Failure to Fire DA Old Hand Ejector

[glenncal1]

I recently bought this old .32-20 HE (Ser. 1002xx). Took it to the range the first time and had a lot of FTF's when shooting DA. Might get 2 to fire in a cylinder.

Took the gun home, gave it a thorough cleaning and replaced the mainspring and the rebound spring (which had been bubba'd). Went back to the range and had the same issue with DA FTF's. 100% ignition in SA and probably 30% in DA. The firing pin does dent the primers but not hard enough most of the time.

Any ideas what to check next. Thanks

 

[armorer951]

Possibility that the rear gauge, or headspace, is out of specification. Did you check for excessive end shake on the cylinder? This can cause the cylinder to move forward enough to limit contact of the hammer nose and the shell casing/primer.

End shake on the yoke can also contribute to the rear gauge opening up to the point where misfires occur. This happens when the interface between the yoke screw and the button on the yoke stem becomes worn or corrupted, causing the yoke itself to move forward and back slightly when the cylinder is closed. If the yoke screw pilot and the button on the yoke are fit properly, the yoke should open and close with very slight resistance, and with no"gauge" or movement in the yoke itself when the cylinder (yoke) is in the closed position.

 

[Hondo44]

It fires in SA but not reliably in DA because the hammer doesn't fall as far in DA. So FTF problems always show up in DA first.

With the evident condition of the gun, I agree with armorer951, as the first things to check!

If yoke end play and cyl end play are OK, shim between the mainspring and the tension screw. A fired primer with the inside anvil removed always makes a good shim on the end of the tension screw.


By the way, with a proper spring in place the firing pin only makes one size dent in the primer. But when the primer/cartridge fires, the primer dent is deepened by the recoiling case/primer slamming themselves back against the recoil shield and firing pin. So unless the firing pin dent barely shows on an unfired primer, the depth of the dent gives no clue to what the problem is, unless the pin is no longer rd on the tip.