Hi - I have a 22 cal, Cooey 600 made by Winchester. It's nearly mint condition and has not seen much use. Problem is the firing pin does not retract, if I shake the gun the pin moves and falls foreword. When the firing pin sticks out like this it causes jams & failure to feed. I took the bolt apart to see if I could remove and inspect the firing pin, but not sure how. After searching online it seems there is a small retaining pin that holds the firing pin in place. I'm still not sure what makes the firing pin retract if there is no spring involved, so not sure I want to mess with this retaining pin until I understand how this works. Any thoughts on why this firing pin doesn't retract, and how to remove it? I took a couple photos inside the bolt...
Firing Pin - Cooey 600
- Thread starter BBD
- Start date
Thunderhog
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- East Kootneys
Take it to a qualified gunsmith, I'm certain they will be able to assist you. 
Yes I had seen that post and it seemed to have the most info about removing the firing pin, also did look at everything else I could find online on this topic which wasn't very detailed. Was just hoping to better understand how the retaining pin holds the firing pin before I start tapping on it. I haven't been able to find any images or drawings of these parts and how they fit together.
The end of the firing pin may be slightly peigned from being dry fired. If so, it’s preventing it from retracting.
Disassembling those old Cooey bolts can sometimes destroy them, and other times isn’t worth the volume of time. Removing the pin won’t always enable the bolt to disassemble.
The first solution I would try is taking very fine sandpaper like 800 grit from an Autobody shop and try to sand the outside diameter of the firing pin. Lots of time involved as it’s a tiny part.
Failing that you could just buy a replacement bolt. After buying one you may need to adjust the headspace which is set by the clearance on the back side of the square of the bolt handle where it interfaces the receiver.
Disassembling those old Cooey bolts can sometimes destroy them, and other times isn’t worth the volume of time. Removing the pin won’t always enable the bolt to disassemble.
The first solution I would try is taking very fine sandpaper like 800 grit from an Autobody shop and try to sand the outside diameter of the firing pin. Lots of time involved as it’s a tiny part.
Failing that you could just buy a replacement bolt. After buying one you may need to adjust the headspace which is set by the clearance on the back side of the square of the bolt handle where it interfaces the receiver.
Thanks for this advice. So the firing pin doesn't seem to be peened, but am guessing your right about dry firing causing some sort of damage. The firing pin moves easily in and out out the bolt face if I just shake the bolt back and forth. Maybe this indicates an issue with the retaining pin? I am looking for a replacement bolt, seems like that might be the way to go if I can find a good one.
- Location
- Western Manitoba
Maybe to help with idea how it "should" work - many guns were made with a coil spring that retracts the firing pin before firing, but many also made with very loose fitting firing pins that flop around wherever they want but VERY easy to slide back to be struck by the hammer, in order to imprint on the primer of the cartridge - so far as I know - it is the VERY loose fit of that pin in its channel that allows that to happen - any peening, crud, dried oil, dead spiders, etc. will tie up that firing pin so that it does not slide freely in there.
On the other hand, if you have a Cooey, or a Winchester Cooey, those tended to be about "bullet proof" - my uncle had several for butchering - I doubt they had ever been cleaned or seen gun oil - hung on a nail on the barn wall until it was time to go "bang", again - maybe a year or more since the last shot.
- Location
- Western Manitoba
Thinking about this - I suspect that the "floating" firing pin type might protrude from the bolt face if the hammer or striker is dropped - whereas the "rebounding" type with a return spring might not protrude when the hammer is down on the firing pin. Some, like many Mauser's, have very strong main spring on the firing pin - yet they protrude from the bolt face if the stricker is fully forward.
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Ok, so if this is a floating firing pin maybe there is nothing wrong with mine cuz it does float freely in and out. However it usually protrudes and does not retract into the bolt face between shots unless maybe I was to hold the barrel up and shake the gun to make it fall back everytime I cycle the bolt. I really don't understand what makes the pin move back into the bolt face. The striker does push it forward, but what makes it retract?
The 600 has a floating pin.
The weird thing about the Coeys is that the firing pin is also the ejector. That’s why it’s huge. The placement of it and the pressure it exerts ejects the shell.
This doesn’t directly impact the OPs concern about its function.
To the OP (BBD): does the pin fully slide back into the bolt or possibly only partly?
I’m wondering if it may be peigned/expanded enough to not allow full movement to fire a round, but still be partially mobile.
It is still possible that if it’s not expanded the spring itself could be too weak.
These rifles were manufactured cheaply and not really designed to be repaired. As such they aren’t reasonably serviceable for certain things. It can be done, but sometimes a $60-100 bolt isn’t worth 50 hours work.
It might be different if you have a machine shop of course.
A replacement bolt isn’t 100% problem free. It requires setting the headspace. To do this involves adjusting the bolt handle. If you move it, it can come off or remain too far set back. You’d need to silver solderbit to readjust it. Silver soldering it could potentially weaken the spring as well of course.
An easy way to adjust headspace is to use JB weld and a thin piece of steel sheetmetal. It’s a bit of a Red Green fix, but it’s 100% serviceable and basically permanent. The epoxy never releases the sheetmetal, and the sheetmetal doesn’t wear because the bolt handle has nearly zero pressure. Rimfires are very forgiving.
The weird thing about the Coeys is that the firing pin is also the ejector. That’s why it’s huge. The placement of it and the pressure it exerts ejects the shell.
This doesn’t directly impact the OPs concern about its function.
To the OP (BBD): does the pin fully slide back into the bolt or possibly only partly?
I’m wondering if it may be peigned/expanded enough to not allow full movement to fire a round, but still be partially mobile.
It is still possible that if it’s not expanded the spring itself could be too weak.
These rifles were manufactured cheaply and not really designed to be repaired. As such they aren’t reasonably serviceable for certain things. It can be done, but sometimes a $60-100 bolt isn’t worth 50 hours work.
It might be different if you have a machine shop of course.
A replacement bolt isn’t 100% problem free. It requires setting the headspace. To do this involves adjusting the bolt handle. If you move it, it can come off or remain too far set back. You’d need to silver solderbit to readjust it. Silver soldering it could potentially weaken the spring as well of course.
An easy way to adjust headspace is to use JB weld and a thin piece of steel sheetmetal. It’s a bit of a Red Green fix, but it’s 100% serviceable and basically permanent. The epoxy never releases the sheetmetal, and the sheetmetal doesn’t wear because the bolt handle has nearly zero pressure. Rimfires are very forgiving.
The firing pin should be loosely free floating. When the bolt is opened, the lifter pushes the round up the bolt face, under the extractor hooks. The lower edge of the firing pin should be beveled so that the case rim pushes it back into the bolt face. Is the rim hanging up on the firing pin's lower edge? Does the bevel need attention?
