10 May 12
“Yesterday included a trip to my gun-club and draw-and-fire drills with M&P, Glock, and XD.
My XD failed to fire several times. Primers were dented, but apparently not enough. Dented rounds fired on a second attempt, so striker impact-strength was obviously on the ragged edge.
I called a friend, and he immediately identified the problem. His comments were confirmed when I subsequently called the factory:
XD’s striker-channel was full of oil and associated gunk, so much so that the striker could not move normally.
I took it all apart and cleaned it throughly. It runs fine now!
Folks as the factory indicated that many XDs are sent back with the same problem. A clean, and dry, striker-channel is all that is needed to restore them to normal functioning.
What gets under my skin is my own ignorance to the fact no lubricant should ever be allowed to get into that area during routine cleaning, and follow-up lubrication.
Glocks, probably M&Ps, and all other striker-fired pistols have the same issue. Striker-channels must be kept bone-dry!
No words can express how thankful I am to have learned this important lesson during training!”
Comment: This is seldom an issue with hammer-fired pistols! But, now striker-fired pistols are the “trend,” and all of us who use, and carry, them need to be aware that striker and striker-channel need to be kept clean and dry! Other parts of the pistol need to be lubricated normally.
Manufacturers do their best to inform customers about these things, but few of us ever read the manual, eh?
“Not much we can do about ‘natural causes,’ but good attitude, training, and equipment go a long way toward the prevention of death by ‘unnatural causes.’”
Wiggington
/John
