doublegunshop.com - home Forums Thread Like Summary - Broken firing pin

How costly is a broken firing pin? Does the job get any easier/less expensive on a gun with disc-set strikers?

Skip,
if your search for a new pin dead-ends, send me the dimensions and I will make you a couple. I have drill rod and the lathe still works.

John

Since the OP hasn't told us what make and model of shotgun this is, it is hard to say if a Remington 1100 firing pin could be modified to fit.

I would advise Snipe Hunter to tell us what make and model of shotgun he has, and to provide a pic of the broken firing pin pieces if possible. I have found original firing pins from sources such as Numrich (Gun Parts Corp.) and other parts dealers. I see various firing pins quite often on Ebay. Gun shows are also often a source for firing pins that are correct, or could be modified to fit. Someone here might even have spare pins from a parts gun. However, having a firing pin custom made will likely be the most expensive option.

But as Stan says, making a firing pin for most doubles is not very difficult for any gunsmith or machinist who can operate a small lathe, and knows how to harden and draw a piece of common oil hardening O-1 drill rod. The first firing pin I ever made broke on the first shot because I drew the temper to light straw color, and the tip end was too brittle. Since then, purple or blue has worked well for me when using 0-1. Some people say that using a grade 8 bolt for material works well, as it is tough enough for most firing pins without subsequent heat treatment, but I have not tried this yet. It would be nice to have both broken pieces to be able to make it the correct length the first time. And it should be noted that the discs will probably not be interchangeable from right to left, so they should be marked upon removal.

Hi Stanton,
If you send me the pin you need I can make you one or more.

You can dry fire a Darne to your hearts content as well, Stan. The guys at the shop in St. Etienne put them away in the rack after they snapped the triggers.
You should have the barrels in place when you do that. I can’t understand why people would dry fire a double gun without the barrels in place, but, there it is.

It was an English gun, Stan. Other than that little detail, it was well finished and quite nice. I believe the ‘Smith actually shortened the discs up, and reused them, after fitting them correctly.

Best,
Ted

The late British gun maker, Jack Rowe would make firing pins on his lathe from O-1 drill rod and not further heat treat them. I have found that his method works very well and can recommend it to you. He also offered the expertise advice of not having the firing pin protrusion any longer than 1mm (.0393701") for Spanish guns to prevent firing ping drag on opening the action/barrels.

I have made one using O-1 drill rod from advice I received here. Cut a bit off and chucked it into a drill. Place the drill in a vice horizontally. Used a couple of files and a caliper to keep tabs on my progress. Took little time. Not much more than half an hour. Only caveat is it heated up a bit and I measured as I went. When it cooled it had a bit smaller diameter. Still worked fine in the gun. I would suggest a wet rag to cool it before taking measurements as you go.

I had a 28g. gun I had trouble shooting due to a pretty large front bead. Dewey helped me with it at his house since it fit me but I could not shoot it well. He took the large front bead off, we went into the basement and he chucked it into a drill set vertically in his vice. He then proceeded to reshape it using files and sandpaper. Took a few minutes, reinstalled and problem solved.

Thank you all for the advice and information. I really appreciate it.

I have use grade 8 bolts and m2 ,the bolts can be found in a lot of diameters at the local hardware store ,you could make that with a drill press and files

That's one of the things I like about this board .......... how generous and helpful so many are.

It looks like a MIG weld extension and re-dressing job to me.
Mike

Very generous of you, but it is Skip (Snipe Hunter) that needs it. Maybe he will see this and contact you.

I often use Remington 1100 firing pins cut to proper size

https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_fr...emington+1100+firing+pin&_sacat=7301

Find a production machine shop, or a gunsmith, that understands the requirements in quality of steel that a firing pin requires, and have one made to duplicate your other barrel's one. Dimensions are very important, but no big issue for a good machinist.

Re-install it and go kill snipe. You got the discs and the strikers out, you can do this.

It depends if the disc comes out with out a struggle

It's generally less expensive on disk set strikers because the firing pin is a separate piece from the hammer.

Funny this comes up now because the left firing pin on my wife's Grulla SLE broke Saturday and I'm taking it to our gunsmith tomorrow - he'll try to locate a pin but will most likely have to make one. I have no idea on cost but that's not relevant since it's my wife's favorite gun and my first flight instructor's saying of "if mama ain't happy ain't nobody happy" applies. Whatever it costs we'll make mamma happy.

Surely not, not an ENGLISH gun poorly engineered! You must be mistaken, Ted.

On the flip side (of the pond), AH Fox guns were advertised as being able to be dry fired as much as desired, with no damage to the striker, or any other part of the gun.

That doesn’t look difficult at all.

That said, Cole Haugh likely has pins that fit sitting on a shelf at his house. Google him. He imported Uggies for a time, and was the go-to service guy on Spaniards for a long time.

Those seem like perfectly reasonable reasons(shooting it well, low dollar outlay) to get a gun back up and running, to me. I own an Uggy that Cole has been through, it is truly not a fine gun, but nobody could say it isn’t a serviceable gun. I had him supply extra strikers and the tool to remove the discs when it was serviced. A good rainy day gun, for sure. A spare set would be a good idea for your gun.

I never understood the problems people claimed they had getting the discs out, until a friend showed me a picture of an English gun with disc set strikers, that were poorly engineered- the damn hammers came to a rest on the protruding edge of the disc at the shot, and had thoroughly peened the edge of the disc into the back of the face! Yea, those would be tough to remove.

At any rate, good luck.

Best,
Ted