First time out with the SR40c

[Psa1m144]

Just took my brand new SR40c to the range for the first time today. I am very impressed and disappointed simultaneously. The gun fits my hands perfectly, far more accurate than my Glock 22 and reasonably soft shooting for a 40cal however... every other round was a FTF. Needless to say this got very frustrating. I was hoping it just needed some breaking in but after 150 rounds of 180grain it was still jamming up just as bad. Look like I'll have to call Ruger tomorrow, I have no doubt that they will make it right but I hate to have to give it up for a few weeks while they work on it Even with the feeding issue I am still in love with this gun, I am determined to get it running properly because I am hoping to make it my EDC (which won't happen if I can't rely on it 100%):banghead:

Guess I just needed to vent...

 

[Radar3006]

Did you clean all the Ruger greese out before you shot it? Before I ever shot my sr9c I cleaned it real good including the striker and removed the magazine disconect and used Tetra gun greese on the slide and then cycled the slide 50 times or so before I shot it and have not had any problems with it...

 

[Psa1m144]

Yes the gun was cleaned and oiled before firing. Just got off the phone with a Ruger technician and he is having me send it in for service.

 

[Psa1m144]

Round 2

So I finally got the gun back from Ruger. The note left in the box said that they "repaired the extractor" and then test fired 60 rounds with "no failures" using my magazines. Needless to say this was a huge relief. I took the gun out to the range and....it jammed after the 3rd shot. It's doing the same thing it was before, the cartridge is not going all the way into battery. There is no way they test fired it 60 times.

I have a feeling that they are going to tell me that it's the ammo, so I cleaned it EXTREMELY well today and made sure it was well lubricated before trying to cycle 3 different types of ammo (Rem UMC FMJ, Winchester JHP, Federal Champion FMJ). Check out the pictures below, this is what is happening 50% of the time when I try to chamber a round or when the gun is cycling, with each type of ammo. I guess I will have to call Ruger again tomorrow.

 

[Jackal1]

No offense intended, I do not know you nor your skill level with a handgun.

Do you have prior experience shooting a .40cal? If not, have someone else with more experience try shooting it and see if they have the same issue. I had regularly shot 9mm and .45ACP but when I first shot .40 I was limpwristing it b/c of the more severe recoil. You have to hang on a little tighter to a .40 compared to the 9mm or 45.

The images you show could be from limpwristing, but it could also be from a rough feedramp. Check if there are any rough ridges on the ramp. If so, flitz them.

Cheers.

 

[NWcityguy2]

I don't think it is from limp wristing and I'd be very skeptical that it is the feed ramp either. If the previous cartridge ejects you are holding it firm enough and I can't see how limp wristing would cause a jam when you are manually cycling it (at home no less). A rough feed ramp is going to cause problems at the feed ramp. What you are seeing is a 3 point jam where the round is lodged under the extractor, on the top of the chamber and half way in between.

If you are so inclined, take a look at these pictures. They are from my SR9c, which is very similar. The extractor is easy to take out and inspect. Look at the in picture 4 with the arrow pointing to it. A burr there would be a likely culprit if this jam is extractor related.

I started getting more into the function of my guns once customer service failed to fix it after 3 weeks. It was 3 point jams but mine were being cause by the barrel and barrel bushing (1911) being way too tightly fit together.

If you do this, remember the 2 rules of home gunsmithing.

1. Do no harm
2. Lose no small parts. I store all mine in a white china bowl.

 

[NWcityguy2]

One last pic.

 

[Psa1m144]

It's definitely not limp-wristing, I've been shooting .40 for 3 years and about 90% of all shooting I do is with my .40s. My primary gun is a glock 22. Plus, there has been absolutely no issues with ejecting(ie stovepipes), only feeding. I can't blame you for assuming that it could be limp-wristing because that can cause a similar issue.

NWcityguy2: Thank you a bunch for the pics, I will inspect my gun tomorrow for a burr. Given Ruger's track record with customer service I was very confident they would take care of the issue...I guess no one's perfect.

Did you drive the pin from top to bottom?

 

[NWcityguy2]

It comes out both ways. I find it easier to puch it in and out from the top.

 

[Mike J]

I can't really contribute any experience to tearing into something like this but I thought this link might be useful if you decide to go that route. http://www.rugerforum.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=52057

 

[Caliper_Mi]

Try taking a look at the breech face for a burr around the firing pin hole, or just polish the breech face for good measure.
Might also look at the chamber. Is the cartridge rim hanging up on the chamber mouth or the bullet nose hitting the roof of the chamber?

 

[Psa1m144]

NWcityguy2: I removed the extractor and saw a possible burr. Not sure if I trust my gunsmithing abilities enough to fix it myself. If I push the rear of the extractor when a jam occurs then the round will chamber. Not sure if this means it's 100% the extractor or a combination of issues. FYI, on the SR40c the pin holding in the extractor must be driven from bottom to top, there is a lip on the top of the pin.

Mike J: Thank you for the link, that is sure to be helpful in the future, I bookmarked it. That is a great resource.

BluEyes: The breach face looks smooth. I'm not able to get a good enough look at the chamber mouth and I don't know how to tell if it's hitting the roof. I don't see excess copper fouling there so that may indicate it's not an issue.

 

[NWcityguy2]

Yeah pushing on the back and it chambering would lead me to believe this is an extractor issue, too bad that in and of itself isn't a fix though. If you want to send this back to customer service it's completely understandable, but removing a burr is a quick fix and very unlikely to damage your part.

The quickest fix would to see if it could be buffed out without and sanding. Some kind of buffing pad in a dermal/cordless drill with regular buffing compound should do the trick. If that doesn't help some fine grit sandpaper, say 400, would take off more material. Sand a little (a very little), buff a little, reassemble and test, repeat until fixed.

I've uploaded a couple more pictures. Polish all the colored areas and the red area should have some rounding to it. Thats the best macro picture I can do with my current lens, hope it helps.

 

[Psa1m144]

I'm worried that if I tamper with the extractor and it doesn't fix the issue, they will say that this is somehow my fault and they won't pay for shipping and/or repair. I think I will suck it up and send it back in . Maybe if I'm lucky I can talk them into just sending me a new extractor for free.

You can kind of see in this picture where they attempted to bevel it.

 

[NWcityguy2]

Well at the end of the day it is a $21 part.

http://shopruger.com/KVS01422-SR40-SR40c-Ejector-Aluminum/productinfo/63030/

For sure stop removing metal from the hook part. Look where my picture is red, if anything needs to be removed, and it might not, it will probably need to come off there. Before you remove anything else polish all that area to a smooth mirror finish. Test it and see if that solves your problem.

 

[Psa1m144]

I haven't removed anything, Ruger did all of that when I sent it in.

 

[NWcityguy2]

This is just me saying this but I doubt Ruger took a picture to document exactly how the extractor looked before they sent it back to you. Give it a polish and if it still doesn't work and you send it back to them, just say thats what they did last time they had it.

 

[skunkape57]

fix

I had the same problem with my new BSR40C wouldn't chamber a round, if it did it would hang up and the top slide wouldn't close all the way. I have read the posts on here, so i said hmm, send it back to Ruger and wait 6 weeks, nah! I started thinking about this, so I field stripped it down and looked at the feed ramp on the barrel, the casting looks like Ruger should have their quality control send it back to have someone wire wheel polish it up. Don't get me wrong. Love Ruger! (buy American firearms and ammo) so I took some 600, 1500 and 2000 grit sand paper and polished up the feed ramp and the other parts that i thought needed it, came out nice and smooth/shiny. I also remover the extractor and did the same thing on the business end of it, like the one city guy posted (thanks city), cleaned everything with gun cleaner, blew it all out with air, oiled everything up and put it all back together, loaded it, and went to rack a round, hung up, no say it ain't so! i looked at the round and it was hung up on the striker fire firing pin the was protruding out. Hmm, i remember to field strip the O&M manuel says to make sure the trigger is pushed all the way forward, I removed the mag and cleared the round, the trigger was in the fired, spend position, so I pushed the trigger forward, slapped in the mag and racked a round, success! I have shot 200 round since, not 1 problem, so was it all the trigger position or was it that and the rough casting, don't know for sure but it functions perfect, love the gun, thanks Ruger!

Hope this helps!!

 

[joeyl]

Did you test your other magazines, might have a bad one or two? If the lips are a little too far apart or barely in spec with a rough chamber/feed ramp. (as already suggested) might cause that type of jam IMHO. Try asking for a new extractor. Ruger has sent small parts out to me for free before. Especially since your trouble ticket mentioned they "fixed" it.

 

[ohwell]

Check for a part number on your extractor 1422 is what should be stamped on it. Some SR40C's may have went out with SR9C extractors.

 

[NWcityguy2]

Both his extractor and mine (from my SR9c) are stamped 1420.

 

[ohwell]

Looking at the pictures I would say he has the wrong extractor call Ruger tell them your extractor is for an SR9C not an SR40C because it has an SR9C part number (1420). Tell them it should be part number 1422 ask them to send you a replacement, they should along with a self addressed return envelope for the old one.

 

[Psa1m144]

Thanks for the input, I will call Ruger today and see what they say about the extractor. It would be really nice if they just send me one for free instead of having to be without my gun for 4-6 weeks. Having an extractor built for a smaller cartridge definitely explains the problem! I'll let you guys know what they say.

 

[Psa1m144]

Just got off the phone with Ruger and they are sending me a new extractor for free. It should be here by Monday or Tuesday

 

[NWcityguy2]

Oh the irony, a perfectly functional part thats in the wrong gun. I'm glad someone finally noticed that, it didn't even cross my mind that after QC and CS looking at it something like that would happen.