Firing pin question from the new guy

[brian10xaz]

I've been lurking for years, but I never had a valid question until now.

Is there an extended firing pin for the S&W model 43C?

I checked with Apex, and they said theirs will not work. No one else will return my email.

Any suggestions? I'm just trying to increase my reliability somewhere closer to 100%, although I know 100% with rimfire ammunition is a fantasy.
Thanks!

 

[L-2]

I know of no extended 43C firing pins. If you or somebody does find a source, then nevermind, and disregard my post.

Smith & Wesson Model 43C Firing Pin, 22LR: MGW
Perhaps, by a few 43C firing pins; measure them all; and hope one is slightly longer just due to product variation. A good digital caliper/micrometer would be of benefit as I suspect, any variation might be in the 10,000ths of an inch range, if any. 'just a thought.

These micrometers might be in the $200 range, btw, but I've seen them on Amazon for ~$40, too.
Amazon.com

I know nothing about why .22 rimfires misfire. Perhaps it could be there's insufficient primer material within the rim itself, which might mean a longer firing pin still won't help.

 

[brian10xaz]

Thanks for the help. I may take that advice, buy a couple, and maybe experiment on the section of the firing pin that contacts the roll pin and limits travel, see if I can massage a few more thou firing pin travel.

 

[SGT ROCK 11B]

I know nothing about why .22 rimfires misfire. Perhaps it could be there's insufficient primer material within the rim itself, which might mean a longer firing pin still won't help.

.22 rimfire is so archaic and dates to 1845. A longer firing pin will not make a difference. JMHO.

 

[SlamFire]

If you are having ignition problems, the first thing to do is replace the old mainspring with a new one.

My 1968 vintage M46 S&W, had squibs, failures to ignite, stove pipes. Smith and Wesson was out of new OEM mainsprings so I purchased "new" mainsprings from Numrich. They were awful, inconsistent lengths, looked like they had been clipped with wire cutters. The longest I put in the M46, that helped things, but then back to malfunction junction. I called S&W, out of mainsprings again, but an Ebay vendor claimed to have new OEM mainsprings. Purchased a couple. I could tell the Ebay mainspring was stronger from hammer cocking resistance. New mainspring improved function reliability too, makes a difference on slide speed during unlock. Better ignition as fewer squibs and stove pipes. Cheap 22lr is never perfect, just levels of frustrating. I am not sure which of the two white painted mainsprings is the M46 original and the Numrich replacement. However the 1988 M41 mainspring shows how much a mainspring shortens over time. I installed a new mainspring in my M41, and it is more reliable now. Another thing to replace is the recoil spring. both the mainspring and recoil spring affect the timing, when they get weak, you will have malfunctions.

A longer firing pin in a 22lr is risky, as the firing pin tip may hit the back of the barrel, and I have a ruined Ruger MKII barrel where that happened. The firing pin retention pin fell out while I was inserting the bolt into the receiver. A few dry fires later, I had a deep gouge in the chamber, about an 1/8 deep.

Hopefully you don't have a short firing pin, those can happen. I guess I should ask, why do you think you have a short firing pin, and are you having squibs and failures to eject?

 

[SGT ROCK 11B]

Thanks for the help. I may take that advice, buy a couple, and maybe experiment on the section of the firing pin that contacts the roll pin and limits travel, see if I can massage a few more thou firing pin travel.

You still can get a dud. A dud is a dud. I would suggest going with CCI Mini-Mag and you do have eight shots.

Now if you are following other threads on the 43C. A lot of them are lemons and had to be sent back to the Mothership. On a side note; how many duds you get out of 48 rounds and what brand ?

 

[bsouza]

If you are having ignition problems, the first thing to do is replace the old mainspring with a new one.

My 1968 vintage M46 S&W, had squibs, failures to ignite, stove pipes. Smith and Wesson was out of new OEM mainsprings so I purchased "new" mainsprings from Numrich. They were awful, inconsistent lengths, looked like they had been clipped with wire cutters. The longest I put in the M46, that helped things, but then back to malfunction junction. I called S&W, out of mainsprings again, but an Ebay vendor claimed to have new OEM mainsprings. Purchased a couple. I could tell the Ebay mainspring was stronger from hammer cocking resistance. New mainspring improved function reliability too, makes a difference on slide speed during unlock. Better ignition as fewer squibs and stove pipes. Cheap 22lr is never perfect, just levels of frustrating. I am not sure which of the two white painted mainsprings is the M46 original and the Numrich replacement. However the 1988 M41 mainspring shows how much a mainspring shortens over time. I installed a new mainspring in my M41, and it is more reliable now. Another thing to replace is the recoil spring. both the mainspring and recoil spring affect the timing, when they get weak, you will have malfunctions.

A longer firing pin in a 22lr is risky, as the firing pin tip may hit the back of the barrel, and I have a ruined Ruger MKII barrel where that happened. The firing pin retention pin fell out while I was inserting the bolt into the receiver. A few dry fires later, I had a deep gouge in the chamber, about an 1/8 deep.

Hopefully you don't have a short firing pin, those can happen. I guess I should ask, why do you think you have a short firing pin, and are you having squibs and failures to eject?

>>I think my factory firing pin is fine, but I have tinkered with S&W revolvers for 35 years, and I always try to make them just a "little" better. A little smoother, a "little" lighter, a "little" more reliable with rimfires.

Just tinkering towards perfection. No more.

 

[bsouza]

I have quite a few 22s, and I don't think this gun suffers more than the average in duds and misfires. I just strive to make things a tiny bit better. Its just my thing. Polishing a few things, maybe some Wolff springs, a good stoning.

 

[brian10xaz]

One thing that actually puzzles me here is the repeated recommendations of using drywall anchors as snap caps when commercially available snap caps are pretty cheap. I've got a bunch of them I've used for decades and I think they serve their intended purpose. Elucidate me if you can!

 

[steelslaver]

Actually a 22 rimfire firing pin shouldn't be long enough to hit the bottom of the rim cut in the chamber. Some do, which is a good reason not to dry fire them.

There is another thing you should check though and that is end shake. If you have excess end shake and the cylinder is all the way back when you fire the firing pin will use up some energy pushing the round and the cylinder assembly forward. I would make sure the endshake was under .002

 

[ImprovedModel56Fan]

How do you know that the gun has caused ANY misfires? Are you restriking each misfired cartridge once or twice? I hope that you are aware that many rimfire cartridges are misprimed or unprimed at the factory.

Please forgive my questions if you already knew this.

 

[brian10xaz]

Actually a 22 rimfire firing pin shouldn't be long enough to hit the bottom of the rim cut in the chamber. Some do, which is a good reason not to dry fire them.

There is another thing you should check though and that is end shake. If you have excess end shake and the cylinder is all the way back when you fire the firing pin will use up some energy pushing the round and the cylinder assembly forward. I would make sure the endshake was under .002

ENDSHAKE. Thanks, its something I usually do not address. Thanks for the reminder!

 

[brian10xaz]

How do you know that the gun has caused ANY misfires? Are you restriking each misfired cartridge once or twice? I hope that you are aware that many rimfire cartridges are misprimed or unprimed at the factory.

Please forgive my questions if you already knew this.

You are very correct! After firing several million (or so it seems) rimfires, I wholeheartedly agree. I don't think I have a bad or unreliable gun, I just want to make it 2% better. I find that 2% here and 2% there adds up quickly.

 

[Protocall_Design]

The rim of a rimfire is notably harder to dent than the primer of a centerfire. Generally, a stronger hammer spring will be the best remedy for misfires. Endshake is important, too.

 

[Rule3]

I've been lurking for years, but I never had a valid question until now.

Is there an extended firing pin for the S&W model 43C?

I checked with Apex, and they said theirs will not work. No one else will return my email.

Any suggestions? I'm just trying to increase my reliability somewhere closer to 100%, although I know 100% with rimfire ammunition is a fantasy.
Thanks!

What brand of ammo? Some are better (or worse) than others

 

[brian10xaz]

I have random duds with everything except Federal Punch. When I say everything, I have so many assorted brands I lose track of them all. Sometimes bulk pack ammo works surprisingly well, but I have stuff I stacked deep before Clinton was president!

 

[SGT ROCK 11B]

I have random duds with everything except Federal Punch. When I say everything, I have so many assorted brands I lose track of them all. Sometimes bulk pack ammo works surprisingly well, but I have stuff I stacked deep before Clinton was president!

Some ammo is fine 40, 50, 60+ years old. But I have seen people with duds that is a year old because they store their ammo in a sheds, garages and even worse a boat.

Now in 2025 only thing worse than bulk .22 is bulk LRN .22 JMHO.