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I have been following this web site for a while and now have a situation that I can use some help with. I have a Series 80 Colt Commander (all blued steel) that after my most recent range session has given me a new item to be concerned about. For the past few months this pistol has been shaving tiny flecks of brass which I find on the pistol and my hands. I traced this to gouges in the rim of each expended case and decided that someone with more experience than myself should look into it. I took it to a smith in a nearby town, that I have heard good things about, and the diagnosis was my pistol needed a reliability job. Since this pistol has never been reliable with anything other than FMJ ammo I agreed to the work, which was completed. In the time that I have had the pistol back, it will feed the few JHP brands of ammo I have tried, but I have noticed that the pistol still shaves brass. During my last range session I noticed that the rims of my expended brass still had a gouge, but some times the gouge did not go all the way to the front of the rim. This led me to the conclusion that my extractor is possibly too tight, and that I should look into this during my next cleaning.
I found the new item of concern when I removed the slide from the frame. I found that the firing pin was wedged out through the firing pin hole. The firing pin was truly wedged in place, as pressing the firing pin safety plunger did not do anything. In order to free the firing pin I had to remove the firing pin stop, press the safety plunger into the slide and press the firing pin back into the hole. It took a bit of force to free the firing pin. I removed the firing pin and looked at it, and it looked okay, so I reinstalled it, and pressed it forward beyond the safety plunger to see if it would catch again. It did, though it did not take the same amount of pressure to free it this time.
I have examined the firing pin hole in the breech face and it is no longer round. The hole now has a squared edge on its upper surface and there is a dent in the slide above the firing pin hole. I have looked at ten empty cases from my last range session and the primer strikes look deeper than normal, plus there is a raised area on the primer next to the strike that matches the dent in the slide. The primer strike is also the same shape as the firing pin hole. Looking closer at the breech face there are black marks that show the outline of the joint between the primer and the case below the firing pin hole. These marks are not just powder residue, since I rubbed them with a drift and they did not rub away, but they do not feel like cracks either.
After reassembling the pistol, I have not been able to get the firing pin to wedge out by dry firing, so this appears to be at least partially recoil induced. Also the pistol functioned fine during the last range session, all rounds fed properly, so this had to happen after the very last round fired, since I did not have any feeding problems from a fresh magazine. Needless to say this pistol has been retired from use until it is fully checked out, but I have some questions for all of you.
1. Does it seem reasonable that recoil would force the firing pin past the firing pin safety plunger? The ammo I have been shooting for the past 200 rnds in Fiocchi 230 gr. FMJ. I mostly shoot 230 gr. FMJ PMC or Speer Lawman, but always factory ammo. I am using a 20 lb. Wilson spring that has been shortened by two coils. The firing pin return spring was replaced fairly recently, but not with the last recoil spring change, since Wilson does not include a firing pin spring with the recoil spring.
2. Does it seem reasonable that a combination of the firing pin and recoil would dent, or otherwise mark, the slide? Is this indicating a slide problem that will need replacement?
3. Should I take this pistol to Dane, or take it back to the smith that did the reliability job? Dane is about 1/2 hour farther away.
Thanks in advance.
PaulB
I found the new item of concern when I removed the slide from the frame. I found that the firing pin was wedged out through the firing pin hole. The firing pin was truly wedged in place, as pressing the firing pin safety plunger did not do anything. In order to free the firing pin I had to remove the firing pin stop, press the safety plunger into the slide and press the firing pin back into the hole. It took a bit of force to free the firing pin. I removed the firing pin and looked at it, and it looked okay, so I reinstalled it, and pressed it forward beyond the safety plunger to see if it would catch again. It did, though it did not take the same amount of pressure to free it this time.
I have examined the firing pin hole in the breech face and it is no longer round. The hole now has a squared edge on its upper surface and there is a dent in the slide above the firing pin hole. I have looked at ten empty cases from my last range session and the primer strikes look deeper than normal, plus there is a raised area on the primer next to the strike that matches the dent in the slide. The primer strike is also the same shape as the firing pin hole. Looking closer at the breech face there are black marks that show the outline of the joint between the primer and the case below the firing pin hole. These marks are not just powder residue, since I rubbed them with a drift and they did not rub away, but they do not feel like cracks either.
After reassembling the pistol, I have not been able to get the firing pin to wedge out by dry firing, so this appears to be at least partially recoil induced. Also the pistol functioned fine during the last range session, all rounds fed properly, so this had to happen after the very last round fired, since I did not have any feeding problems from a fresh magazine. Needless to say this pistol has been retired from use until it is fully checked out, but I have some questions for all of you.
1. Does it seem reasonable that recoil would force the firing pin past the firing pin safety plunger? The ammo I have been shooting for the past 200 rnds in Fiocchi 230 gr. FMJ. I mostly shoot 230 gr. FMJ PMC or Speer Lawman, but always factory ammo. I am using a 20 lb. Wilson spring that has been shortened by two coils. The firing pin return spring was replaced fairly recently, but not with the last recoil spring change, since Wilson does not include a firing pin spring with the recoil spring.
2. Does it seem reasonable that a combination of the firing pin and recoil would dent, or otherwise mark, the slide? Is this indicating a slide problem that will need replacement?
3. Should I take this pistol to Dane, or take it back to the smith that did the reliability job? Dane is about 1/2 hour farther away.
Thanks in advance.
PaulB