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Hellcat Pro Broken

Operating something does cause wear, no matter how little, there is still wear and it adds up...
Advocates for dry firing, don't envision excessive dry firings when they say it isn't an issue... ...they would admit, its not wear free to dry fire, they simply deny the claims that dry firing is excessive wear on the pistol...
I've seen some point there are a few rim fire designs that will suffer excessive wear or damage on the pistol....

You're dry firing a striker pistol 50-75 times a day, while that is not as much stress and wear as actual shooting, it is still wear and as far as the striker is concerned its the same stress and wear, if not more....

So you've got several thousand rounds through the pistol and several times more than that in dry fires.... ....that's a lot of use on a pistol...

I wouldn't say that experience shows the Striker in the Hellcat is defective or poorly designed, but it does show its a weak point, and will likely fail and need replaced during the life of the pistol in heavy usage....

I agree with your decision to upgrade to a sturdier aftermarket striker after the 2nd one failed....

BTW, looking at the Hellcat Striker, the plastic collar appears to be just a spacer, cylindrical washer, for the spring to compress. Again, I think your experience shows, it could be better and it would be smart to upgrade for severe usage, but in most cases, its just there as a spacer for the spring...
 
I may dry fire a new pistol (with snap caps) a couple dozen times before I shoot it the first time just to familiarize myself with the trigger. (Where the wall is, what the break feels like, etc.) I feel dry firing does nothing to condition the shooter to recoil and muzzle blast. These are the two main factors that cause us to not have a clean trigger press and can only be mastered through continuous live fire practice and mental discipline.
 
I don’t have a Hellcat, but when I first bought the pistol I do have, I e-mailed Springfield customer support to ask about dry fire and snap caps. I did not put a lot of confidence in internet statements that said dry firing without snap caps was okay. There is such a thing as metal fatigue, with some alloys more susceptible to fatigue than others. The person I corresponded with got back to me a few days later. She said she had talked to the Springfield engineers and the engineers said to use snap caps.

I used to hunt with a recurve bow. You can ruin a good bow by “dry firing” it. Arrows are not heavy, but the bow is designed to be released with an arrow nocked. Same with a gun, I guess.
 
Net Engineer said:
Works on tablets too if you have an Android or Apple IOS based one with a camera.
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nope.......i ain't that "modernized" yet......maybe in about 30 more years..???

we still have in our house this 40 pound device.....

no need for no gun, get clocked with this and you're out for a long, long time..

old-retro-vintage-rotary-phone-telephone-isolated-23680015.jpg
 
Hey just curious if anyone else saw the Hellcat go through 10,000 rounds without a failure? And since that wasnt enough the same gun was put through another 10,000 rounds with no failures. I am of the belief that dry firing isnt such a good idea. Just because some expert says its ok and a good way to train. My father taught me firearm safety and did a very fine job of it. I was taught to never dry fire a weapon ever. For two reasons being that firing pins could break and the would not be a chance of an accidental discharge. So one can say no dry firing is being too careful but I dont believe it.
 
dad said:
Hey just curious if anyone else saw the Hellcat go through 10,000 rounds without a failure? And since that wasnt enough the same gun was put through another 10,000 rounds with no failures. I am of the belief that dry firing isnt such a good idea. Just because some expert says its ok and a good way to train. My father taught me firearm safety and did a very fine job of it. I was taught to never dry fire a weapon ever. For two reasons being that firing pins could break and the would not be a chance of an accidental discharge. So one can say no dry firing is being too careful but I dont believe it.
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Yep, saw that. Mine was working perfectly, never had an issue, till that fatal moment after a wipe down. I'm thinking that plastic sleeve might have gotten a little hot after the range, cooled down and possibly misformed a touch from the heat. Maybe the Striker didn't travel smoothly through. No idea why, just a guess.
 
dad said:
Hey just curious if anyone else saw the Hellcat go through 10,000 rounds without a failure? And since that wasnt enough the same gun was put through another 10,000 rounds with no failures. I am of the belief that dry firing isnt such a good idea. Just because some expert says its ok and a good way to train. My father taught me firearm safety and did a very fine job of it. I was taught to never dry fire a weapon ever. For two reasons being that firing pins could break and the would not be a chance of an accidental discharge. So one can say no dry firing is being too careful but I dont believe it.
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i bought my Hellcat, then put it into service in March of '21

to this date, i only have 350 rounds thru it.

as recently as a couple of weeks ago, i had the trigger swapped out with a MCarbo kit

since it is my carry gun, it only gets a trip to the range for a work out, maybe once every 4-5 months, at best.

but gets field stripped, maybe once every 2 months, to be cleaned and lubed, due to lint from my clothing

so i don't think it'll ever reach 10,000 rounds.

i do not dry fire any gun i own, with out snap caps, the only time it gets "dry fired" is when i have to field strip it, to remove it from the frame, or to reassemble. so like twice those times..???
 
This is a shot of the part that broke, you can see the hole, from the manufacturer, creating a week spot. The second shot is where the usual break would occur. Even on this one you can see markings at the base of that hook. To me, none of it looks like hardened steel.
 

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dad said:
Hey just curious if anyone else saw the Hellcat go through 10,000 rounds without a failure? And since that wasnt enough the same gun was put through another 10,000 rounds with no failures. I am of the belief that dry firing isnt such a good idea. Just because some expert says its ok and a good way to train. My father taught me firearm safety and did a very fine job of it. I was taught to never dry fire a weapon ever. For two reasons being that firing pins could break and the would not be a chance of an accidental discharge. So one can say no dry firing is being too careful but I dont believe it.
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Well, racking the slide causes wear, just picking up and handling the pistol causes wear.
For most people dry firing, you can't say it doesn't cause any wear, but they don't do it enough to cause any appreciable wear.

Personally, I dry fire as a safety measure, either before/after clearing the firearm and in area where it is appropriate to do so and pointed in a safe direction. And before I put my firearms away, either in the safe or the container, to put them in Condition 4*, since checking the chamber is empty will cock the hammer/striker.

I'll dry fire for training, but it is usually refresher training because its been so long since I last shot, or familiarization with a new firearm, checking my grip and that I can pull the trigger without pulling the firearm off sight as I pull the trigger. Which all add up to dry firing my firearms perhaps 50-75 times a year, not 50-75 times a day.

Not criticizing someone determined to be an expert shot, that is training everyday, either dry firing or using one those laser simulation tools. You just have to realize there are trade-offs and severe usage on your firearm, and thus have to expect wear and breakage.

Condition 4 = least likely condition for the weapon to accidentally fire, checked clear of rounds, no rounds in it, no magazines in it, striker/hammer down. Yes, you can argue slide locked open might be safer, but an open slide can fall forward and load a round. If you've checked the chamber is empty, then the only way to get a round in it, is to have a round and do the very deliberate racking of the slide, that isn't going to happen on accident.

The military goes back and fourth on the plastic flags, it always seem they just loose them and never budget to replace them, arguably that is probably the safest condition 4. Put the plastic flag in the chamber, that can't go in if there is round in the chamber that was missed, that sticks out the ejection port and to display its there and holds the slide/bolt out of battery, making it impossible to fire as well.
 
dafoxs said:
This is a shot of the part that broke, you can see the hole, from the manufacturer, creating a week spot. The second shot is where the usual break would occur. Even on this one you can see markings at the base of that hook. To me, none of it looks like hardened steel.
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i check the replacement strikers from MCarbo (titanium) and Lightning Strike Products (steel).

and i swear, i see that hole in thier strikers as well....so i cannot see it making a difference if S/A has a hole and the others as well.....maybe the S/A is just a bad batch..????

MCarbo (titanium)

you can barely see it, but it is there


hellcat-striker-assembly-04-1.jpg


Lightning Strike (steel)

143411644_2905242526462629_1148435691748694577_n.jpg
 
Old_Me said:
i check the replacement strikers from MCarbo (titanium) and Lightning Strike Products (steel).

and i swear, i see that hole in thier strikers as well....so i cannot see it making a difference if S/A has a hole and the others as well.....maybe the S/A is just a bad batch..????

MCarbo (titanium)

you can barely see it, but it is there


hellcat-striker-assembly-04-1.jpg


Lightning Strike (steel)

143411644_2905242526462629_1148435691748694577_n.jpg
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Dang, I think you're right. Let's hope the type of medal makes the difference.
 
There is probably a reason for the hole and it has to be there. That doesn't necessarily make it weaker, but it will be the stress riser so that when it finally breaks, its going to break there. If they designed different so no hole was there, the striker could still break just a little later and in different spots...

The metal, its strength and final finishing steps can make a huge difference, stress relieving the hole can make a world of difference as well. So I wouldn't get to worked up about the hole.

With amount usage you're putting on this pistol, are you sure you don't want to order a 2nd one to have a spare on hand?
 
RickAnderson said:
There is probably a reason for the hole and it has to be there. That doesn't necessarily make it weaker, but it will be the stress riser so that when it finally breaks, its going to break there. If they designed different so no hole was there, the striker could still break just a little later and in different spots...

The metal, its strength and final finishing steps can make a huge difference, stress relieving the hole can make a world of difference as well. So I wouldn't get to worked up about the hole.

With amount usage you're putting on this pistol, are you sure you don't want to order a 2nd one to have a spare on hand?
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You read my mind. I have a second one coming also.
 
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