This is a sequel thread that was spawned by these threads:
Lessons learned at the range about my EDC and mechanical parts failure.
Another broken firing pin!
Based on those discussions, what might cause firing pins to break?
Keep reading!
Several months ago, I had an OEM factory Glock firing pin break in my P80 PFC9 "EDC" at about 7,400 rounds.
More recently I had a firing pin break in a build with only 800 rounds through it. The pin was an aftermarket pin from an unknown source. The slide is from Heavy Armor Division (HAD), which has very a good reputation in this realm.
![20230315_210749[1]a.jpg](https://www.patriotgunbuilders.com/forums/attachments/20230315_210749-1-a-jpg.24098/ "20230315_210749[1]a.jpg")
Looking through the breech, you can see the broken firing pin tip lodged in there sideways.
When I disassembled the slide, the broken tip fell out.
Could it be something in the way the firing pin channel was machined that is causing some stress on the firing pin? A plausible theory. Someone said, "Go look inside the channel! And compare it to a factory Glock!" OK! Here we go!
First up is a look inside the HAD slide on my P80 "Cobalt Celtic" build:
A little schmutz (brass flakes). I don't see any peening of the edges of the firing pin hole. Pretty unremarkable, IMO. Maybe some expert here will see something else?
There was also some discussion in the other thread about some peening on aftermarket firing pins vs OEM. So, I created a comparison composite. While the Shadow Systems (SS) example, on right, taken from a reddit post looks dramatic (especially after just 400 rounds), my SS firing pin with 1400 rounds (middle) shows a rather mild mark. Interestingly, the Glock firing pin (on left) shows a similar mark, with 10k+ rounds through it.
OK... Back to our regular programming... Let's take a look inside the firing pin channel in my Gen 2 Glock 19. I estimate at least 10,000 rounds through it since I bought it in 1996. Bear in mind that this is the FIRST time I've ever detail stripped the slide!
Whoa! There's gold in them thar channels, @Michele!
Halfway down the channel, there is what can only be described as a "sludge blob" (on right)!
I don't know if I should be embarrassed.... or impressed that the G19 has never had a malfunction. The only thing I've done to that pistol is field strip / clean and replaced a broken trigger spring and put in a new recoil spring.
Well... since I had it apart, I might as well clean'er up, eh? First thing I did was run some q-tips down the firing pin channel.
Then I "hosed it out" with some "Gunk Blaster" over some scrap paper. That would be a "good gold pan," eh @Michele??? LOL!
Wait! I didn't remove the extractor and firing pin safety plunger! Let's do that so I can flush this slide out from all angles.
Good golly, that's nasty! And this gun was running like the proverbial sewing machine!
After removing the extractor, I had to PRY out the firing pin safety plunger!
Let's spray down the firing pin assembly with some Gunk Blaster, too. Look at all the brass flakes!
I had to go several rounds with Gunk Blaster and q-tips and compressed air to get the firing pin channel cleaned out. After I THOUGHT I was done, I scoped the channel again. Nope! Not done! Still some brass down there!
So I went at it some more. And settled on this as "good enough!"
I cleaned the barrel, detail-stripped the frame, and cleaned it all. I put it all back together, and she feels smooth as silk!
So it seems the real "take home message" of this post is.... Detail strip-clean your freakin' guns once in a while!
So then... what is the story with the broken firing pins? My first thought always goes back to, "stick with OEM parts." HOWEVER, they can break, too! I have installed a machined billet aftermarket firing pin (Shadow Systems) in my PFC9 "EDC" gun, thinking that it may be better than the MIM factory firing pin. Or maybe sometimes shit just breaks?
In any case, I think it's prudent to stay on top of the maintenance of any firearm upon which you depend for self-defense or "SHTF." If it's a range gun, it's obviously less "critical." But even a well-maintained factory gun can fail. The trigger spring failed on my Glock 19 at about 7k - 8k estimated rounds. The spring was literally a couple of bucks. But a $2 spring can get you killed... unless... you have a BACK-UP. It's easy to have a back-up Home Defense gun... or two... or twenty. Carrying a back-up is a bit more tedious logistically. But it can be done. Do you? That could be another topic for another thread. I'll leave that to one of you to start!
What would be nice is if there was a reference that listed each internal Glock part and the recommended interval for replacement as a PREVENTIVE maintenance, so we can mitigate the chances of failure at the worst possible time.
Lessons learned at the range about my EDC and mechanical parts failure.
Another broken firing pin!
Based on those discussions, what might cause firing pins to break?
- Age / mechanical cycling / rounds fired / wear & tear.
- Substandard aftermarket firing pins.
- Flawed OEM firing pins (MIM?).
- Out of spec firing pin channel or poor machining of aftermarket slides.
- Sometimes shit just breaks.
Keep reading!Several months ago, I had an OEM factory Glock firing pin break in my P80 PFC9 "EDC" at about 7,400 rounds.
More recently I had a firing pin break in a build with only 800 rounds through it. The pin was an aftermarket pin from an unknown source. The slide is from Heavy Armor Division (HAD), which has very a good reputation in this realm.
Looking through the breech, you can see the broken firing pin tip lodged in there sideways.
When I disassembled the slide, the broken tip fell out.
Could it be something in the way the firing pin channel was machined that is causing some stress on the firing pin? A plausible theory. Someone said, "Go look inside the channel! And compare it to a factory Glock!" OK! Here we go!
First up is a look inside the HAD slide on my P80 "Cobalt Celtic" build:
A little schmutz (brass flakes). I don't see any peening of the edges of the firing pin hole. Pretty unremarkable, IMO. Maybe some expert here will see something else?
There was also some discussion in the other thread about some peening on aftermarket firing pins vs OEM. So, I created a comparison composite. While the Shadow Systems (SS) example, on right, taken from a reddit post looks dramatic (especially after just 400 rounds), my SS firing pin with 1400 rounds (middle) shows a rather mild mark. Interestingly, the Glock firing pin (on left) shows a similar mark, with 10k+ rounds through it.
OK... Back to our regular programming... Let's take a look inside the firing pin channel in my Gen 2 Glock 19. I estimate at least 10,000 rounds through it since I bought it in 1996. Bear in mind that this is the FIRST time I've ever detail stripped the slide!
Whoa! There's gold in them thar channels, @Michele!
Halfway down the channel, there is what can only be described as a "sludge blob" (on right)!
I don't know if I should be embarrassed.... or impressed that the G19 has never had a malfunction. The only thing I've done to that pistol is field strip / clean and replaced a broken trigger spring and put in a new recoil spring.
Well... since I had it apart, I might as well clean'er up, eh?
First thing I did was run some q-tips down the firing pin channel.Then I "hosed it out" with some "Gunk Blaster" over some scrap paper. That would be a "good gold pan," eh @Michele??? LOL!
Wait! I didn't remove the extractor and firing pin safety plunger! Let's do that so I can flush this slide out from all angles.
Good golly, that's nasty! And this gun was running like the proverbial sewing machine!
After removing the extractor, I had to PRY out the firing pin safety plunger!
Let's spray down the firing pin assembly with some Gunk Blaster, too. Look at all the brass flakes!
I had to go several rounds with Gunk Blaster and q-tips and compressed air to get the firing pin channel cleaned out. After I THOUGHT I was done, I scoped the channel again. Nope! Not done! Still some brass down there!
So I went at it some more. And settled on this as "good enough!"
I cleaned the barrel, detail-stripped the frame, and cleaned it all. I put it all back together, and she feels smooth as silk!
So it seems the real "take home message" of this post is.... Detail strip-clean your freakin' guns once in a while!
So then... what is the story with the broken firing pins? My first thought always goes back to, "stick with OEM parts." HOWEVER, they can break, too! I have installed a machined billet aftermarket firing pin (Shadow Systems) in my PFC9 "EDC" gun, thinking that it may be better than the MIM factory firing pin. Or maybe sometimes shit just breaks?
In any case, I think it's prudent to stay on top of the maintenance of any firearm upon which you depend for self-defense or "SHTF." If it's a range gun, it's obviously less "critical." But even a well-maintained factory gun can fail. The trigger spring failed on my Glock 19 at about 7k - 8k estimated rounds. The spring was literally a couple of bucks. But a $2 spring can get you killed... unless... you have a BACK-UP. It's easy to have a back-up Home Defense gun... or two... or twenty.
Carrying a back-up is a bit more tedious logistically. But it can be done. Do you? That could be another topic for another thread. I'll leave that to one of you to start! What would be nice is if there was a reference that listed each internal Glock part and the recommended interval for replacement as a PREVENTIVE maintenance, so we can mitigate the chances of failure at the worst possible time.
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