Firing Pin Function - S&W 5906

[Fat Boy]

Maybe this question should be in gunsmithing, but here goes...

When "dropping the hammer" on a S&W 5906 by moving the decocker? the hammer really seems to "drop" hard- is there any danger of damaging the firing pin in doing this? Loaded or unloaded? My thinking on this is prompted by the weakness of, for example, the CZ52, and the real potential of breaking the firing pin in that gun by dry firing it-

I was cleaning a recently acquired 5906, wondered about this, and with the slide off, tried to push the firing pin from the rear and see the front of it protrude into the chamber area; I was pushing with a small punch and wasn't able to see the front end of the pin-

I am not knowledgeable enough about the function of the gun to know if I should be able to see the firing pin "front end" in the chamber area by pushing the back end or not but wanted to ask


Thanks!

 

[The Lone Haranguer]

On S&W's slide safety, I believe the safety encapsulates the firing pin and prevents the hammer from contacting it in the first place. In any event, the hammer cannot possibly fall fast or hard enough to do any damage.

 

[rcmodel]

Yep.
The hammer never touches the FP when you use the decocker safety on a S&W 39/59 series gun.

rc