Firing pins keep breaking on my S&W AR15-22's

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I own two S&W AR15-22's, and the firing pins keep breaking on them. I have broken six firing pins so far in 2 years


-I never dry fire,
-I don't oil the firing pin assembly
-CCI, Federal, Browning & Remington ammo.
-No Mini-mags
-The firing pins always break at the same place.

I shoot about 1000 rounds a week through these guns in practice and competitions, and except for the firing pins, i really have no issues. They are great for competition.

The firing pins are on back order, so right now i am out of luck. Can't practice or compete.

Are other people having these issues???

Thanks in advance.
 
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1000 rounds a week is about 100000 over the 2 years. That's like 16k rounds per firing pin. I'm around 35k through mine with the original firing pin. Perhaps your bolt is not machined properly and it's causing the pin to break. Has the rifle gone back to s&w for any of it?

Sent from my SM-T350 using Tapatalk
 
I have 4 different 15-22's and I'm averaging 15k before failure of the firing pin. Hate to say it but that seems to be the norm on high use copies. one of mine has just 0ver 70k on it and i'm waiting for the next pin to break in bout 5k. :( The part can be a PITA at times to get from S&W, unfortunately they are the only source at the moment.

Hoping Volquartsen will make a stronger replacement......
 
Not at the tip, aft of the tip where the pin get a little thicker. If I can find my broken pins in my messy garage I'll try to post them.
 
Bonkers said:
I am wondering if your reason for posting is simply to gain attention for having abused your rifles since EVERYONE knows that such excessive "use" is going to lead to failures of hardware!
Click to expand...

I hope you are joking... but it doesn't appear so.

How can using a tool be considered abuse? How can any use, no matter how much, be considered excessive? So a traveling salesman who puts 100,000 miles per year on a car is abusive & driving excessively. Of course someone who uses a tool more than "normal", whatever normal might be to you, would expect a higher incidence of wear and part failure... especially on a gun such as a 15-22 which is a plinker & not built to the same specs as a true AR. And even though the OP calls his rifle an AR15-22, which it actually is not named that, the gun is an AR pattern rifle... not an AR built to government specs. I don't have the money to shoot my ARs enough to test the strength of their firing pins but I do know they must fail also, as many folks, including me, keep spares in their grips.
 
Precisely why I own another brand. I have had zero problems with it.
 
KSDeputy said:
Precisely why I own another brand. I have had zero problems with it.
Click to expand...

So with this other brand, are you shooting 1000 rounds a week thru it like the OP? I've had zero problems with my 15-22s as well, but then again I'm not a competitive shooter and probably average just a couple of thousand rounds a year.

Your comment would actually mean more if you shoot like the OP yet have no wear or breakage on a similar priced rifle. I think the vast majority of 15-22 owners could say they have zero problems also.
 
I too own the "other brand" it sits in the rack while my two 15-22's and I go out to shoot and have fun. I do not shoot competition but my rifles have destroyed their fair share of cans, broken bricks, dirt clods and spinner targets while gobbling copious amounts of .22 lr ammo and still on the original firing pins.
 
Mine just broke today, sent S&W an email.
20160817_210105_zpswzrnar2i.jpg
 
No, because I buy rifles that are mil spec made by another company. I have had them for many years, plus one I just bought, and never had any type of problem with any of them. I do own many S&W handguns and have had great luck with them.
 
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Got a reply from S&W today. I now have an order number added to my ticket number. I guess there is a firing pin on the way to me?
 
I emailed Volquartsen about making 15-22 firing pins, and linked this thread in the email. I got a response saying they are already looking into making more 15-22 products, and if they do, the firing pin would be the first one out of the gate.
 
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I am curious to know if any of us experiencing broken firing pins are running aftermarket triggers? I'm running a Rock River Varmint.
 
I've been looking online but have yet to find anyone selling aftermarket S&W15-22 firing pins especially here in the UK
I have lost count of the number of rounds I have put through mine without issue, but it would be nice to have a spare in my range bag just in case it breaks during a comp:rolleyes:
 
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