What caused this damage to my M&P R8's firing pin bushing?

[BigRich315]

Looks like you have some good responses, so... What did you take those pictures with, the Hubble?! Very impressive.

 

[n4zov]

Looks like you have some good responses, so... What did you take those pictures with, the Hubble?! Very impressive.

+1 I don't have a clue about what caused the gouge, but those are great photos!

 

[sza]

A Canon 20D with a 100mm macro lens and macro flash. I could actually have MORE magnification by also using an extension tube.

Here's a couple of examples of what you can get with the macro lens and extension tubes:

 

[tomcatt51]

You might try taking a fine ceramic stone, very gently, across the recoil shield/firing pin bushing to just dress the high spots so you can better tell if the bushing is low or you just have the normal inconsequential highs and lows associated with staking the bushing.

 

[ken158]

I agree with most on the leaking primer but the point of my reply is to say that your pictures are excellent! Send a few of them to S&W and see what they say...

 

[David Sinko]

Crush fit primers per se should not cause this to happen. Many competitive shooters are using actions that have been lightened to the point that they fire only the softer Federal primers that have been crush fit into the pocket. In your case, a crush fit primer MAY be a contributing factor but there's definitely something else wrong here.

Dave Sinko

 

[Jhp147]

I just saw an auto that had a lot of speckles in a circle on the breechface, same size circle as the primer...none of them NEARLY as bad as this. Short answer, some 1990s vintage, recalled Remington primers were the culprit, per Remington. That type was recalled as they were leaking all around the primer pocket. They have to "legs" on the anvil instead of three. This is second hand info, but I saw and photoed the damage. Any chance you got some of those?

 

[sza]

No chance--every round through this gun has had either a Winchester or Federal primer.

I did send the photos to S&W, but I still haven't heard anything back from them. I'll try giving them a call next week if I don't hear anything back by Tuesday or Wednesday.

 

[sza]

Got a reply from S&W today, pretty much exactly echoing Alk8944's response. They're sending me a shipping label and have offered to repair the damage for free.

Their customer service is second to none. Probably the reason I own so many S&Ws.