XR9-S Light Strikes :(

I just got back from the range with my brand new XR9-S. I'm sorry to have to report that I was plagued with light strikes.

I had approximately eight failures to fire out of approximately 60-70 rounds of my reloads. (Yes, I fired and will fire reloads like I do through all my pistols). These are 124 grain Montana Gold bullets in front of 4.7 grains of Unique with CCI primers loaded into range pick up and cleaned brass. Picture of 4 of the rounds the FTF's:

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b35/alienbogey/XR9-SLightStrikes2...

Note: I was curious how the crimp on my reloads would hold up, but I had no problems nor any indications of the bullet backing out. Also, these are loaded on a progressive with a powder checker die and are routinely digested without incident by various other 9mm pistols.

Next, I had eleven failures to fire out of a box of 50 rounds of DRT 9mm factory ammunition. I've not heard of this brand before, I won a few boxes at a pistol shoot, and I don't know the primers, but they were 85 grain hollowpoint bullets loaded in Starline brass (from the headstamp). A picture of two of the FTF's:

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b35/alienbogey/XR9-SLightStrikes1...

I had planned to shoot some of my DoubleTap +P carry loads, but the stuff is expensive and after all the failures to fire I figured I'd try to find out what may be the problem before expending that stuff at $1+ per shot.

After taking some pictures, all of the light strike rounds, both reloads and factory, were fed through a Beretta 92 and fired first time, every time. Also, my son and I shot the rest of the factory ammunition as well as approximately 150 rounds of my reloads through his Beretta and my S&W 1911 without zero failures to fire. I can only (reluctantly) conclude that it's the XR9's fault rather than the ammunition.

I consulted the manual and under 'Troubleshooting' it states that after 2000-5000 rounds a worn mainspring could cause light strikes, but that can hardly be the case here with the pistol's first trip to the range.

Attachments:

XR9-S Light Strikes 2.jpg, 138 KB
XR9-S Light Strikes 1.jpg, 172 KB

▶ Reply to This

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by tbone on December 30, 2011 at 7:48pm

From the pictures, it seems to be a deep enough strike, but is there a depression around the firing pin's indentation? Could it be a weaker spring got put in instead?

I seem to remember from another thread you bought two pistols, diid the other XR9-s do the same thing?

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by alienbogey on December 30, 2011 at 7:59pm

I haven't fired the other one, it's sitting in the safe while I evaluate how much I like it.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by CWC on December 30, 2011 at 8:03pm

All those look like they should have went BOOM from the pics. Did your gun include a heavy spring to replace the stock one with when wanting to shoot that cheap ammo that has those super hard primers. I bet that will solve your problem if you want to continue to shoot that type ammo.

Just a thought.......

Even though your warranty is now void (confessing to have shot reloads) I bet my left foot Arne will take care of you if that heavy spring I mentioned above don't do the trick.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by CWC on December 30, 2011 at 8:13pm

I may be wrong on the voided warranty. I just re-read the warranty statement posted here on the Boberg site and I don't see that now. I know I've read that before but it may have been removed now. I'm not sure.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by tbone on December 30, 2011 at 8:16pm

I'm still thinking it's a weak spring. Is the trigger pull on the lighter side ?

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by CWC on December 30, 2011 at 8:24pm

Found it.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by unusedusername on December 30, 2011 at 9:35pm

My gun came with several mainsprings in the box so that I could use a stronger one if I ran into hard primers.

Maybe you need to change to a stronger spring?

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by alienbogey on December 30, 2011 at 9:41pm

I was fully aware of what I was doing when I ran reloads through the pistol—I had read the manual front to back before taking it to the range. I was also fully aware that I was 'outing' myself when I made my post. If Arne chooses to not honor warranty work on my pistol (should it become necessary) he'll be within his rights. I'm sure he'll see these posts, but if I end up sending the pistol in I'll tell him that I ran reloads through it, and it will be his call.

But, 4.7 grains of Unique under a 124 grain plated bullet, the same loads that go through my other pistols by the thousands, and the lightly-struck rounds that went through a Beretta 92F minutes after not igniting in the XR9, don't appear to be the problem, not to mention the factory rounds that didn't light.

My pistol didn't come with any extra spring that I saw. Also, although I could compare the trigger pull to my other XR9, that one is sitting in its box untouched for now.

I just ran 10 trigger pulls with my Lyman gauge and the average pull is 8# 6 oz. I also searched the box - no extra spring.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by PTrinh on December 30, 2011 at 11:24pm

I'm sure that Arne will personally get to the bottom of this. He's a pretty upstanding guy from what I've heard. But he probably (shouldn't) won't say flat out publicly that he'll warranty the weapon for obvious legal/business reasons. Contact him privately. Anyways, it seems that a stronger spring is indeed in order. Maybe you can swap out springs from the other Boberg XR9S you got and give that a try? I know that you want a safe queen, and this "solution" would be the fastest and safest bet (if it doesn't mess the warranty of the other pistol!).

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Corvette on December 31, 2011 at 12:16am

I have a Corvette with a placard that reads "PREMIUM FUEL ONLY" attached to the fuel door.

I tried using "REGULAR" once to see what would happen, and I'll be darned if the Corvette didn't run anywhere near as well as it did when using the recommended fuel.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Arne Boberg on December 31, 2011 at 10:44am

Based on those images, it looks like your handloaded primers got a little work-hardened around the edges, making it harder for the XR9-S to dent the remaining softer material. Factory-installed primers do not look like this. I will mail out two 9 lb+ mainsprings. In the meanwhile, it would be nice to see what your success is with other brands of factory ammo, like Remington, Winchester, PMC, or Federal. I have not had, or heard of, one issue with our "medium" mainspring, which is now provided as stock. I would recommend testing the other gun with the same ammo to see if it is gun-specific; however, we have our statement about reloaded ammunition for a reason - using it exposes the user to potential injury due to errors in bullet setback and adding a double-charge.- Do not use handloaded or re-manufactured ammunition in any Boberg pistols!

Just looking at those DRT primers, they could be the heavier "magnum" style, although I agree with CWC in that those should have gone off with dents that deep.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by alienbogey on December 31, 2011 at 5:27pm

Arne,

Thanks for the reply.

I'd like to avoid shooting my second XR9 because I'd like to keep it pristine. I will, however, put the trigger pull gauge on it and see how it compares to my first one.

I'll also try some different ammunition, but I'm out of town for 4 days so it will be awhile before I get back out to the range.

I will also see how the new springs work - thanks for sending them.