Jim Kramer says "BUY!" (ie: DON'T buy 
) and I say "BYE!" Am I being too picky or is this our last JSD purchase?
I consider myself a "good" consumer. I research, shop around, then I purchase with the intent of getting maximum value for my dollar. I don't buy, use, then return or anything like that--I buy to keep and consume. If a product is defective, I expect a mfg or distributor to stand behind it or they shouldn't be selling it! If I buy something with no warranty, I am aware of it and pay accordingly. When I have a warranty issue, I expect a mfg/dist. to take steps to satisfy me. I'm not one to flame a company unless I believe I have been wronged and/or they are selling pieces of shit. If I have one fault, it is that I sometimes procrastinate returning items because I HATE having to deal with Customer Service!
About a year ago May, I bought a Patmos Arms "Judah" .40 (G23) slide kit from JSD Supply. I believe Patmos is a "house" brand for them because they are the only dealer listed. I paid $200+ "on sale" at the time. They now retail for $180 (don't buy!). I wanted a .40 gun because I have a S-load of .40 to shoot and nothing to shoot it out of... I had a PF940C frame I built to put the slide on with P80 parts kit. The only mod to the frame was I straightened out the ejector a little bit in a vise so it was more "forty-ish" (ie: straighter). The frame was tested for function with a known good slide and worked good enough. I figured I'd fine tune it once I got the .40 slide. In hindsight, I wished I had paid a little more and got a police "trade in" G23 or G22...
Received the slide within a week. As is necessary, I inspected the slide to see if it was good to go and it was NOT. First issue I noticed is the slide wouldn't go on the frame easily and when I finally got it on, it would bind. The RSA pocket in the frame had been opened up adequately and I noticed the Patmos RSA spring was not straight but curvy and was hitting the inside of the frame. The RSA shown below is from slide #2 and is shown next to a Dagger RSA (bottom). The first RSA was even worse than that. (I lost the pics in a hard drive crash) Note the paint/coating that has been rubbed off it from contact with the barrel and frame--this is after less than 50rds... More on slide #2 below. That is a Swenson (Midway) 40>9mm conversion barrel shown.
At this point I determined I better check the rest of the slide for function before live fire. Moving the striker it felt VERY gritty. Checking function of the firing pin safety I noticed the firing pin was not protruding with plunger depressed. HMMMM, OK, time to pull apart the slide to see what the deal is. Tried swapping striker assemblies and liners with known good and the SA was still "gritty" and would not protrude. Looking from behind inside the SA bore, it became obvious the firing pin "hole" was drilled/formed off-center. Put the slide back together, contacted JSD and arranged for a warranty return. I specifically asked them to inspect the replacement slide to assure it wasn't defective. They DID pay for shipping back to them and got me another slide out once they determined the first was defective. So I was without a slide for another 2 weeks or so.
Once slide #2 was received, I inspected the firing pin hole and was dismayed to see that while the firing pin nub now protruded, the nub was tight against the hole and the hole was enlarged compared to ANY of the other slides I have. Fired 1 magazine at the range to check function (it did) and collect spent cases for examination. Contacted JSD again about it being defective and they claimed they sent a return label but I never received it. Put the gun on the shelf and got busy with other matters. In the past month or two I've been determined to get the slide replaced or to get rid of it because I am NOT comfortable with the long term reliability. So I contacted JSD again...
I always wondered why users on Reddit were experiencing broken firing pins (strikers) with their builds. I mean, how was it happening?
Improper metallurgy or some other reason? Having a defective slide I think I figured it out but I am open to your opinions. As one with a very high degree of mechanical aptitude, I would theorize that some firing pin breaks are caused by the hole being off-center. As the nub of the striker contacts the edge of the hole, it gets fatigued until eventually it breaks off. What if the broken off nub gets jammed into the hole, turning the pistol into a sub-machine gun, emptying the mag with no way to stop it? I know this is highly unlikely but is it not possible?
These pictures shared with JSD show a variety of proof the hole is off-center. Note the "point" of the 11mm (7/16") bolt in the .40 hole compared to the 10mm bolt in the 9mm hole. Also observe the imprint of the firing pin hole and firing pin on the primer. 9mm out of the Swenson barrel is shown.
Anyway, long story short, this is the last two replies I received from them and are quoted:
"We understand you don't like that the hole is not exactly centered as you desire. It does appear to be within tolerance, functional, and will provide years of service, despite it's appearance."
"Please use it. If a component fails under normal use, we will repair or replace the failed component."
I don't know what blueprint they derive their "tolerances" from but I would have to disagree. Although I despise slipnfall lawyers, they will be the first call on the way to the ER if a failure should occur. At this point, I am just going to sell off the slide at a loss and move on. If anybody from JSD or with connections to them is reading this, your company needs to stop selling shit products or at least take care of your customers... In this day and age, the gov't is eager to put gun companies out of business and selling defective and dangerous products will only accelerate your demise...
As an aside, this slide also came with absolute shit plastic sights, the rear can be manually pushed from side to side by hand. Durkin also sold me similar shit plastic sights for $15. Companies would be better served to omit this garbage from the slide and knock $5 off the price than to pass it off as acceptable...
) and I say "BYE!" Am I being too picky or is this our last JSD purchase? I consider myself a "good" consumer. I research, shop around, then I purchase with the intent of getting maximum value for my dollar. I don't buy, use, then return or anything like that--I buy to keep and consume. If a product is defective, I expect a mfg or distributor to stand behind it or they shouldn't be selling it! If I buy something with no warranty, I am aware of it and pay accordingly. When I have a warranty issue, I expect a mfg/dist. to take steps to satisfy me. I'm not one to flame a company unless I believe I have been wronged and/or they are selling pieces of shit. If I have one fault, it is that I sometimes procrastinate returning items because I HATE having to deal with Customer Service!
About a year ago May, I bought a Patmos Arms "Judah" .40 (G23) slide kit from JSD Supply. I believe Patmos is a "house" brand for them because they are the only dealer listed. I paid $200+ "on sale" at the time. They now retail for $180 (don't buy!). I wanted a .40 gun because I have a S-load of .40 to shoot and nothing to shoot it out of... I had a PF940C frame I built to put the slide on with P80 parts kit. The only mod to the frame was I straightened out the ejector a little bit in a vise so it was more "forty-ish" (ie: straighter). The frame was tested for function with a known good slide and worked good enough.
I figured I'd fine tune it once I got the .40 slide. In hindsight, I wished I had paid a little more and got a police "trade in" G23 or G22...Received the slide within a week. As is necessary, I inspected the slide to see if it was good to go and it was NOT. First issue I noticed is the slide wouldn't go on the frame easily and when I finally got it on, it would bind. The RSA pocket in the frame had been opened up adequately and I noticed the Patmos RSA spring was not straight but curvy and was hitting the inside of the frame. The RSA shown below is from slide #2 and is shown next to a Dagger RSA (bottom). The first RSA was even worse than that. (I lost the pics in a hard drive crash)
Note the paint/coating that has been rubbed off it from contact with the barrel and frame--this is after less than 50rds... More on slide #2 below. That is a Swenson (Midway) 40>9mm conversion barrel shown.At this point I determined I better check the rest of the slide for function before live fire. Moving the striker it felt VERY gritty. Checking function of the firing pin safety I noticed the firing pin was not protruding with plunger depressed.
HMMMM, OK, time to pull apart the slide to see what the deal is. Tried swapping striker assemblies and liners with known good and the SA was still "gritty" and would not protrude. Looking from behind inside the SA bore, it became obvious the firing pin "hole" was drilled/formed off-center. Put the slide back together, contacted JSD and arranged for a warranty return. I specifically asked them to inspect the replacement slide to assure it wasn't defective. They DID pay for shipping back to them and got me another slide out once they determined the first was defective. So I was without a slide for another 2 weeks or so.Once slide #2 was received, I inspected the firing pin hole and was dismayed to see that while the firing pin nub now protruded, the nub was tight against the hole and the hole was enlarged compared to ANY of the other slides I have. Fired 1 magazine at the range to check function (it did) and collect spent cases for examination. Contacted JSD again about it being defective and they claimed they sent a return label but I never received it. Put the gun on the shelf and got busy with other matters. In the past month or two I've been determined to get the slide replaced or to get rid of it because I am NOT comfortable with the long term reliability. So I contacted JSD again...
I always wondered why users on Reddit were experiencing broken firing pins (strikers) with their builds. I mean, how was it happening?
Improper metallurgy or some other reason? Having a defective slide I think I figured it out but I am open to your opinions. As one with a very high degree of mechanical aptitude, I would theorize that some firing pin breaks are caused by the hole being off-center. As the nub of the striker contacts the edge of the hole, it gets fatigued until eventually it breaks off. What if the broken off nub gets jammed into the hole, turning the pistol into a sub-machine gun, emptying the mag with no way to stop it? I know this is highly unlikely but is it not possible? These pictures shared with JSD show a variety of proof the hole is off-center. Note the "point" of the 11mm (7/16") bolt in the .40 hole compared to the 10mm bolt in the 9mm hole. Also observe the imprint of the firing pin hole and firing pin on the primer. 9mm out of the Swenson barrel is shown.
Anyway, long story short, this is the last two replies I received from them and are quoted:
"We understand you don't like that the hole is not exactly centered as you desire. It does appear to be within tolerance, functional, and will provide years of service, despite it's appearance."
"Please use it. If a component fails under normal use, we will repair or replace the failed component."
I don't know what blueprint they derive their "tolerances" from but I would have to disagree. Although I despise slipnfall lawyers, they will be the first call on the way to the ER if a failure should occur.
At this point, I am just going to sell off the slide at a loss and move on. If anybody from JSD or with connections to them is reading this, your company needs to stop selling shit products or at least take care of your customers... In this day and age, the gov't is eager to put gun companies out of business and selling defective and dangerous products will only accelerate your demise...As an aside, this slide also came with absolute shit plastic sights, the rear can be manually pushed from side to side by hand. Durkin also sold me similar shit plastic sights for $15.
Companies would be better served to omit this garbage from the slide and knock $5 off the price than to pass it off as acceptable...
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