Wrinkles Posted February 11, 2014 Share Posted February 11, 2014 I have a Springfield in 9mm and every now and then I get a light primer strike. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Norther Posted February 11, 2014 Share Posted February 11, 2014 If you have a stock titanium firing pin, try getting an extended steel one. Worked for my .45. Even a standard steel one works better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
broadus123 Posted February 11, 2014 Share Posted February 11, 2014 If it has a titanium firing pin, that could be causing it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve RA Posted February 11, 2014 Share Posted February 11, 2014 Pull the slide down and make sure the firing pin "tunnel" is clean and free of debris. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frankie Posted February 11, 2014 Share Posted February 11, 2014 if you like your gun just the way it is... try using federal primers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve RA Posted February 11, 2014 Share Posted February 11, 2014 Thats sort of like saying "if you like your 8 cyl running on 6 cyls, just drive slower" !! If you have an "extra power firing pin spring", put the standard one back in. A stock 1911 should effortlessly ignite any small rifle primer with no problem at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DS26 Posted February 11, 2014 Share Posted February 11, 2014 What ammo are you using if reloads what primer? I own the same gun and this is one problem I have not had as of yet, but would like to avoid! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lcs Posted February 11, 2014 Share Posted February 11, 2014 I have a Springfield in 9mm and every now and then I get a light primer strike. Is this a completely stock gun? or have you upgraded something/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob DuBois Posted February 11, 2014 Share Posted February 11, 2014 Agree above clean and check firing pin and spring, Which primers are you using. Federal takes the lightest hit then Winchester CCI can be hard requiring a heavier mainspring. 17lb mainspring should work. Simple test to check mainspring and firing pin is to drop a yellow pencil down the barrel, point the barrel up and pull the trigger should move up about a foot or better. If this test passes you have some hard primers. This of course need to be done with an unloaded firearm. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
underlug Posted February 11, 2014 Share Posted February 11, 2014 Agree above clean and check firing pin and spring, Which primers are you using. Federal takes the lightest hit then Winchester CCI can be hard requiring a heavier mainspring. 17lb mainspring should work. Simple test to check mainspring and firing pin is to drop a yellow pencil down the barrel, point the barrel up and pull the trigger should move up about a foot or better. If this test passes you have some hard primers. This of course need to be done with an unloaded firearm. "This of course need to be done with an unloaded firearm". Or. you will have one hell of a time finding that pencil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sandrooney Posted February 11, 2014 Share Posted February 11, 2014 If they are reloads it could be high primer every so often. Have you tried to shoot them a second time ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve RA Posted February 11, 2014 Share Posted February 11, 2014 The pencil trick also works best if you put the eraser end in first. Usually it will go clear to the ceiling. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wrinkles Posted February 12, 2014 Author Share Posted February 12, 2014 The pistol is a stock Springfield ,had a 12.5 lbs recoil spring in it changed to a 14 lbs. Cleaned the firing pin tunnel and the whole gun as well. The pencil only went up about 2 feet. Save my Federal primers for my revolvers. Use Winchester primers 3.7 grs of Alliant E -3 , with a 147 gr. Xtreem bullet. I paid more attention to my reloads and will try it tomorrow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve RA Posted February 12, 2014 Share Posted February 12, 2014 The recoil spring really doesn't have any effect on the primer strike. The mainspring will, I don't use anything but 17lb ones, but, a number of people use 15s and don't seem to have any problems. I don't know what primers they use. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Magsz Posted February 12, 2014 Share Posted February 12, 2014 Steve, Do you couple that 17 pound mainspring with a titanium firing pin? I have a loaded 9mm that i use a 23 pound mainspring with and i wanted to try a 17 pounder to shave some weight off of the trigger. The slide is awfully hard to rack with the current 23 pound hammer spring. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob DuBois Posted February 12, 2014 Share Posted February 12, 2014 During the loading process primer should be .004 deep not flush. Stock firing pin, 17lb main spring should go bang. Springer's have a lock in the main spring housing I would replace the mainspring plunger. You'll also need the small pin that holds the plunger in the main spring housing. May need to purchase a replacement pin set to get these parts. It's always a good idea to have a few pins around anyway. Easy way to install is to put a punch in a vice, compress the plunger and spring, insert the small pin from the inside of the housing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wrinkles Posted February 16, 2014 Author Share Posted February 16, 2014 Put in a 18 lbs in main spring and checked all the reloads and things are running nice again. Thanks for all the information. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve RA Posted February 16, 2014 Share Posted February 16, 2014 I used to use everything titanium but the sear in an open gun. Course you can't get the hammers anymore. With everything titanium the gun would run everything but Remington 7 1/2s which were the hardest back then. That was with a 17lb spring. Now I just run all steel and still the 17lb mainsprings. Both my 1911s, .45 and 9mm, run rifle primers perfectly. These are SP .45 cases, of course. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JulieTheCat Posted March 28, 2014 Share Posted March 28, 2014 I'm having a similar issue. Kimber Custom II .45. About 1.5k rounds through it. I just put in the Extreme Engineering - Extreme Ultimate Trigger Kit - Lite Speed + EGW sear spring + 17# ISMI mainspring. This is the only mechanical change from stock on the gun. I had about 6 or 7 light primer strikes in a match. I changed the mainspring to 18# (Kimber stock is 21#). Just had the same issue in practice. About 4-5 in 75 rounds. I inspected before practice for high primers, so I am doubtful that caused it. Would y'all recommend trying a longer firing pin first? I am having trouble finding an extended firing pin for a .45. Any advice? Am I crazy for trying to run a 17# mainspring in my .45? thanks for your help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
donnyglock Posted March 28, 2014 Share Posted March 28, 2014 Your not crazy. Get an extended firing pin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JulieTheCat Posted March 28, 2014 Share Posted March 28, 2014 Thanks. Can someone recommend an ext firing pin for a Kimber 45 cal? Am I right that the Kimber Schwartz safety requires me to get a certain kind of firing pin? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve RA Posted March 28, 2014 Share Posted March 28, 2014 Delete the Schwartz safety, that may be your problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JulieTheCat Posted March 28, 2014 Share Posted March 28, 2014 (edited) Thanks. Would THIS EGW ext firing pin work (assuming I delete the Schwartz safety)? I can't find the size of the Kimber 45 original FP online anywhere. Edited March 28, 2014 by JulieTheCat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JulieTheCat Posted March 28, 2014 Share Posted March 28, 2014 Apparently that EGW O/S pin for 45 is not extended length. I can't find an extended length .093 (GI) pin for 45 anywhere. Any help in locating one would be appreciated. I plan on deleting the Schwartz this weekend, cleaning the firing pin hole, and installing that EGW O/S pin anyway. I would love to not go to a 19# mainspring, as I'm getting further away from the light trigger I was trying to achieve with the kit and 17# main spring. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Postal Bob Posted March 28, 2014 Share Posted March 28, 2014 Delete the Schwartz safety, that may be your problem. Exactly! I started having a problem with my Kimber end of last year, after not shooting it for a while. It has the stock mainspring, so that wasn't it. What ended up being the problem was a change in my grip. A higher grip was activating the grip safety enough to release the trigger, but not enough to release the firing pin block. The unfired cartridges had no firing pin indent at all. I verified this at home by inserting a pencil down the barrel, and pulling the trigger with various degrees of pressure on the grip safety. If the firing pin block was released, the pencil would be ejected out of the gun by the firing pin hitting the back of it. Yet, many times, I could drop the hammer, without the firing pin being released. Someone gave me a GI firing pin, which doesn't have the cutout for the firing pin block, and it solved my problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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