Firing pins
- Thread starter jimjo
- Start date
Londonshooter
CGN frequent flyer
- Location
- SW Ontario
The good news is you have (presumably) one good one to copy.
gunrunner100
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- NW Ontario
This man knows of what he speaks.
fingers284
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Alberta Cowboy Ranges
If you or a buddy have a small bit of appropriate equipment, small lathe or even a drill press with sliding vise can easily fashion a simple firing pin using a small length of drill rod.
Heat treating & temper draw-down is dirt simple with hand held propane torch and your kitchen oven.
Heat treating & temper draw-down is dirt simple with hand held propane torch and your kitchen oven.
You are unlikely to find firing pins made for your make/model. However, you can make them from similar pins. I made pins for my Spanish Arazaga (bought at auction with 2 broken pins).
I have the luxury of being in Edmonton where Western Gun Parts is located. They won’t have pins for it but, before Irv retired, I could go there and dig through his “old firing pins” bin. Once two were found that are the right diameter and the right length or longer, all that was needed was to grind them to the right length. Provided one takes it slow and regularly cools the pin in water during the grinding process, the temper is not compromised and there is no need to re-temper. Those two pins have lasted over a decade so far.
However, Irv has now retired and Covid changed the way WGP does business. They don’t like selling certain parts to the general public anymore and you can’t go to the store without an appointment (not to mention they want cash if you don’t have a trade account). But this should not be an impediment. You are just as likely to find what you need at a local gun show. Keep one of the broken pins (the good one, if there is one) in your pocket in a ziplock bag and compare it to those that you can find at the parts sellers at those shows. You’ll find suitable candidates for modification to fit your gun and then all you need is a grinder.
I have the luxury of being in Edmonton where Western Gun Parts is located. They won’t have pins for it but, before Irv retired, I could go there and dig through his “old firing pins” bin. Once two were found that are the right diameter and the right length or longer, all that was needed was to grind them to the right length. Provided one takes it slow and regularly cools the pin in water during the grinding process, the temper is not compromised and there is no need to re-temper. Those two pins have lasted over a decade so far.
However, Irv has now retired and Covid changed the way WGP does business. They don’t like selling certain parts to the general public anymore and you can’t go to the store without an appointment (not to mention they want cash if you don’t have a trade account). But this should not be an impediment. You are just as likely to find what you need at a local gun show. Keep one of the broken pins (the good one, if there is one) in your pocket in a ziplock bag and compare it to those that you can find at the parts sellers at those shows. You’ll find suitable candidates for modification to fit your gun and then all you need is a grinder.
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finding parts for the el fasian is a pain in the butt. would be easier to make your own... they may look better than the originals lol. even with parts for the gun they all need to be hand fitted. Always hated working on them. was always going to be hours of hand fitting to get the damn things working properly.
Well... I asked if you have the dimensions - no reply - if you go to a metal supermarkets store, buy a piece of O2 or O1 round with the diameter at or slightly larger than the fattest part of the firing pin, you can probably make a new firing pin. Tools needed - drill press, hacksaw, files, dial or vernier caliper, or cheap digital caliper from Princess Auto or CanTire, and TIME. Propane torch, a cup of canola oil, and an oven or toaster oven for heat treat after you've got the shape.
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Any person with a lathe, calipers, a micrometer and an original firing pin as a pattern can make a new firing pin easily out of an annealed drill bit shank.
My industrial arts teacher friend had a lathe in his school shop. He and I turned a number of firing pins on the lathe. Anneal a drill bit shank, turn the major diameter, then turn the tip. Polish it then case harden it
My industrial arts teacher friend had a lathe in his school shop. He and I turned a number of firing pins on the lathe. Anneal a drill bit shank, turn the major diameter, then turn the tip. Polish it then case harden it
- Location
- North-central Saskatchewan
You lost me.
Why are we annealing a drill bit shank? They're already annealed from the manufacturer, to allow a drill chuck to "bite".
And why would we caseharden high speed steel? Or even high carbon steel?
You are 100% correct that machining a firing pin is usually very simple.
Your heat treatment recommendations are way out there.
That is the way a competent gunsmith taught me how to finish a firing pin.
I have found that an annealed drill bit shank does machine easier than one out of the box.
his reasoning on case hardening a firing pin is for a strong tip with durable core that can take impact without peening
He also taught me how to draw the temper of a case hardened firing pin. And how to make springs
- Location
- North-central Saskatchewan
Could you have possibly interchanged some terms?
Case hardening involves packing low carbon steel parts into a canister with charcoal, and heating it so that carbon from the charcoal will penetrate into the surface of the steel and make it able to be hardened. (There are other methods, all totally out of the scope of a small shop.)
A drill bit is, at the very least, going to be high carbon steel, possibly on up to various grades of high-speed steel. Case hardening it would give ZERO benefit, it already has plenty of carbon.
I fully believe that you heat treated it. I'm just saying that you probably didn't case harden it.
Sorry if this comes off argumentative, that's not my intention at all.
Brassman66
CGN frequent flyer
Some Firing pins are simple and others quite elaborate.
Long time ago a Fellow worker sold me a Winchester .22 Pump action Rifle with a Brocken Firing Pin. We where in a remote Fly in Manitoba Survey Camp with almost no Tools but an Axt File and lots of time in the evening. I filed the Steel of a Screwdriver down to copy the very basic flat Firing Pin which worked flawlessly. Allways regretted selling that little Rifle years later.
Cheers
Long time ago a Fellow worker sold me a Winchester .22 Pump action Rifle with a Brocken Firing Pin. We where in a remote Fly in Manitoba Survey Camp with almost no Tools but an Axt File and lots of time in the evening. I filed the Steel of a Screwdriver down to copy the very basic flat Firing Pin which worked flawlessly. Allways regretted selling that little Rifle years later.
Cheers
