don't wait. That gun should work 100% with ANY ammo. No point in spending more $$$ on it. __________________ If you want to shoot...shoot...don't talk! Tuco USAF Munitions 1969-1992 RVN 1972-1973

August 4, 2012, 02:19 PM	#6
testuser Senior Member Join Date: September 8, 2010 Posts: 495	This could still be an ammo issue. Primer sensitivity varies from brand-to-brand and hammer springs/striker springs also vary from weapon-to-weapon, making some handguns less sensitive to hard primers. I'd buy a few other brands and try those first. I'd especially try Federal, it's been my experience that Federal primers are some of the most sensitive. If you're still having problems, then, it will need to go back to Ruger. It it isn't then ammo, then it's liekly an issue with the firing pin and/or striker spring.

August 4, 2012, 02:48 PM	#7
PetahW Senior Member Join Date: September 19, 2008 Posts: 4,678	I would simply send it directly to Ruger Customer Service (legal under Federal Law) with a cover letter & pics, describing your issue & a request to fix same. IIRC, Ruger has a "secret" recall on that model, anyway. .

August 4, 2012, 03:03 PM	#8
Webleymkv Senior Member Join Date: July 20, 2005 Location: Indiana Posts: 10,446	I agree with testuser in that I'd probably at least try a few different brands of ammo before assuming it's the gun. If you don't have the same problem with a different brand of ammo, I'd simply write off Remington in that gun and carefully test your chosen carry ammo before relying on it (really, you should do that anyway). If, however, the problem persists with other brands of ammo, give Ruger a call. Ruger has excellent customer service and will take good care of you. When/if you call them, be sure to ask about a prepaid shipping label as they are known to sometimes not offer one unless the customer specifically asks.

August 4, 2012, 03:09 PM	#9
waymore Senior Member Join Date: August 20, 2009 Posts: 103	PetahW Senior Member * Join Date: September 19, 2008 Posts: 2,234 "I would simply send it directly to Ruger Customer Service (legal under Federal Law) with a cover letter & pics, describing your issue & a request to fix same. IIRC, Ruger has a "secret" recall on that model, anyway." Petah could you p,ease elaborate on the secret recall? I've been doing some digging online and I'm finding that several other people have had the same issue with light striking issues. some people are saying their gun has been sent to Ruger and came back working better. some people have sent it to ruger and comes back doing same stuff and just believe this gun is very picky about the ammo it accepts. it sounds like this model has a large firing pin channel that accepts more residue than other guns. I would have probably not purchased this gun if I'd known it was so picky about the ammo it shoots. even if I do use the "right" ammo for this gun and it starts to shoot more consistently I will always be worried in the back of my mind that the firing pin channel could be collecting debris causing a miss fire in a situation where I need the gun to fire. I hope someone in this forum who owns an LC9 Ruger can give me some feedback on their experience with this gun. I will get back out to range with some different ammo selections as soon as I get a chance. I'm pretty disappointed about this but if Ruger does have a fix for this gun I will be delighted. I should have probably done more research on this gun before I purchased it, but I've never had any reservations about anything Ruger has sold. .

August 4, 2012, 03:15 PM	#10
waymore Senior Member Join Date: August 20, 2009 Posts: 103	"I agree with testuser in that I'd probably at least try a few different brands of ammo before assuming it's the gun. If you don't have the same problem with a different brand of ammo, I'd simply write off Remington in that gun and carefully test your chosen carry ammo before relying on it (really, you should do that anyway). If, however, the problem persists with other brands of ammo, give Ruger a call. Ruger has excellent customer service and will take good care of you. When/if you call them, be sure to ask about a prepaid shipping label as they are known to sometimes not offer one unless the customer specifically asks." I will certainly do this. I fire hundreds of round before I carry any firearm. I was just hoping to get a good feel for the gun with range ammo before I did some more research on what type of carry ammo to use. Thanks you for the advice on shipping. If I find that it shoots consistently with a certain type of ammo but still fails to fire with two or three other types of ammo I will be sending this to Ruger.

August 4, 2012, 07:28 PM	#13
fastbolt Senior Member Join Date: June 9, 2002 Location: northern CA for a little while longer Posts: 1,931	Send it back to the company and let them repair it. I've only seen 2 LC9's in recent months. Both were bought for use as off-duty weapons by cops. Both of them exhibited light-strike failures-to-fire for the owners. I handled and fired one of them with 3-4 types of factory ammunition and also experienced light-strikes. One was returned to the factory for repair by the owner. He said the problem reoccurred (with duty ammo) after it had been repaired, and he traded it in on something else. (That was the one that also exhibited light-strikes in my hands before it was repaired, but I didn't get a chance to try it afterward.) The other owner is in the process of returning the gun to the factory for repair. Guess we'll see how it does afterward. __________________ Retired LE - firearms instructor & armorer Last edited by fastbolt; August 4, 2012 at 07:44 PM.

August 4, 2012, 11:17 PM	#14
Marquezj16 Senior Member Join Date: April 3, 2011 Posts: 2,088	LC9 owner here. I've read most of the LC9 problems that other people had on this forum and others... I have been really lucky with mine. Zero failures with all ammo used (Winchester, Federal, Hornady, Remington, Blazer in HP and FMJ). oh btw, looking at your picture, when you pulled the slide back, did the round get stuck in the barrel or did you put it back in there?

August 4, 2012, 11:29 PM	#16
FloridaVeteran Senior Member Join Date: July 26, 2012 Location: Central Florida Posts: 399	Hopefully this is relevant enough to the thread. I make it a point to ask indoor range owners which guns they have stopped using as rentals and why. You can get a ton of good information that way. I think their "what to avoid list" is more valuable than their "favorites."

August 4, 2012, 11:30 PM	#17
afone1 Senior Member Join Date: February 26, 2011 Posts: 120	That's why I carry a J-frame. 100% reliability.

August 5, 2012, 01:08 AM	#18
warningshot Senior Member Join Date: October 7, 2009 Posts: 995	New gun...New model...Experience of user unknown...Factory ammo...Remington Factory ammo...My vote is maintenance. See Lube.

August 5, 2012, 07:34 AM	#19
Whirlwind06 Senior Member Join Date: March 3, 2006 Location: NE Ohio Posts: 998	Boy this third of 4th thread I have seen in the past week or 2 about problems with the superior designed and more expensive LC9. I'm sure Ruger will fix it for you. Maybe send you a new slide from what I have read.

August 5, 2012, 09:22 AM	#20
Vermonter Senior Member Join Date: October 17, 2010 Posts: 962	Marquec and swag..... I think you guys are the only happy LC9 owners on the internet. To be very honest I think Ruger would have eventually come to a good solution for me but after all the time I put in I simply gave up. I didn't want an SR9C which was their offer so I went in the Glock direction. I think you should be fine in dealing with ruger just give it a go.

August 5, 2012, 01:50 PM	#21
waymore Senior Member Join Date: August 20, 2009 Posts: 103	" oh btw, looking at your picture, when you pulled the slide back, did the round get stuck in the barrel or did you put it back in there?" The round was stuck but came out after forcibly pulling out the magazine and racking the slide. It happened the same way each time.

August 5, 2012, 01:53 PM	#22
bslo Junior Member Join Date: December 30, 2011 Posts: 2	LC9 fix I had the same issue with my LC9. Erik at Galloway Precision helped me with the fix. The early model LC9s had a firing pin spring that was too long. Ruger sent me a new spring. The firing pin spring Ruger sent was indeed significantly shorter than the original. I installed it with help from the Galloway precision video, took about 8 minutes. No more misfires. If you are not comfortable taking the slide apart, call Ruger. They will take care of you!!! Also thanks Galloway Precision, love your products and service! Don't get frustrated, just get it fixed, no problem!

August 5, 2012, 02:00 PM	#23
waymore Senior Member Join Date: August 20, 2009 Posts: 103	I sent an email to Ruger with pictures. I found an email address for a Ruger representative who helped a customer with the same problem on another board.

August 5, 2012, 03:20 PM	#24
checkmyswag Senior Member Join Date: January 29, 2011 Location: Texas Posts: 1,328	Vermonter...I don't own one. But the one I did was 100% with self defense ammo. Should it have shot everything including the Remington used by the OP...perhaps. But it was 100% good to go with the "good" stuff. I was once a pretty big Ruger fan. Not so much anymore but still do like their revolvers, bolt guns and 10/22. Feed that LC9 what it wants and you should be go. If that doesn't work for you sell it and move on. Watch your lane.

August 5, 2012, 10:23 PM	#25
FloridaVeteran Senior Member Join Date: July 26, 2012 Location: Central Florida Posts: 399	Swag's comment reminds me of my PMR-30. I paid close attention to its growing pains and to the company's recommendations about ammo. Using the ammo that they recommend, I have had no problems at all. It seems logical to me that leading-edge semi-autos are designed for specific bullet-weight/pressure combinations, in order to make the slide function properly relative to the springs and forward-backward motion. In the PMR-30, as I understand it, they had to sort out the physics of cycling a very high-pressure round of small diameter and long cartridge length and do things that no one thought of before. Thanks to their smarts the gun works, whereas 10-20 years ago it might have been thought impossible. While this particular Ruger is not, to my knowledge, advertised as leading-edge technology in cartridge-handling, it is a challenge to get a lightweight sub-4" barrel pistol to push out >.380 rounds reliably without specifying minimum ammo parameters. I have owned many Rugers and loved them all - they're like Caterpillar tractors. They handle the most badass cartridges for which they are "calibered." I'd be surprised if the problems noted in this thread are not resolved either by a Ruger mod, since they pay close attention to criticism, or by closer compliance by the guns' owners to recommended ammo (if recommended, which I hope is the case). Hopefully, before long I will be able to buy a Ruger 1911 without my wife noticing. I'm at critical mass with 1911s, but unfortunately I'm not yet at critical cash.