CSA VZ58 5.56mm Firing Pin Protrusion, FTFs, dimensions, and you!

PaveHammer

PaveHammer

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Guys,

I have been the unfortunate recipient of a CSA VZ58 in 5.56 from the EE that is probably one of the first batch imported, out of warranty, and (best of all) out of spec. I have light strikes and Fail to Fires every magazine, which I have attributed to the firing pin and bolt body being out of spec, after some investigation.

What I'm asking if you guys - if you have a 5.56mm CSA VZ58 that is fully functioning, pull your bolt carrier group out of your rifle, push the hammer all the way forward, and take a picture of your firing pin protrusion. If you're feeling up to disassembling your bolt body (by removing the extractor), I'd also love to see the total length of your firing pin, as well as the wear pattern on the front faces of your firing pin.

Based on what I am looking at here, the tiny dinky firing pin protrusion is WAY insufficient to reliably ignite 5.56mm primers, and is a result of either the firing pin not being long enough (overall 29.56mm by my calipers), the firing pin channel in the bolt body being too shallow, the firing pin channel narrowing too quickly, or any combination of the above that is precluding my gun from functioning normally.

Unfortunately for me, an out of warranty repair was quoted at $200-280 plus tax and shipping both ways, depending on parts required. I'm trying to get better information on what a stripped bolt body costs, as well as a replacement firing pin, but I'm waiting on a response.

Can you guys give me your experiences? I'm less than pleased, obviously, as that quoted repair is a quarter the cost of the gun.

Bradley

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I have the same problem with mine. I'm interested in what you can get figured out. My firing pin is pretty much identical to yours.
 
I understand that this was a common problem with the original importation of guns - something about it likely being a 7.62x39 bolt carrier group with a 5.56mm-specific firing pin added, instead of a new part purpose built for the gun.

Because parts are expensive ($56 firing pins from Wolverine, hello), I don't want to throw parts at it until it works, I want it to be fixed in as few steps as possible. If North Sylva doesn't have a better solution than a $200-280 out of warranty plus tax repair cost, I may look at having a machinist elongate/deepen the firing pin channel in order to allow the firing pin more forward movement through the bolt face.

The trouble here is that this is a damn fine firearm. It's a beautiful example of a VZ, and is perfectly machined and finished everywhere, but the firing pin or bolt is slightly out of spec. I can't believe that this was test-fired at a factory and deemed satisfactory. I can't believe that the importer test-fired these guns and deemed them satisfactory for sale and distribution. I think that the original adopters were exploited for R&D costs that were incorporated into later importations, and that I'm now holding the bag for a gun that was passed from CGN member to CGN member without anyone deciding to do something about it.

I need to sell some guns following some upheaval in my personal life, but I cannot in good faith list this gun for sale until I fix it and it works 100%. I'm not going to throw $250 at the "warranty" center, however, as that's an exorbitant sum of money.

Bradley
 
Firing pin protrusion looks similar to mine. And I almost never have any issues firing AE 223 ammo out of it. i might have the occasional FTE when the rifle is dirty but never Ignition issues.

As a side note, it looks like you have the older firing pin (the one with 4 wings). I originally had that one and it broke at some point so when I ordered a new one from wolverine (yes. At a cost of 50some $) i was shipped the new 3 winged one. Which seems much more solid than the original.
 
Look's like paint on the firing pin and the other part. Maybe remove it all and use a bore brush inside the firing pin channel
 
The firing pin is parkerized, and has worn through the parkerizing on its wear surfaces.

The firing pin channel being obstructed was my first thought, but it's perfectly clean and dry on reassembling, and the issue persists.

The photos make it appear better than it is for firing pin protrusion, to tell you the truth - the firing pin sticks out SO MINIMALLY compared to an AR15 bolt assembly or any of my pistols on hand that I'm surprised it ignites at all. I didn't bring any of my brass back from the range, but it's one or two FTFs out of every five rounds.

I had another striker spring to test, which was slightly longer than the one that came on this rifle, and it was the first thing I replaced before I looked at firing pin protrusion. It won't help - the firing pin can only stick so far out from the bolt face, and this is the limiting factor.

I may ask Wolverine to send me dimensions of their firing pin that's in stock, or a detailed photo. If the shoulders are different, it may be able to protrude further.

Thanks for your help, guys!

Bradley

Edit: I can't seem to find a firing pin in stock anywhere - while I'm waiting on a response from North Sylva, does anyone know where I could find parts in stock?
 
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