Glock 19: Light(er) Strikes; increase striker spring weight?

[YuDanJa]

I’m hoping to get some opinions from the experts on this forum. I hope what I’m saying makes sense.
I have this Gen4 G19, and batch of really crappy ammo (MFS…I’ll never buy that again!). The batch of ammo, I am assuming, has really hard primers because I swear every 3-4 rounds I fired out of my G19, it would fail. I did, however, reload those failed cartridges back into the mag, and they worked on second strike. By the way, the firing pin on my G19 is fine…other (good) ammo works flawlessly (thus, it's not a warranty issue).
I’d like to simply say “the ammo sucked!” and still pass off my Glock as “Awesome!!!”. However, I do own other pistols in the same caliber…my P226R and Px4 Storm. I shot that same crap ammo through those pistols, too. There were some failures, but it was not as frequent as the Glock. Instead of failing every 3-4 rounds (and firing on second strike), it was more like every 15-17 rounds at a time. That bothers me a bit…not feeling the “awesome”.
Anyway, I heard that hammer-fired guns strike primers harder than striker-fired ones. (True/False?) True or not, I’m wondering if I were to replace the striker spring with a heavier one, would this sort of ‘solve’ the issue with crappy ammo?
Also, would there be any side effects or repercussions by increasing the factory striker spring weight?

[Chasbo00]

Pistols with hammers generally do strike primers harder than striker-fired pistols. However, a properly functioning stock Glock should not have an issue with light primer strikes. As you say, it may the ammo in this case. If your Glock has had trigger work or some parts replacement, this could be factor. If you do replace the striker spring with one stronger than stock, it will increase your trigger pull some too and it may not be the root cause of your problem. There are other potential reasons for light primer strikes with Glocks such poor engagement. If I were only having the issue with only one particular lot of ammo, I don't think I would try to fix what may not be broken. NATO ammo and ammo with CCI primers have relatively hard primers, see how your Glock 19 does with these.

[YuDanJa]

If your Glock has had trigger work or some parts replacement, this could be factor.

I did install a Scherer 3.5 connector (recently)...but, this exact thing happen even when I did have the factory connector installed.

There are other potential reasons for light primer strikes with Glocks such poor engagement.

What is "poor engagement"?

...CCI primers have relatively hard primers, see how your Glock 19 does with these.

I did shoot CCI Blazer aluminums that shot very well through my G19; not a single failure.

Yeah, it's got to be the batch of ammo. Everything ran perfectly with CCI Blazers, Federal Eagle, and Remingtons and even Wolf. Again, it's just the fact my other guns had a better success rate than my G19 that bothers me. I've always liked to say "I've shot a gagillion rounds through my ____ and never had a single failure!"

[Chasbo00]

What is "poor engagement"?

Engagement refers to the trigger bar (cruciform) contact with the firing pin lug. This engagement is what keeps the firing pin from springing forward until the trigger press is complete. Poor engagement resulting from a bent or damaged trigger bar cruciform can result in firing pin release with added friction drag thereby causing a light primer strike.

However, most engagement problems have to do with the percentage of contact between the cruciform and the firing pin lug. Glock says this needs to be at least 2/3 complete. This type of weak engagement most often results in shot doubling.

[YuDanJa]

What is "poor engagement"?

Engagement refers to the trigger bar (cruciform) contact with the firing pin lug. This engagement is what keeps the firing pin from springing forward until the trigger press is complete. Poor engagement resulting from a bent or damaged trigger bar cruciform can result in firing pin release with added friction drag thereby causing a light primer strike.

However, most engagement problems have to do with the percentage of contact between the cruciform and the firing pin lug. Glock says this needs to be at least 2/3 complete. This type of weak engagement most often results in shot doubling.

Cool! It's nice to learn something new. Thanks!

[Chasbo00]

Also, I probably should have mentioned what I think you already checked -- a dirty firing pin channel. Be careful if you are going to clean this as there is a plastic liner that can be damaged by using a wire brush or something rough and hard to clean out this channel.

[gunderwood]

Others have provided good inputs. Check them out. Given that you noticed a difference between hammer and striker fired, but all guns had failures with that ammo, I'd put my money on hard primers. I'd be willing to bet that that ammo in any striker fired gun would be an issue.