doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Firing pins

Hi all. I've got an Ugartechea 20 ga. from the 70s that's a really nice tight little gun. It handles like a dream and has at least 95% blue and case colors. It's a typical Anson & Deely non-ejector boxlock, and while it's not a "best" gun by any means, it is pretty solid. It does have one problem, however.

The left firing pin appears to be blunted and no longer fires the shell in that barrel. When I first got the gun a few years ago, it worked OK, but now it's become a single shot.

I have always assumed that unscrewing the firing pin bushings would allow the firing pins to be removed without disassembling the whole action, but that does not seem to be the case. After removing the bushings, the firing pins are loose, but they can't be pulled out toward the front.

Is there some trick to getting them out? Thanks.

The back side of the pin where the hammer strikes it is most likely mushroomed out. You may need to remove the stock to get at the rear of the pin.

It almmost sounds as it the rear of the firing pin is mushroomed from the hammer and making it hard to come out.

Sounds about right .If you might compare the old strikers to the Aya box lock ones ,not 100% sure but I think they might be pretty close.I put one in a Sarasquetta last week and it went in with no adjustment needed ,I think the Ugartachea is similar.

You can pull the stock. First, the rear wood screw/screws on the trigger guard then unscrew the guard; be carefull not to scratch the gun.
Then the screw that is under the guard that runs thru to the top tang; then the floor plate screw in front of the trigger guard. It may not come loose easily; let a drop of WD40 lay on it overnight. MAKE SURE YOU USE GUNSMITH BITS and the best fitting bit for each screw and use plenty of down pressure.
Then move the lever over and remove the large screw. Now pull and wiggle on the triggers to remove the trigger plate. Sometimes I have re-installed the large upper screw a couple of turns and tapped with a brass punch if the trigger plate was stubborn.
BTW make sure the hammers are cocked before. Now, pull and wiggle the stock off. You should easily see the back of the firing pins. Try to tap it out with a brass punch. I would put a little lub on the mushroom first. If you get it out; remove the other pin to compare the neck length to see if it is too short, but I suspect the mushroomed rear of the pin is not allowing it to move far enough. File off the mushroomed area to get it to fit back in.

I you can't do the job; send it to Cole Haugh in Ind. He used to be, maybe still is, a designated Uggie repair man. His work is very reasonably priced. Ph. 513 518 6722.

Thank you for the replies. I do have a set of Brownell's gunsmithing screwdrivers with the tips for narrow European screw slots, and I have pulled the stock and trigger plate before to thoroughly clean the action, so I'll give it a try. Thanks again.

You MIGHT even be able to pull the pin out, if you can get a solid grip on it with small Vise Grips.

I was actually going to try this first after putting a bit of lube in the hole with a Q-Tip. I've tried with needle-nosed pliers, but I didn't want to pull too hard before I checked with you guys. Now that I know what's going on, I'll pull a little harder. Thanks again.

Well, you were all right on with the diagnosis: the rear of the firing pins had flared out enough to prevent easy removal.

I followed Patriot USA's procedure and was able to drive them out. The offending pin was a hair shorter, but not enough to cause the misfires. I found that the tips were a very tight fiction fit in the bushing holes, which would have contributed to the problem. I dressed them down a bit with a fine file so they fit through the bushing and action holes easily.

Hopefully, this will solve my problem without having to buy new firing pins. I'll try it out on Tuesday.

Thanks again for the great advice.

Unless you rarely use this gun you should probably buy new pins anyway. The originals are obviously not hardened properly and the same thing will happen again. If you buy some soon enough, you will be able to do it via the bushings rather than removing the stock again. Keep the old ones for emergency spares or to use as a pattern if you decide to learn to make your own out of O.H. drill rod.