Model 41 Light Strikes, Sticky Firing Pin?

[Fullmetaljacket]

I recently acquired a 1969 vintage 41, beautiful condition, 7 3/8" w/ brake and all the accessories. The previous owner stated that it's been in the safe for 15 years. Took it to the range today and and it functioned fine except about 1 in 10 rounds did not go bang. When I examined those rounds the firing pin indent was obviously light, most if not all fired on the second try. Is it possible that the firing pin is gummed up with dried lube causing sluggish strikes? What is involved in removing the firing pin and cleaning things up?

 

[andyo5]

Look at the breech face on the slide. There is a round depression where the round is picked up. The extractor sits in this depression. It will fill up with firing residue. Clean both the depression and under the extractor with a toothpick or similar soft tool.

 

[armorer951]

I would suspect that a good cleaning would take care of the light strikes you were having today. Prolonged storage can cause problems in terms of old lubricants and debris, particularly in the F.P. cavity.

The link below has some additional info regarding removal of the some of the internals beyond field stripping. Once you have cleaned out the firing pin cavity, and cleaned the pin and spring, leave the cavity and these particular components dry (unlubricated) when you reassemble.


Model 41 maintenance

 

[Fullmetaljacket]

Thanks for the feedback. I'll start with the easy one, the breech face, before any advanced diassembly.

 

[CrankyThunder]

Next time you have a light firing pin strike

First off, when you have a light firing pin strike, when you retract the slide, does the non fired round come back with the bolt?

If not, and you need to extract the magazine and recycle the slide, continue shooting the pistol until it happens again.

Then, instead of retracting the slide and bolt, try pushing it forward a touch. If it slides forward a bit, that means that the slide and bolt are not pushing the cartridge all the way into the chamber and the action is not totally closed. The hammer, with the bolt and slide not all the way forward, is hitting the lower edge of the bolt and not the firing pin directly, causing the light strikes.

The solution is a total cleaning and then re testing. If it continues after a field strip and cleaning, try a stronger main spring to push the slide forward after extracting a round.

This is common with shooters that have tried to fine tune their pistol with a lighter weight main spring and replace the stock 7 pound spring with a lighter weight spring. you need a lot of testing to confirm that the lighter weight spring is correct and usually switching back to the heavier spring corrects the situation.

Regards,
crankster

 

[Rosco Shooter]

Armorer 951 Thank you for the post. It is an excellent reference. I'll be checking it more thoroughly.

 

[gwpercle]

15 years of sitting around ? Time for a good cleaning.
Oils have a habit of congealing and getting crusty , gumming up the works and model 41's are sensitive to such things .
Field stripping is not hard , spray cleaners and spray lubes can get into the tiny places .
Don't replace anything until you have cleaned and lubed it well.
Don't forget to clean and lube the magazines .
You wouldn't believe how many firearms I have "fixed" for others by simply cleaning them and spraying the moving parts with Rem-Oil !
Gary

 

[JKN]

Just a reminder. Once you think the chamber is clean drop a round in. It should fall freely with a satisfying clunk sound at the end. If it doesn't then the chamber isn't clean. 99% of light strikes during more than a decade of our .22 Bullseye league were due to dirty chambers.

Of course if the chamber is verified clean and it still does it then you have to make sure the firing pin isn't sludged up and all the other possibilities.

John

 

[SMSgt]

I'd be running Gun Blaster or Brakeclean through that puppy and try again before getting too concerned. It is well overdue a good cleaning/lubing.