Firing pin stop hitting frame .....

[JeffC]

Whoa! I bought another Springfield G.I. Inspected it and put it away in the safe. One thing I noticed was a small notch at the rear of the frame to the right of the hammer.... thought nothing of it....

Cleaned up my Springer Hi-Cap today and noticed the same type of mark on this frame too, and see the firing pin stop had been hitting/ dragging on the frame, just on the right side. The stop must be moving down just enough to bump the frame.

I have 2 other Springfields that have aftermarket stops, one is an EGW with the series 80 cut.... there's no way for this one to touch the frame in this fashion.

Something to look for on your 1911, thought I'd share....

 

[Onmilo]

This is more common than you may realize and not just Springfield Inc. products either.

Fire pin stop drag is one of the things to check if a pistol is malfunctioning, especially if the gun is brand new.

 

[sm]

http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=120166&highlight=firing+pin+stop

 

[Jim K]

Hi, Jeff C,

I am not clear on the problem. Are you saying that the firing pin stop hangs down below the bottom of the slide and gouges the frame all the time, or are you saying that it comes loose during recoil and rakes the frame or hangs up the gun?

For the first case, you have to stone/file/grind the end of the stop to keep it from hitting the frame. That is a straightforward fix. The other situation will likely require replacing the stop with one that is tighter or replace the firing pin spring. If the firing pin stop is too loose, it will drop in that instant while the firing pin is forward, the hammer is out of contact, and the recoil is driving the pistol upward. The stop tries to remain where it is (thanks to Mr. Newton) and if it is loose drops away from the slide.

Contrary to what is presented in that other discussion, the slide does not push the hammer back gently. It whacks the hammer a blow that sends it back and down, out of contact with the slide, until it bounces off the grip safety and flies up to strike the bottom of the firing pin tunnel in the slide.

That instant when the hammer is out of contact and the firing pin spring has not yet reasserted itself to push the firing pin back is when the firing pin stop can drop away.

Jim

 

[JeffC]

Hey Jim, the bottom of the stop seems to be dropping down and knicking the frame during live fire, but it doesn't touch when hand cycling.

 

[Jim K]

As I noted, it could be dropping due to recoil, but when that happens it normally stays down and the firing pin stays inside, and the slide going forward stops when the stop hits the rear of the frame. If the fps is not dropping that far, it could be that the firing pin hole in the stop is too big and allowing the stop to drop enough to contact the frame but not enough to stop the works. You should be able to check that easily.

I think an oversize stop should resolve the problem either way. Some fitting will be required and I recommend reading Tuner's post mentioned above. I am not absolutely convinced that changing the firing pin stop contour is the solution to all the world's woes, but Tuner has had more experience with those stops than I have, so he is well worth listening to.

Jim

 

[CCW1911]

A weak firing pin spring can cause this.

Ross

 

[JeffC]

"Weak spring" right... but Springfield uses that quadriple power firing pin spring

Fitting a tighter firing pin stop, time to call Brownells ....yippee!