Quick recap: Ruger sent us an SR40. In my review, I revealed that the gun was sexy, reliable and comfortable, but the trigger felt completely different from the previously reviewed SR9c, and not in a good way. The go pedal was mushy, vague and stacky. I called Ruger for an explanation. They denied the problem, claiming that the SR40 used the exact same parts as the SR9c. They sent me another SR40. Same trigger trouble. Ruger blamed our cleaning process. I sent the second gun to our Gun Doctor. He discovered that the SR40 did NOT contain the same trigger parts as the SR9c. He then broke down the second SR40 and another SR40 (for reference) and examined both weapons in detail. He found a workbench full of not good . . .
Mushy trigger
You are correct: the SR40’s trigger lacks any of SR9c’s trigger’s crispness. As far as I can tell, that’s down to the mixed parts. The striker springs I pulled out of your gun (and the reference SR40) are the same parts as those used by the SR9c. Same O.D., same wire size, same number of rungs, same O.A.L. And yet the SR40 manual clearly says that the SR40 spring is a different part.
So I swapped the SR40’s striker spring for the original striker spring from an earlier SR9. The trigger got heavier BUT it no longer felt mushy. The trigger had more resistance than the SR40’s, and it continued to stack up, But its actuation became predictable and repeatable. Think SR9c trigger, just a heavier pull. I’ve order a few springs with the new part number to compare. I’ll let you know once they arrive.
Gritty trigger
The MAG Disconnect is the major culprit here. Secondary cause: the bits of metal shavings in the striker tube, as seen below. (The striker spring channel however was completely clean.)
I’ve not seen any other SR’s that way, but it’s a pretty shocking discovery. I gave your SR40 a good cleaning and removed the mag disconnect. Trigger grit gone and the problem disappeared. I reinserted a polished striker and polished mag disconnect (with some rem oil lube on the disconnect) and the trigger was still nice and smooth.
Sand in cover latch
This one has really got me. You told me you only fired the SR40 once, indoors, and never dropped it or took it outside. So I have no idea how that much sand got into that spring channel. It was so full the latch could not compress. I broke the cover getting it off. I removed the spring and latch button and cleaned it. It was packed full of sand. I reinstalled the parts and fitted a new cover.
The only explanation I can think of: when the slide was sandblasted it got packed and the assembler didn’t give a crap. They had to beat the cover over the latch because the spring wouldn’t compress. Maybe they needed one more gun to make production quota for that day or it was a hangover first thing Monday gun. Who knows? Carelessness and poor quality control.
Fire control block
The gun was really REALLY oiled down inside. There was oil along with metal shavings and some grit (sand?).
This merits mentioning because anything short of a detail cleaning would not have caught this or been able to remove it from the system. Could it have caused the gun to malfunction at the moment it was needed to save a life(s)? Probably not. But it’s still unacceptable, representing poor cleaning protocols before and during assembly.