RippinSVT Posted March 7, 2017 Share Posted March 7, 2017 Just finishing up a 9mm 1911 build, everything functions wonderfully so far...feeding, ejection, extraction, extremely accurate. However, I'm getting light strikes ever 20 shots or so. Firing pin alignment is good but not perfect, but no worse than most of my factory guns. Barrel was headspaced to the minimum so there's no voodoo there with case deflection. My concern lies in the firing pin. It's an EGW titanium as I recall, with an extra power spring with 2-3 coils cut. I am running the Extreme Engineering Lightspeed sear/hammer/disco and a 17lb ISMI mainspring. I have friends running this setup successfully, but they are using a steel firing pin. This is with Winchester primers, all seated properly. Winchester is the hardest I use and Federals have been 100% reliable that I can remember from my small (200rd) sample size since I finished the gun. So where to go from here. I'd rather keep the 17lb spring since I've got a nice 2.6lb trigger currently. Any input on steel versus titanium? Does the firing pin spring really have a bearing on energy on primer? Any merit to moving to a Dawson extended pin? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMike Posted March 7, 2017 Share Posted March 7, 2017 I would dump the titanium firing pin. I had light strikes as well with a titanium firing pin. I switched to a regular steel firing pin and the problem was solved. Hope this helps and good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RippinSVT Posted March 7, 2017 Author Share Posted March 7, 2017 It helps confirm my suspicions, thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff_Alan Posted March 7, 2017 Share Posted March 7, 2017 Have had good luck with the Dawson extended pin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jcc7x7 Posted March 8, 2017 Share Posted March 8, 2017 Dawson or M2i extended pins Ti is a pain and I've never been able to tell with "lock time" SA uses them to pass the drop test not make the gun run better. or at least go to a standard weight firing pin spring Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RippinSVT Posted March 8, 2017 Author Share Posted March 8, 2017 I'll make the switch to a steel extended pin this week. I clipped the FP spring a few more coils this afternoon and it did help, with a failure to fire about 1/2 as often but still prevalent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Sierpina Posted March 8, 2017 Share Posted March 8, 2017 Will the rounds go off on a second try? I've used 17 lb springs with rifle primers with no issues. Just another question to muddy the waters. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RippinSVT Posted March 8, 2017 Author Share Posted March 8, 2017 They do go off with a 2nd try. The primers are not high. I ordered an extended Dawson steel pin. I think it'll solve the issue. If I have to move to a 19b spring I will, but I have high hopes for the pin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Sierpina Posted March 8, 2017 Share Posted March 8, 2017 If the rounds fire on the second time, they are usually not seated completely. They don't need to be high, but some primer pockets can be deep. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RippinSVT Posted March 8, 2017 Author Share Posted March 8, 2017 I understand this, but I'm priming sub-flush on an automated 1050, with zero failures to fire in 20k rounds in other guns. I agree that pockets can vary, either way there's something going on that isn't happening in my other guns. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zzt Posted March 8, 2017 Share Posted March 8, 2017 R, I tried the same thing as you as an experiment, even though I knew EGW did not recommend using their Ti firing pin with the trigger group kit. Replacing the Ti pin with the recommended SS pin cured the FTF problem. I use Winchester and CCI primers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ssanders224 Posted March 8, 2017 Share Posted March 8, 2017 (edited) First thing that comes to mind.... EGW doesn't make a Ti firing pin (or at least last time I checked they werent offering one). STI does though. Also, does the FP feel completely "free"? FPs come in .066, .068, .075, ect. It is possible that your pin is too tight in your slide. Ditch the cutting coils thing. Grab a stainless Dawson or Mclearn FP, a standard ismi or wolf spring, and move on. There is no reason to "customize" that part of the system. Edited March 8, 2017 by Ssanders224 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pjb45 Posted March 8, 2017 Share Posted March 8, 2017 My extended firing pins work fine with Federal and Winchester. I had some issues with Wolf and CCI. Dumped them. Kodiak Precision did my trigger job so probably know it is light but goes boom when it is supposed to go boom. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RippinSVT Posted March 8, 2017 Author Share Posted March 8, 2017 Pin moves freely without issue. Cutting the coils was a $2 solution as a sanity check. I ordered a normal FP spring with the Dawson steel pin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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