Model 52-2 fail to fire

[Toeknee]

Hi all, I have a model 52-2 serial#788996 that I have had for a lot of years and it has never once given me trouble with handloads of 2.5grns of BE pushing 148grn wadcutters hollow based or double ended, I now have an issue that I think I have caused and would like some advice.
Yesterday at the range the first round in the magazine failed to fire, I racked the slide and tried again thinking I had a bad primer, next round was perfectly normal third round failed to fire as did the last two, on examining the faulty rounds all the primers were unmarked!!!
I had partially stripped the gun last week to give the barrel a good clean - as I find it tends to lead a little after a couple thousand rounds and re assembled it as I have done many times before with no issues, my question therefore, before I strip it again is what could I have misaligned and what should I be looking for when I strip it this time.
Totally puzzled Tony

 

[gmborkovic]

Hello Totally puzzled Tony, I await the numerous replies. Just fired my -2 with no problems. Other than it shoots better than me.

 

[armorer951]

Tony,

My first thought is accumulated crud in the firing pin cavity, or damage to the firing pin spring. If that area has never been cleaned, the prospects of that being the cause go up dramatically....it's just a notorious place for shooting debris and dirt.

If you decide to clean it out, I would inspect the f.p. closely, and replace the spring with a new one. Just as a reminder, don't put any lubrication on the spring, f.pin, or on the inside the cavity after cleaning, they should be left dry. Any lube applied will only attract dirt.

 

[gmborkovic]

I forgot. Does it require removing the rear sight? to remove FP.

 

[armorer951]

No sir, it doesn't. It's only necessary to remove the manual safety and it's detent plunger and spring.

 

[mikemyers]

No, it doesn't, but you might want to do that anyway. Underneath the rear sight is a spring and plunger, and the plunger on my 52 was so worn that it rotated, and was rubbing against the firing pin spring.

When you're cleaning the gun next time, take a tool and push the firing pin in and out. If you feel resistance (mine felt like it was going through rocks) that might be due to the plunger rubbing against the spring.

On the other hand, after everything was fixed on my gun, or so I thought, I took it to a gunsmith about a week or so ago, and he made a lot of internal adjustments that I'm not aware of, which seemed to fix it. He also polished the feed ramp, which he told me was contributing to my problems.

There's a member here, Don, who used to assemble the 52. If you search for my thread here, under my user name, you'll find everything he had me try, step by step. You might have one of those issues.

Next time I see my gunsmith, I'll try to get a better answer for you of what he did to correct my problem. For me, the gun usually fired just fine, but other times it went CLICK and there was no mark on the primer, which is what I think you're dealing with.

 

[Toeknee]

Tony,

My first thought is accumulated crud in the firing pin cavity, or damage to the firing pin spring. If that area has never been cleaned, the prospects of that being the cause go up dramatically....it's just a notorious place for shooting debris and dirt.

If you decide to clean it out, I would inspect the f.p. closely, and replace the spring with a new one. Just as a reminder, don't put any lubrication on the spring, f.pin, or on the inside the cavity after cleaning, they should be left dry. Any lube applied will only attract dirt.

Thanks for the reply armorer951 to be honest I have never stripped it down that far so there is a good chance it is crud impeding the FP. I field stripped again this morning and gave it another good clean and checked the FP it slides well in the cavity when I pushed on the hammer end with a small ball driver and ther feels like a good amount of tension on the spring but never having done this before I dont really know how much tension there should be. I also noticed a lot of crud on the FP when i soaked it with some clean bore, looks like I am now committed to taking out the firing pin LOL, when looking at the hammer end of the FP there hardly looks enough pin for the hammer to strike, I think you are right there is crud stopping the FP from travelling its full extent.
Now all I need to do is source a pin and spring and get it up here to Canada.
Again thank you, all I have to now is to figure out how to dis assemble the FP..

 

[armorer951]

Just push the firing pin fully forward with a drift pin, and the manual safety will pull out. I usually use a hemostadt to hold the firing pin in place fully forward....clamping the end of it with the hemostadt, just in front of the breechface. This holds the pin out of the way while you remove the manual safety. Use caution, there is a spring loaded plunger holding the manual safety.

Although it wouldn't hurt to have a spare, your firing pin is probably fine. I couldn't find a firing pin spring at any of the usual places. If you can measure the wire diameter and overall length of your current firing pin spring, Wolff may be able to provide a suitable replacement.

 

[Toeknee]

Thank you armorer951 I shall resort to my old trick of doing that in a clear plastic bag, that way the escaping parts are trapped..

 

[Toeknee]

armorer951 I will try western gun parts in Edmonton on momday when they open again, they are pretty well stocked with hard to get parts for out of production firearms, fixed me up with parts I needed for my 50 year old FN Browning Match 150 last year.
Fingers crossed eh.

Tony.

 

[Toeknee]

OK, I have had the gun apart more times today than since I bought it, mikemyers you seem to be right with this one. Several times tonight when refitting the slide it would jam about a 1/4 inch from being fully rearward, it seemed to be catching on that little plunger that is under the rear sight and projects down into the slide, with tears in my eyes I removed the rear sight and removed the plunger and spring reassembled the gun and cycled it by hand works fine ( I taped over the fired primer holes and checked after ejection ) the Firing pin hit every one. Can someone explain exactly what that plunger does? and can I fire the gun without it?

Tony....

 

[donk52]

The plunger pushes down the ejector lever and disconnector when there is no magazine in the gun causing the drawbar to not come in contact with the sear. The gun will not fire. You can remove the plunger and spring but be aware that the gun will fire without a magazine in it.

 

[Toeknee]

Thank you donk52 that explains the no fire issue when I did eventually get the slide all the way home. This being the only gun I have or have ever had with a magazine disconnect that will not be a problem, also as I am sure you are aware that we are not allowed to transport/carry handguns in anything but a locked container also the range rules where I shoot are pretty strict about having a cleared firearm before anyone is allowed forward, that said I shall try and source a new spring and plunger, all I have found so far have been used plungers and I already have one of those.
Again thank you donk52 your advice has helped a lot.

Tony

 

[Toeknee]

Final update, fired 100 rounds through the 52 yesterday with no issues, it was obviously the plunger under the rear sight that was giving me grief. As in another post I had asked about plated HBWC I decided to load a few using my favorite load of 2.5grns of Bullseye and they performed exactly the same as the the same charge with a DEWC - all shots were from a bagged rest, strangely I found the plated 148gr HBWC evn more accurate when shot from my 6 inch 686 revolver, 5 shot group at 20m 1 hole, the guns are way more accurate than I am. If I can find a new plunger I will re install it, if not I'll use it the way it is as I no longer shoot serious competitions any more..

 

[gmborkovic]

AH! another problem solved by the Cracker Jack members of this Forum. Aint it fun!