The pump may be sucking the valve open I would give it the full alcohol flush treatment, it sounds like it wants to shoot.
sounds like your check valve is stuck open now, allowing the pump to open the valve as Back_Roads has said. If your C9 is a keeper … I’d plan a full disassembly & thorough cleaning. Even if it’s starts shooting you’ll never get all the crud out that is causing problems
no idea what the problem is but you should post some pics of the gun! BTW, the gun is nickel plated - not chrome.
oh wow, that's a late one. Somewhere I have recorded the last year of the silver streak but I can't remember off the top of my head now. What is the date code on that one?