Tips for dryfire on MKIII?

[Song Dawg]

Cheap and effective!



SD

[Adam67]

All good questions, let me take them on one at a time.

The firing pin is constructed of hardened steel. Anything that it comes in contact with is going to be deformed, as long as that material isn't harder than the pin. When a pin strikes the chamber face, it isn't a fatal event, but it will cause feeding and detonation issues. Here's the type of damage one can expect from a firing pin striking the chamber mouth.

Can you show me how that should look?

[Bullseye]

Adam,

I am confused by your question. Do you want to know what the chamber looks like when it is dented by the firing pin? Because if you do that picture has an arrow to a chamber mouth that has been dented and damaged by the firing pin striking it. If you need a picture of one with a chamber that is not dented, then here you go.



R,
Bullseye

[Adam67]

Adam,

I am confused by your question. Do you want to know what the chamber looks like when it is dented by the firing pin? Because if you do that picture has an arrow to a chamber mouth that has been dented and damaged by the firing pin striking it. If you need a picture of one with a chamber that is not dented, then here you go.


R,
Bullseye

Yep....that confirms it.....mine is dented. Being a first time owner I was not sure. My manual said it was fine to dry fire so I have done so on occasion.....never for more than 15-20 minutes....and only a few days a week. Mine looks like your first picture. I'm pissed now.....guess I'll be calling Ruger.

Just called Ruger.....my gun has the newer "roll stop pin"....he's never heard of a failure with one.......they are sending out a shipping label to send the gun in. There will be no charge.

[Bullseye]

Adam,

Your's is now the first one that I've heard of with the roll pin that has had a dented chamber mouth from a firing pin stop failure. With the limited amount of dry firing you've had, I'm sure there'll be more.

Ruger sending you a shipping label is them going out of the way to get your pistol back in for inspection. Typically they'd have you send the pistol to them on your dime and then reimburse if the situation warrants. Obviously they're concerned this is a much bigger problem or potentially could be one. All I can say is this condition was inevitable with a hollow pin placed in a way of that much force.

R,
Bullseye

[Adam67]

Adam,

Your's is now the first one that I've heard of with the roll pin that has had a dented chamber mouth from a firing pin stop failure. With the limited amount of dry firing you've had, I'm sure there'll be more.

Ruger sending you a shipping label is them going out of the way to get your pistol back in for inspection. Typically they'd have you send the pistol to them on your dime and then reimburse if the situation warrants. Obviously they're concerned this is a much bigger problem or potentially could be one. All I can say is this condition was inevitable with a hollow pin placed in a way of that much force.

R,
Bullseye

I must say that I'm confused on how the stop pin works......how could my pin still be in place and yet I still have a dented chamber?

[melchloboo]

I am going to guess that the pin gave way. Also, the pin really is a "roll", in that there is a point where the spun metal comes together, as if you were to roll a sheet of paper together. It could be that meeting point is very weak relative to the rest of the roll. I guess it would not hurt to make sure that the crease is pointed down, not left or right within the bolt so that the firing pin does not hit anything but the solid part of the roll pin. Maybe your firing pin was striking directly on that crease and it gave way. Just a guess.

[bearandoldman]

Roll pins or spring pins as they may be called wither are quite common in machinery and outdoor power equipment. They are made of a spring tempered material and slightly over so they are a press fit in the hole and will not fall out as the outward force of their spring tension keeps them pressing against the sides of the hole. Just like anything mechanical it can break.

[Bullseye]

Adam,

The firing pin moves to within a very close proximity when struck by the hammer. There is an oval slot cut in the firing pin. The firing pin stop pin fits crosswise through the bolt and the oval hole of the firing pin. When the hammer strikes the firing pin the pin travels with much force toward the chamber lip's edge. The firing pin stop blocks the pin from touching the chamber lip's surface. If the stop pin becomes misshaped, the firing pin may reach the surface of the chamber. This distance is only a few thousandths of an inch. Here you can see the firing pin and the oval hole in the center.



Here is a few pictures of a firing pin stop that was damaged by a firing pin from repeated dry firing.




Notice how the center of the pin is dented as having been pressed. The pressing was done by the firing pin as it repeatedly struck the stop. The damage doesn't appear to be that much but that is all it takes to damage the chamber face.

A roll pin has a hollow center and as such would have less resistance to deformation by repeated pounding by the firing pin.

R,
Bullseye

[melchloboo]

I always dryfire w/ empty brass, and am careful not to let the same spot get struck/stricken/whatever more than once, so my concern is not so much the face of the breech rather possible damage to the firing pin.

Having done the extractor swap, I see it is relatively easy to get the firing pin stop out.

For those of us that dryfire, do you see any harm in rotating the firing pin stop, say 45 degrees every cleaning, just to avoid having one side of it continually pounded, and thereby avoid bending/stress on one spot?

[Bullseye]

If you can rotate the stop then your plan would have some benefit. The big thing is to inspect the stop periodically to check for signs of damage. Finding wear on the pin early enough would help avoid damage to the chamber lip. The problem with a roll pin as a stop is it is more difficult to rotate and inspect.

The firing pin is very hard compared to the other metal parts. The likeliness of damage to the pin is very low. It is designed to be repeatedly struck by the hammer without peening on the end and on the other side the pin doesn't deform when striking the chamber rim.

R,
Bullseye

[Georgezilla]

Nowadays I remove my firing pin, rebound spring and rebound spring support before a dry firing session (I leave the firing pin stop in just for an extra insurance policy).
I'am not really sure why taking the roll pin out before a dryfire session isn't viable, but I figured posting this wouldn't hurt, if anything I'll learn why it isn't a viable option.

While my firing pin stop is the old style, I use an improvised tool that I think should work nicely for removing the new style roll pin as well. Here it is in all its glory:



It is the cylinder that holds the ink inside a cheap Bic pen. They seem to be almost exactly the same diameter as the firing pin stop, so I think it would work well for pushing the hollow roll pin out.




If you do start taking the firing pin out, remember, when you put it back in triple check that you have the firing pin stop in!

[melchloboo]

If you remove the firing pin, is it ok for the hammer to strike the bare bolt, without damaging the hammer or bolt? What if you have the harder VQ hammer? It would seem to me that the 2 flat surfaces striking each other is harmless?

[Georgezilla]

I've been taking my firing pin out before dry firing for about 6 months. I usually dry fire 5 days a week 15 minutes a day and I have seen no damage at all, and I also use a VQ hammer (I broke down and ordered the whole kit, even though you only really need 2 parts ). I started taking out the firing pin because of a recommendation from Bullseye, and he really knows his stuff.

Heres a couple pictures of my pistol, both surfaces in question are shown.




As you can see they look rather normal.

[melchloboo]

thanks, picture speaks for itself.