Light strikes and odd wear on firing pin

Dustin Cantrell · Nov 4, 2012

A while back I assembled a dedicated .22 LR AR. I used a milspec trigger polished pretty well and JP yellow trigger and hammer springs. I've run it that way for at least 500 rounds with very few issues. I've had maybe a couple rounds fail to eject during that time. No light strikes. Today at the Steel Challenge match my gf started off having quite a few light strikes. I didn't have any with it during the first couple strings and then I began having them. I didn't have them as often as she did but it got to where we couldn't get through a single string with a light strike. On the final string of the last stage it was almost a single shot rifle for me as I had light strikes about every other round. Really screwed up my scores, I started out decent.

At first I thought it might be the yellow hammer spring but that wouldn't explain why it ran fine before and then got progressively worse through the match today. When I got home I started cleaning it and figured I'd tap out the roll pin that retains the firing pin and clean out the firing pin channel really well. I was shocked when I looked at the firing pin. What in the world would have caused this? I of course plan on replacing the firing pin, but do you guys think it was a defective firing pin or something wrong with the bolt that caused the abnormal wear? Looks like a kindergartner took a grinder to it.

Robusto · Nov 5, 2012

OUCH! Could the pin be bent?
Have you contacted the part manufacturer?

Dustin Cantrell · Nov 5, 2012

I put a straight edge on it last night and rotated the firing pin. I suspected it might be bent but it appears to be straight as I rotate it. Of course that's just with my naked eye and not a runout gauge but it'd have to be bent quite a bit to cause that.

I sent the manufacturer and email last night and he initially said he'd send me a new firing pin and their updated extractor but then after he reviewed the pics he asked if I could send the bolt to him for inspection. The firing pin channel looks to be machined a little rougher than I'd like but there are no burrs and I can't see anything that would cause wear of this extreme.

Robusto · Nov 5, 2012

Dustin- that sounds reasonable to have them check it out. And send you a new one.
Please let us know how this plays out.

Dustin Cantrell · Nov 8, 2012

Manufacturer replaced the firing pin with a new version and also installed their enhanced extractor at no charge. He said the firing pin was out of spec and too short. Also said that sometimes the firing pins need clearanced for the retaining pin and the firing pin did not get finished for that process and that's why it looked so bad. A goof was made and they made it right. He literally received the bolt yesterday morning and inspected it, made the upgrades, tested it and shipped it back to me within a couple hours. The company is Taccom 3G. Tim sent several emails back and forth to me after hours and really went out of his way to make sure he took care of the issue.

I was so pleased with the service that I ordered his 16 round dual load system. I've been going back and forth on what shotgun shell caddies to order and I wanted to give the load 2 method a try. It might sound crazy but I'm thinking about strapping it around my chest. It'd be closer to the loading port for faster loading and would open up room on my belt. I guess if it doesn't work out well then I'll be good for a laugh at a match. :sarcastichand: