Aticus
Member
Broke one on a C. Sharps Hi-Wall. Cost me $35. Don't do that anymore.
Edit: it was a centerfire.
Edit: it was a centerfire.
Do you know first hand of breaking a firing pin by dry firing (poll)
- Thread starter rwsmith
- Start date
Broke one on a Browning BDA .380. The tip broke at the shoulder. Took over two months to get a replacement. Reworked the old one for a temporary fix by brazing a modified dowel pin to the broken end. Never used it until the new pin was installed.
BearBio
Member
My Dad's 1940's High Standard has broken several. Can't find them anymore, so my brother makes them (he's a gunsmith).
Brian41
Member
I broke a firing pin on an Italian SxS first time I ever dry fired it when it was new. I later was told it's not a good idea to dry fire Italian shotguns, I don't know?
I had a Model 19 in mid 70s used that had a small chip on the end of the hammer mounted firing pin. I still worked but the sharp edge pieced primers so I had it replaced.
I had a Model 19 in mid 70s used that had a small chip on the end of the hammer mounted firing pin. I still worked but the sharp edge pieced primers so I had it replaced.
The Real Hawkeye
Member
- Joined
- Sep 27, 2009
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The hammer mounted firing pin on an S&W double action centerfire revolver is unlikely to break from dry firing. In fact, Ed McGivern, the author of Fast And Fancy Revolver Shooting, a revolver classic, recommended hundreds of dry fire double action trigger strokes per week, and never so much as mentioned broken firing pins (unless it was to discount the concern).
Now, I must say, however, that extensive dry firing without snap caps will eventually negatively impact the firing pin port in the frame of such revolvers, i.e., it can eventually push out a steel spur that could cause hangups in the rotation of the cylinder due to friction against the back of the cartridges. So I recommend snap caps for this reason, but not due to concern over broken, hammer mounted, firing pins.
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nicky4968
Member
A S&W 14-2. My excessive dry firing. I was not using snap caps.
I still dry fire my revolvers, pistols, and rifles, but only with the A-Zoom caps in.
I still dry fire my revolvers, pistols, and rifles, but only with the A-Zoom caps in.
Well, I'm going to sit on the fence. I have broken a firing pin on a Model 13 while dry firing, I don't necessarily think it broke because of dry firing. On the other side, I have broken a firing pin on a Rossi Overland shotgun, that may have been because of dry firing, it was a new gun. It went "tink" off my TV's screen.
jeffrey
Member
I broke the firing pin (hammernose) of my brand new model 629-4 dry firing it. I called S&W to order a new one (at my expense) assuming that it was my fault for not using snap caps. The gentleman on the phone assured me that it was a defective hammernose and that best of companies replaced it under warranty, paying shipping both ways. In my experience, nothing beats S&W customer service!
lawandorder
Member
Hammer-nose on a early 1950s 38-44 HD broke while dry firing. I have engaged in dry firing Smith cf revolvers for 45 years or so and this was the only time it has happened.
Thanks to some good folks on the Forum here I was able to get the HD fixed.
Thanks to some good folks on the Forum here I was able to get the HD fixed.
Over the last 30 years I've dry fired a lot of firearms. I broke the firing pin in a Marlin 1894 .44 Magnum rifle. I broke the hammer nose on a S&W 686 and a 28-2. I broke the firing pin in a COLT Ser. 70 .45 ACP.
Where are all the guys who broke firing pins in their BG380's???
Wasn't that a major issue just a few years back?
.
No doubt, LL! After all the posts about the BG380, even recent FP breaks, not a single post here. I voted that I have only "heard" of FPs breaking and I was thinking of the BG380 dudes. This is/was such a big deal that Galloway Precision is going to produce the machined pin
.beach elvis
Member
Romanian .22 training rifle.
EQGuy
US Veteran
About 50 years ago I was dry firing my Winchester model 55 32 Win Special and the firing pin broke. The serial number of that rifle was 7000 and it was a takedown and I wish I still had it.
ACP230
Member
I broke a firing pin while dry firing an M1 Garand.
I'd been using it to teach myself to shoot offhand for NRA Highpower
Matches. I ordered a new one, and a couple of spares. A couple local shooters who built M1s for fun, put the new pin in for me. They had all the tools needed.
The M1 was a Blue Sky rifle, imported from Korea in the late 1980s.
It looked like it had been through three wars and had probably been
through two. Shot a lot better than it looked. Still does since all that's
been done to it is a little trigger smoothing and the new firing pin.
I still dryfire it, but not as much since I'm out of the Highpower game.
I'd been using it to teach myself to shoot offhand for NRA Highpower
Matches. I ordered a new one, and a couple of spares. A couple local shooters who built M1s for fun, put the new pin in for me. They had all the tools needed.
The M1 was a Blue Sky rifle, imported from Korea in the late 1980s.
It looked like it had been through three wars and had probably been
through two. Shot a lot better than it looked. Still does since all that's
been done to it is a little trigger smoothing and the new firing pin.
I still dryfire it, but not as much since I'm out of the Highpower game.
I broke the front piece (2-pc FP) of an Astra M1922 (400) by dryfiring. Made another out of a drill shank, and it was so easy, I made 3 more "just in case". Been buyin', sellin' and swappin' S&Ws since 1973 and have never broken a part of any kind.
Larry
Larry
goldenlight
Member
I ALWAYS use snap caps when dry firing. They are cheap, compared to paying to replace a firing pin. For some of my older guns, finding a new firing pin could be tough, too.
Many years ago I bought a brand new Indian Arms .380 which is a copy of the Walther PPK. I was showing it to a buddy of mine who squeezed the trigger 3 or 4 times in rapid succession and half of the firing pin came flying out.
Never have broken a fireingpin.
How ever, i did brake the thumb piece of the hammer on my model 17
Two hours before a big competition
(i shoot single action only at that type of match)
My father helped me weld it back just in time.
How ever, i did brake the thumb piece of the hammer on my model 17
Two hours before a big competition
(i shoot single action only at that type of match)
My father helped me weld it back just in time.
rburg
Member
Yep, in two different rifles, and in the one twice. Guess that makes it 3 for me.
When I was young, like a teen, I had the family 45-70 Springfield. Couldn't afford to shoot it much because that ammo was really expensive. Each shot cost as much as a box of 22s. But the gun was long and fun. So I just dry fired it. And as luck would have it I broke the firing pin. The gunsmith we took it to laughed at me (he did that a lot). But he also eased the pain by having one in a box of junk and it was free if I could find it. Took about an hour (big box). Then he told me not to break the free one because he didn't think he had another.
Then later in the early to mid 1970s I had an AR7 Armalite I think. It was a floating rifle that both the action and barrel fit in the butt stock. One day I was dry firing it and it clanked. Not the normal snap, but a clank. And it was the hammer hitting the already broken firing pin. So I was bummed out and had to order a new one. They sent me two for the price of one and a nice note telling me to not dry fire the gun. But I'm a slow learner and tried to fire it again after it was empty. It didn't sound right. And I'd succeeded in breaking that pin also.
I've not managed to break a S&W pin yet. I don't even like the frame mounted pins. I'm gonna sell the ones I have and go even more retro.
When I was young, like a teen, I had the family 45-70 Springfield. Couldn't afford to shoot it much because that ammo was really expensive. Each shot cost as much as a box of 22s. But the gun was long and fun. So I just dry fired it. And as luck would have it I broke the firing pin. The gunsmith we took it to laughed at me (he did that a lot). But he also eased the pain by having one in a box of junk and it was free if I could find it. Took about an hour (big box). Then he told me not to break the free one because he didn't think he had another.
Then later in the early to mid 1970s I had an AR7 Armalite I think. It was a floating rifle that both the action and barrel fit in the butt stock. One day I was dry firing it and it clanked. Not the normal snap, but a clank. And it was the hammer hitting the already broken firing pin. So I was bummed out and had to order a new one. They sent me two for the price of one and a nice note telling me to not dry fire the gun. But I'm a slow learner and tried to fire it again after it was empty. It didn't sound right. And I'd succeeded in breaking that pin also.
I've not managed to break a S&W pin yet. I don't even like the frame mounted pins. I'm gonna sell the ones I have and go even more retro.
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