Bent firing pin
 

I just returned from a week down in Nacogdoches with Paul Howe for CSAT's Tactical Rifle Instructor course (which I highly recommend). I took two rifles down - a 10.5" LWRC M6A2 and a 14.5" Noveske N4 Light. After the first day, I switched to the Noveske because the other instructors were complaining about the muzzle blast from my SBR, which has a PWS FSC muzzle device.

The photos below are of the firing pin from my Noveske after a day of moderate shooting (approx. 400 rds). I experienced no major failures with the weapon and it was both clean and well-lubricated, although the trigger did seem to "stick" or fail to reset several times during rapid fire sequences (2-3 rds per second).

While cleaning the weapon at the end of the day, I was surprised to see that the firing pin was both bent and the head mushroomed. I showed Paul and, after the expected ribbing about fancy rifles, he admitted that he had not seen many firing pins like this come out of functioning weapons. Lucky for me, he had a replacement on hand.

Any ideas on what might have caused this? I inspected the bolt and saw no obvious signs of damage and the weapon seems to be running fine with the new firing pin. Are there any other things I should check for damage?

Thanks guys.

Have you looked at the bolt around the firing pin hole under magnification?

Any obstructions? :confused:

Get a machinist to check the hardness of your firing pin. It looks like somebody skipped the heat treat.

I agree.

The only thing that touches the head of the firing pin is the hammer, which should be softer than the firing pin.

The only ones I have seen bent were from prying or hammering.

TR

My first thought was that you somehow got a non milspec cheap import for a part.

I'd check all of the other parts too and then contact the manufacturer.

Thanks, gentlemen. I'll contact Noveske and see what they have to say. They are usually great to deal with, so I'm sure they'll make it right.

I'd say that the Hammer would be harder than the Firing Pin. What does the replacement FP look like now. If it's showing any sign of indirect, non perpindicular Hammer Strikes, look at the Timing!! Even in a semi, if it will allow a pre-mature release of the Hammer, you could end up with what you had and the weapon still seem to function normally!!

Later
Martin

What type of bolt carrier are you running? A standard auto carrier or one of the neutered variants? I have seen some firing pins get beat up because of they were using certain carriers and hammers. If it is a complete Noveske and not a build it should have a standard auto BCG.

I know that John will take care of it. They have fixed shit in the past when it wasn't really their fault. Let us know what you find out.

Don't know much about the particular weapon nowadays but anytime you get a firing pin problem you should look at the opening and see it it is too large and needs to be bushed down. One thing to do is inspect about 20 fired cases with the new firing pin and see if it is striking consistently on center of the primer.