Firing Pin Trouble

[cyall]

Hi. I have been having trouble with the firing pin on my Colt Government Model. It is sticking forward. I took the slide apart and noticed that the end of the firing pin that is engaged by the hammer seems to have a slight wedge shape, and it is a tight fit in the retainer. I have about 800 rounds through the gun. I did drop my pistol not long before the problem began. I don't know if some sand caused the firing pin to become difficult to drive forward and the hammer striking it with increased resistance caused the wedge shape I observed. Any ideas on the cause or a fix. I suppose the best thing may be to purchase a new firing pin, but i thought I would pick the brains of those with more experience. Thanks.

[scooter]

If you went all new pin,spring(at least these two) and retainer.Then you Know what youve got and these parts arent very expensive...try WWW.brownells.com (http://www.brownells.com)

[Hunter]

Have you removed the firing pin and checked out the firing pin hole? When you dropped it did it land on the hammer? The firing pin stop should be a snug fit to the slide. I would start over with a new Colt firing pin and be sure the firing pin hole is clean and the firing pin stop is in spec. Dropping a Colt I hope you prayed about that :D . Welcome to the forum.

[Dr. Dickie]

Hi. I have been having trouble with the firing pin on my Colt Government Model. It is sticking forward. I took the slide apart and noticed that the end of the firing pin that is engaged by the hammer seems to have a slight wedge shape, and it is a tight fit in the retainer. I have about 800 rounds through the gun. I did drop my pistol not long before the problem began. I don't know if some sand caused the firing pin to become difficult to drive forward and the hammer striking it with increased resistance caused the wedge shape I observed. Any ideas on the cause or a fix. I suppose the best thing may be to purchase a new firing pin, but i thought I would pick the brains of those with more experience. Thanks.

I had the exact same thing happen to me with my 1991A1. I only had 500 rounds through it, and I noticed that the firing pin was stuck in the stop. I had to use a drift to get it pushed in enough to get the pin out. The back of the pin was wedge shaped.
I sent it back to Colt and they put a new pin, stop, and slightly longer Series 80 lever on the safety set-up. I do not know whether or not it was a improperly heat treated firing pin, or a slightly out of step firing pin safety (catching the pin as the hammer hit it). They never said anything, just returned to gun in working order with repairs listed.
If the part of the pin that goes through the stop it wedge shaped, send it back to for repairs. You cannot just put a longer armed lever in there (Tuner1911 says they will not sell them--makes sense as it is a safety mechanism, and we are a sue happy lot).
Colt is fast and professional on the repairs. They said they would re-emburse for shipping, but as I was able to send normal UPS (for about $13.00), I did not bother. I did not know better, now I know you cannot do that.

[cyall]

I did take the pin out to check the hole. I didn't see anything that seemed out of place nor any damage. The pin stop had a good tight fit to the slide. I don't think the gun landed on the hammer when I dropped it. I see no indication of damage on the hammer. I think I'll contact Colt, repent for dropping my gun, and see if they will fix it. If not, I'll get new parts and start over.

[Dr. Dickie]

I did take the pin out to check the hole. I didn't see anything that seemed out of place nor any damage. The pin stop had a good tight fit to the slide. I don't think the gun landed on the hammer when I dropped it. I see no indication of damage on the hammer. I think I'll contact Colt, repent for dropping my gun, and see if they will fix it. If not, I'll get new parts and start over.

I doubt that dropping the gun has anything to do with it (I would not mention this to them). Most likely, it is the series 80 safety system catching the pin and cauing it to get peened into a mushroom shape (like mine was). That seems most likely to me because it is something that would show up after about 500-1000 rounds and would be hard to detect when test firing at the factory. Send it back to Colt will make it right.