Striker Assembly: Crud vs. Rust

[fsilber]

I had a Kahr pistol stop feeding AT ALL. A gunsmith told me that, aside from what other problems he might find, he could see the striker staying through the striker plate when it should have been pulled back inside, and the striker was catching the dummy round I was trying to chamber. He told me there was too much crud in the striker assembly that needed to be cleaned out.

I don't have the skills to do more than field-strip a gun, but I removed the slide and poured Gun Scrub and rubbing alcohol into the striker channel and where I could see the striker spring, while manually pulling the striker back and forth with my thumb.

After that, the pistol began chambering rounds just fine.

I see that the Kahr lube diagram recommends one drop of oil at a certain place on the striker.

But people on other forums (e.g. discussing Glocks) say you should not lubricate the striker, striker channel, or striker spring but should leave them bone dry.

But someone else who did that showed a photo of corrosion that had developed on his striker spring and said that inside the striker channel there was corrosion.

So, really, what is best? Should I

• Leave the striker assembly bone dry?
• Lubricate it with dry lube (e.g. Sentry Solutions)?
• Lubricate the striker, but pour in Hoppes or whatever after shooting the gun before re-lubing?

[Bawanna]

I lubricate the striker, but then wipe it off basically leaving it clean and dry. There is a cleanout hole I think also shown on the lube diagram but you really should take it down and clean the channel and the striker. I'm surprised the gunsmith didn't do that. It's really not all that difficult.
I run a qtip on a wooden stick down the channel to clean it out real good. I use Kwik Seal which is actually for after hot bluing. It's thin, doesn't build up and again I wipe it all off. So I guess you have corrosion resistance but not alot of lube to collect junk.

What part of the world you live in, maybe we have a member someplace close by that could show you how to get at that striker?

It also doesn't have to be cleaned out ever range trip either.

[Whaleman]

Being retired and able to shoot in my back yard has advantages. I can pick a nice morning with rain forecast in the afternoon. I strip my slide every time I shoot these days. When working I did not. I have it down to a science and it does not take me much time at all. I read somewhere that Billy the Kid was obsessed with cleaning every part of his pistol every time he shot it. I do not oil mine. Dan

[Whaleman]

My wife is well trained to apply the "Ripley Retractor" when I have the striker spring pulled forward. I still do the final disassembly inside a big ziplock bag so if I slip I am not looking for small parts. Dan

[Whaleman]

One final thing. The Kahr lube diagram does NOT call for any oil in the striker channel. It does call for a very small drop on the part of the striker that is pushed back by the cocking cam. It also calls for a very small drop on the striker block that is pushed up by the unlocking cam. I don't use oil here as it can get down into the channel. I use a very small amount of TW25 grease on these two spots and also on both of the cams where they touch. Dan

[BirdsThaWord]

Being retired and able to shoot in my back yard has advantages.

I’d say! Sounds like you are living the life!
Agreed about the grease in some areas. Billy the Kid did not have a tv, cell phone, ipad, etc. I’d prob be just as obsessed without today’s distractions.

[jonholl]

You can also apply/pour some cleaner, I use non-clorinated brake cleaner, and shoot some air, I've got access to high pressure, into the striker channel from back of slide. If you do this hold the slide outside as the 1st blast of air will blow the gunk out the front of the striker channel. Not elegant but you'll have a clean striker channel with no disassembly beyond field stripping.

[Whaleman]

jon, I spent over 10 years shooting brake cleaner in the hole. I agree it works fine. The part I spend the most time cleaning is the extractor. Impossible to completely clean without stripping. Can you clean it well enough to work? YES. The extractor spring channel is also hard to clean without stripping. I have fun doing it and I like the feeling that every part is clean when I carry the gun every day. I have a 12 acre acreage so I am out doing dirty dusty work. I carry every day in a fully enclosed holster. I do leather work so I make them. Nobody ever thinks it is a holster but it keeps the gun clean. Every few days I will pull the gun out and dust it with a 1" paint brush. Dan

[kenemoore]

You can also apply/pour some cleaner, I use non-clorinated brake cleaner, and shoot some air, I've got access to high pressure, into the striker channel from back of slide. If you do this hold the slide outside as the 1st blast of air will blow the gunk out the front of the striker channel. Not elegant but you'll have a clean striker channel with no disassembly beyond field stripping.

I do this also. Physically clean it every time I change springs.

[dao]

"I don't have the skills to do more than field-strip a gun". Yes, @fsilber you do!

If you make a little tool like this, out of a length of coat hanger, for disassembling your slide you could clean that channel out regularly yourself. It is NOT hard to take apart or put back together. After first ensuring your gun is unloaded and safe:

Remove the slide. Capture the striker as shown below and then use a very pointy tool or a piece of thin and stiff wire to push in the spring in front of the little half-moon shaped hole in the slide's back plate. Use your thumb to then slide that plate down, keeping the space it occupied covered with your thumb to catch the spring. Then with the plate removed, and your thumb still there, release the striker. It will not hurt your thumb, but if you don't keep it covered it will shoot across the room. Carefully examine how it is put together so you can reassemble it before putting it back together. Know that with the plate off you have also freed up the extractor assembly which is in front of that spring you pushed in on to free that cover plate. Keep the slide level to avoid having that spring and the parts in front of it from coming out of the slide, until you have watched a good youtube video to see how that goes together. It is no harder to remove, clean, and reassemble than the striker but one step at a time, eh?

Wear Safety Glasses whenever working with springs!