I believe my pistol is short stroking. After firing the round in the chamber the next round will not go off. If I use the decocker and fire double action the round will go off, but the next round will not go off. I noticed if I cycle the slide rearward the pistol will now fire but it does this on a regular basis, almost every other round. I have taken it apart and completely cleaned and wiped out any dirt and grease and reapplied where needed. What could the problem be as I have a little over 1200 rounds through this and it just started doing this recently. Any help would be appreciated.

You need to provide more detail on what is happening. Is the fired case ejecting, but the hammer not cocking? What ammunition were you using? Just one brand/weight, or many? When you write: "...the next round will not go off", what do you mean: hammer not cocked, hammer will not fall, hammer fall too light? Any mods to your gun? What caliber?

Internet gunsmithing is not easy, so help us out.

quote:

Originally posted by js3263:
I noticed if I cycle the slide rearward the pistol will now fire but it does this on a regular basis...

In addition to Gary's questions, when you do the action described above, is an unfired round being ejected when you cycle the slide? If so, does the primer have any kind of mark on it to show the firing pin struck it?

The hammer is re-cocked, hammer falls and nothing happens even after a few follow up trigger pulls. There is a new round in the chamber as the previous round succesfully ejected. It is a 9mm and I was shooting 115 gr and 147 gr factory loads of three manufacturers. No modifications have been done to the gun at all. When I refer to the hand cycling rearward I am only pulling the slide rearward maybe a quarter to a half an inch. Could it be my recoil spring has lost tension and needs replacing?

So, basically, you are getting light strikes??

Try cleaning the firing pin channel.

quote:

Could it be my recoil spring has lost tension and needs replacing?

No. The recoil spring is not a player in your problem.

quote:

Try cleaning the firing pin channel.

Use an aerosol solvent like Gun Scrubber. Do not oil!

Also do a function check on your firing pin block mechanism. (I no longer have one to post photos.)