Firing pin wiggle.

[Combat-wombat]

I have a Smith & Wesson Model 19 (2.5 in.). Very nice gun, it's a prized possesion of mine. Anyway, I noticed a little rattling noise a while ago, and discovered the firing pin had a small verticle wiggle. Maybe <1mm or so. I've shot it since then, the pin strikes fine, there's no real problem, but I'm just wondering if it's normal. Any input?

 

[P95Carry]

If my interpretation is right then ... this is essentially normal and acceptable.

I am asuming you have a ''floating'' firing pin .. and this has some vertical slack .. which means it ''finds the hole'' with no damage to itself. Mine in the past have never rattled ... they usually seem on the tight side but - if primer indent is normal on a fired case ... IMO nothing to worry about.

May just be possible to increase the ''set'' of the pin that the firing pin is retained by - and remove some of the slack. Jim Keenan, Fuff, Jim March etc .. if they come along might give some more detailed opinion.

 

[Jim March]

This is a hammer-mounted firing pin, right?

Almost ALL makers of such set them up a little bit "sloppy". Under 1mm of tip travel sounds fine. It has no effect on accuracy and even a slight off-center primer hit is no biggie. It has slop so that any slight mis-alignment or crud won't tie the gun up; the firing pin wiggles "around" problems. Reliability goes up with no real downside.

As long as it isn't so bad that the pin sometimes misses it's hole on the way down and the gun doesn't go bang, enjoy. If you're worried at all, check the roll-pin holding it in by pushing on it with a toothpick or similar soft (plastic or wood) probe to make sure it's tight in the hammer. As long as it is, kewl. If it wants to roll or slide sideways under light pressure, PROBLEM...you need to press a new roll-pin in there. Buy the right size drift punch if doing it yourself!

 

[BluesBear]

The Model was designed (as were all S&W Hand Ejectors) with a separate firing pin pinned into the hammer. The firing pin is designed to pivot on, what S&W refers to as, the hammer nose rivet. This pivoting allows the firing pin to actually strike the primer in a straight line for more reliable ingition.

If you slowly cycle the action witht he cylinder open you can easily see that the firing pin pivots every so slightly as it moves through the recoil shield. You'll also be able to see that the firing pin moves in a straigt line towards the primer.

 

[Combat-wombat]

Thank you all.

Nice to see you back, BluesBear. I'm glad you're doing okay.

 

[Old Fuff]

If anyone is bothered by wiggle in the firing pin, S&W makes a replacement that has a small spring behind it. You will need the pin, rivit and spring, plus someone with the tool to set the rivit. Seems like overkill - but there is a solution.

 

[Old Fuff]

If anyone is bothered by wiggle in the firing pin, S&W makes a replacement that has a small spring behind it. You will need the pin, rivit and spring, plus someone with the tool to set the rivit. Seems like overkill - but there is a solution.