Took my new Dagger to the range for the first time today. Within the first 20 rounds i had one failure to eject where the casing got caught in the ejection port. Also had the slide ride forward when the mag was empty. After that had no issues for another 50-60 rounds so i’m chalking it up to just growing pains. Overall was impressed with it and loved the way it shot, was able to put about a 5 inch diameter group at 15 meters and i’m not the best pistol shot so good for me. Also, i have a mission first tactical holster that i was using for my g2c and it works for the dagger as well, not perfect but it’s snug in there and i’m not worried about it coming out on it’s own or anything.
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Did you cycle the gun at all or do dryfire practice before actually shooting it? I keep seeing new owners having stovepipe and ejection issues, while my two guns never did.
Wondering if it’s how much I play with the guns first before I ever bring them to the range.
Regardless, your initial malfunctions are way less than some others experienced. Usually the first 50 rounds seemed like hell to them with constant stovepiping.
And for the slide not locking open, common Glock issue with high grips. I do it occasionally too. Then add in 5-6 years old mags that have been used a lot. I like to run a Ghost Bullet Forward Slide-release, or chop my OEM ones down to where they are more square, level with where they lock against the slide. Keeps it far enough forward that I don’t ride it as much.
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I took it apart and did a quick functions check when i first brought it home but nothing major, i also didn’t add my own clp because it seemed to have a small coat of oil on it already which could of caused an issue as well. I usually lube my guns up generously too, probably should’ve done that lol.
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I think all the new gun issues are people not playing around with them. Paul Harrell brought that up in a Hi Point video I think. It had issues at the start but after shooting a bit they went away. He said to cycle the thing like 1000 times at home before bringing it out. Because it was an inexpensive gun, as these are.
That’s what I end up doing, just from playing around and dryfiring. I don’t think any of my pistols have ever had a break in because of that.
Factory lube should work. I’ve used it plenty of times on guns. I’ve shot 10K+ through a G34 and the first 2500 or so was wheel bearing grease, but by the 2500, it all disappeared and got gunked up. Still worked fine. Had a Taurus G3 that I just took out of box and ran 50 steel and 50 brass rounds through without a hiccup. After playing at home first. The factory lube worked fine on that.
I do recommend grease over what comes on guns though, as long as the tolerances/clearances aren’t super tight like some 1911’s. They seem to just work smoother with the grease.
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Were you shooting 115 target (ie:low pressure) stuff? I never had any malfunctions, but I did notice ejection was somewhat anemic and erratic during the first few dozen rounds. All 3 of mine have broken in since, and now make a nice pile of brass about 6 feet to my right.
I think that was just the moving parts breaking in to each other and maybe the recoil spring smoothing out. Glocks ship with that bronze grease that, it is my understanding, has some super fine lapping compound in it for that reason, so everything breaks in cleanly and quickly.
I’ll mess around with it later and see if it helps for the next time i shoot, thanks for the info! As far as the lube goes i’ve always just used clp because that’s the way i was taught, might have to try some grease out and see how it goes.
Both work well for me. I always bring oil/spray stuff out to the range in case I have issues. Easier to just spray it in everything. At home I like grease. It seems to stay on longer and not migrate as much. For spray lubes, I do prefer CLP. A little pricey but it does stay a bit better than others, and seems to slick it up as good as grease does.
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i shot a mixture of 115 and 124, the malfunction did happen with the 115 though. But the rest of the ammo i shot was 115 as well so i think it was definitely just breaking it in.
The bronze stuff is an anti-seize compound. It doesn’t really hurt to keep it on, as it will work as lubricant and protect the parts from corrosion. I just don’t like the abrasive feel. Mine have always worked fine when I replaced that lube. The manuals even said to use wet lubricant on it.
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I just started shooting my Dagger a couple weeks ago. Ive now put about 400 - 450 rounds thru it over 2 outings. 0 FTE, 3 FTF (2 caused by me not fully seating new full mag with 1 in chamber). I don’t put anything into my CCW rotation with less than 800 rounds in it and no failures in 500 rounds. I expect this dagger to graduate this month.
I really prefer its grip surface and feel to my existing Gen3 19’s and can’t wait to “retire” them. The only “complaint” i have is the lack of decent holster selections and they don’t quite fit most of my existing 19 holsters.
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Just Google - dagger pistol holster.
Lots of choices to choose.
PSA is currently out of stock.
I grabbed one of these and am happy with it
Works great and retention feels good.
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Update: Put another 100 rounds through it, no malfunctions at all. Definitely need to lube it before shooting after first getting one.