Got two Dagger compacts. One gray, one black. Both function perfectly at the range. On takedown, the gray frame will release the slide every single time. The black frame doesn’t. The slide will move forward maybe an inch then get stuck. I can pull it back again to reset it and the gun will function, but upon trying to remove the slide it’ll do the same thing. Then, randomly, on an attempt it’ll slide right off. Usually takes 5-10 attempts or so.
I’ve swapped the slides from both back and forth several times, same issue always persists with the black frame and never the gray one. I can’t see anything that sticks out as an issue and I have no idea what’s causing it.
Both frames have P80 triggers, but the issue was happening before the trigger swaps so it’s not that. Can a more experienced eye spot something that I’m missing?
Try holding the trigger to the rear as you pull the slide off. On mine the trigger bar and nub on it was rubbing against the slide, causing the trigger to get pulled forward and reset. Also makes the slide cock to one side on dis/assembly. Not a huge deal, just something to note when taking it apart.
As mine have broken in they got much easier. Have you shot one more than the other?
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It has nothing to do with my technique. I’ve used the same for all my Glocks and these two Daggers, this is the only time I’ve ever had an issue. There’s something mechanically off about the black frame, I just can’t spot what it is.
I have done the same for tons of Glocks and one of my Daggers, yet another Dagger had that binding/friction issue with the trigger bar nub hitting the connector track inside the slide. Tolerances and clearances can cause that. That can also make the slide move to one side so the backplate doesn’t clear as easily either.
Outside of that, the top of your slide lock lever on the black frame does look to have some noticeable wear on the top edge of it. Neither of mine do 1.5k rounds in. What’s your round count on each frame? The more you shoot it, IF it’s the issue I think it is, the easier it gets. My tan frame no longer has that friction issue, it comes clean off when it used to not.
I’m sorry, two decades of shooting and maintaining Glocks and now Daggers, I just don’t believe this is any kind of a “break in” issue and not something I want to throw a thousand rounds worth of 9mm at in some kind of prayer it gets “easier”. It isn’t an issue of it having more resistance, you literally cannot force it forward, it is not rubbing, it’s getting full on stuck on something at the same spot every time, until it just…doesn’t one time. But you put the slide back on and it will continue doing the exact same thing multiple times, until, again, it just works as it should randomly.
I’ll return the frame to PSA for a complete out of tolerance issue if nothing glaring stands out to anyone here. As stated earlier as well, this happened with both the stock trigger and the P80.
The takedown lever thingy may be on backwards. Looks like it from the pics. There’s a lip on one side that the slide could be getting caught on. Just gotta press the retaining spring down, slide it out, flip it around.
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That’s the locking block pin, not the slide lock lever. That’s farther up on the pics, you can see the spring underneath them.
Thanks for correcting me. I was having a helluva brain fart on that part name.
Wrong name, but right part in mind. I only know about that malfunction because I made that error when i built my first P80. Took a while to figure out why the slide kept jamming forward when taking it down.
Either way the slide lock lever is on correctly on both guns. You’d notice other issues too if it weren’t. And there’s a clear notch at the back end which is the correct way, same as both of mine. At least that’s what it looks like with the angle and lighting in the pics.
I keep bringing up the same issue because people have mentioned it on the forums before thinking the slide was stuck and it wasn’t. Yes it is possible that’s not the issue, but without seeing it myself or trying it, that’s best guess.
Again, top of the Black frame slide lock either has some weird lighting or wear on the top of it. See if that’s an issue, takes a minute to swap those out, no need to remove the locking block.
I checked if the slide release was oriented correctly before I posted the topic, it is. I’m truly stumped on this one. I suppose I could try swapping the slide release from each frame to the other as a next step. Here’s a couple pictures of exactly where the slide gets stuck on an attempted takedown:
That is right around the spot where the trigger bar slides against the connector cam area in the slide. Trying to push the slide hard to the right doesn’t work? And the trigger isn’t getting pushed forward at all?
Compare the slide rails in your two frames. When my slide is in that exact spot, just past where the slide lock pops back up, I cannot see that much of my front left rail even if I grab and crank on my slide. Could just be an angle and lighting thing but I can’t recreate it.
The trigger isn’t getting pushed forward, and no, pushing the slide hard to the right doesn’t work.
When it’s stuck, grabbing it and pulling the slide up and to the left (gun facing forward) does work. It seems to “lift” the slide off of whatever it’s stuck on, which tells me it’s not sitting quite evenly on the frame. Something must be ever-so-slightly off, because it is the tiniest of movements but it goes from full-on stuck to pretty much falling off the frame moving it juuuuust that tiny bit.
But at least now I can get the slide off consistently and every time. Not sure what the fix is, but that rules out the slide release being the problem.
(EDIT: upon further inspection, I don’t need to grab and pull the slide to the left really at all. Simply lightly tilting it to the left with one finger works now…I think grabbing it hard and pulling to the left the first time I did it seemed to have moved or bent something a bit more back into place.)
