Damaged new Taccom Firing Pin

[1911luvr]

I still don’t know what happened, but last Friday I was practicing for a match the next day when the rifle stopped going bang. Checked the round in the chamber and no dent in the primer, cocked the bolt again and no bang. Pulled out the Taccom bolt and checked for. Broken firing pin and found this instead:

 

 

 

It almost looks like the tip was grabbed by a tool and twisted, but it was never out of the bolt after I received it, so I’m at a loss to figure it out. I was shooting reloaded ammo, so the only idea I had was that maybe they somehow used a small rifle primer by mistake, but I seriously doubt they would be hard enough to do that to a firing pin. Anyone seen anything like this?

 

 

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[AllenM14]

Maybe it was stuck forward when the previous round ejected?

[L9X25]

Take a close look at the back of the pin and see where the hammer is hitting it.   I bet that you will see that the hammer is hitting it at the outer edge of the pin and causing it to "yaw" from the off-center impact.  When I installed this pin, I only had about 50% ignition with small rifle primers, while I had 100% ignition with the old pin before it broke.

 

I had to modify the rear of the pin to make the hammer hit centered and then the pin worked 100% again.  It also stopped bouncing the pin around in the tunnel too.  

[Flatland Shooter]

4 hours ago, L9X25 said:

I had to modify the rear of the pin to make the hammer hit centered and then the pin worked 100% again.  It also stopped bouncing the pin around in the tunnel too.  

 

Did you round the rear of the pin?

[1911luvr]

Take a close look at the back of the pin and see where the hammer is hitting it.   I bet that you will see that the hammer is hitting it at the outer edge of the pin and causing it to "yaw" from the off-center impact.  When I installed this pin, I only had about 50% ignition with small rifle primers, while I had 100% ignition with the old pin before it broke.
 
I had to modify the rear of the pin to make the hammer hit centered and then the pin worked 100% again.  It also stopped bouncing the pin around in the tunnel too.  

I’m using a Hiperfire 24c with it and it has run 100%. It even popped a primer that got seated backwards. What trigger are you using?


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[L9X25]

38 minutes ago, Flatland Shooter said:

 

Did you round the rear of the pin?

I machined the bottom to match the top recess, so that the hammer is forced to hit the center of the pin.

 

 

12 minutes ago, 1911luvr said:

 

I’m using a Hiperfire 24c with it and it has run 100%. It even popped a primer that got seated backwards. What trigger are you using?


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I have a JP trigger with the Light hammer spring.  I have 2 guns with the same trigger/springs and they are both 100% on small rifle primers.  When the stock Taccom pin broke, I replaced it with the "improved" model (as shown above) and the misfires started.  

 

By hitting the pin significantly off-center,  some of the energy is lost inducing the yaw and bouncing the pin around in the tunnel.  That loss of energy was causing the misfires.  You could examine my pin and see where it was impacting along it's path and it has deformed the tip as shown in the initial picture.   Once the pin was modified and polished, the marks did not return and the misfires ended.  

Edited May 31, 2018 by L9X25

[1911luvr]

I have a JP trigger with the Light hammer spring.  I have 2 guns with the same trigger/springs and they are both 100% on small rifle primers.  When the stock Taccom pin broke, I replaced it with the "improved" model (as shown above) and the misfires started.  
 
By hitting the pin significantly off-center,  some of the energy is lost inducing the yaw and bouncing the pin around in the tunnel.  That loss of energy was causing the misfires.  You could examine my pin and see where it was impacting along it's path and it has deformed the tip as shown in the initial picture.   Once the pin was modified and polished, the marks did not return and the misfires ended.  

Ahh, yours had the same kind of deformation and was able to be saved? If so, I’ll just mill off the section you did and try to straighten the tip.


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[L9X25]

Just duplicate the cut on the opposite side and you should be good.  You can put a slight bevel on the sharp edge, to narrow it slightly more.  In the end, you should end up with an impact strip about the same width as the original round pin head.

Edited May 31, 2018 by L9X25

[MegaCleanCab]

Are there pictures of the modified pin?


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[L9X25]

4 minutes ago, MegaCleanCab said:

Are there pictures of the modified pin?


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Not that I can find on my phone.  

[Alvin]

Had the exact same look on the end of my new Taccom firing pin after only a few rounds.  Then the misfires began.  I've ordered two new ones(Taccom) that came in this week...they look like they have been heat-treated.  They appear dark as opposed to shiny.  Running these in my Taccom extreme bolts.

[L9X25]

2 hours ago, Alvin said:

...  I've ordered two new ones(Taccom) that came in this week...they look like they have been heat-treated.  They appear dark as opposed to shiny.  Running these in my Taccom extreme bolts.

 

Making them from softer metal can reduce the stress cracking at the expense of deformation, hardening them will help solve the deformation at the expense of cracking.    Hardening may reduce the deformation, but that is just a "band-aid" to hide the underlying bad geometry of the design.  They are not transmitting all of the energy they receive to the primer, they are wasting some of it bouncing around in the tunnel while trying to get to the primer.

[Patrick Scott]

Same thing happened to my "big head" Taccom pin. I contacted Taccom and Tim took care of me. 

CMMG on left, new(est) Taccom on right. 

 

Edited June 1, 2018 by Patrick Scott

[alvinsmith75]

On 5/31/2018 at 1:03 PM, MegaCleanCab said:

Are there pictures of the modified pin?


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Taccom has pics of the modified pin on their website now.

[L9X25]

@alvinsmith75

 

The only image I can find is of the 2nd generation "big Head" pin, not anything after that.  

 

Do you have a link or copy of the pics?

[alvinsmith75]

1 hour ago, L9X25 said:

@alvinsmith75

 

The only image I can find is of the 2nd generation "big Head" pin, not anything after that.  

 

Do you have a link or copy of the pics?

Sorry I cannot find it now. Maybe I saw it on a Facebook post or something but if I come across it I will absolutely post it here

[MegaCleanCab]

Sorry I cannot find it now. Maybe I saw it on a Facebook post or something but if I come across it I will absolutely post it here

Yes it’s on Facebook


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[Patrick Scott]

Here is what is posted on FB from Taccom. Its seems the mod is intended to cure some light strikes. 

"The 9mm firing pins are back in stock!! These pins have a larger head than normal.....we did that so they do not mushroom out on you. And while our firing pins work on most 9mm bolts and with most triggers......there are some triggers that mmmmmmmight give you light hits. There is a fix for that.....and the end user can mod the head as shown in the last 2 pictures with a dremel tool, or you can also take it to a pedestal grinder too. It's an easy fix!!"

[alvinsmith75]

^^^^^thats where I saw it. Thanks!

[L9X25]

Thanks guys.

 

That modification works and you can perform it with a grinder or file, no machine tools are necessary. 

 

Since I have a milling machine, I duplicated the Taccom cut on the bottom side make mine lighter yet functionally similar to what they have done.  

[ericskennard]

1911Luvr, I don't have any experience with the the Taccom bolts, yet. I am very interested in trying one. 

 

Since I have shot highpower the last 16 or so years, I can tell you that your firing pin looks burnt. This is common in .223 AR-15 rifles when they pierce primers when the loads are too hot. Once the firing pin is burnt all kinds of nasty things happen. If you fired a backwards primer, you may have burnt your pin. The fix in the .223 is to replace the firing pin. I always carried a spare when I went to matches.

 

I have also seen the burnt firing pin in a Kelbly bolt action rifle in 6.5 x 47 Lapua. Again, the shooter was shooting loads way too hot. He started getting erratic  firing after that. I replaced the firing pin and the problem was fixed. The firing pins for that rifle costs $70 so be happy the PCC is much cheaper!!!

 

I am very surprised that some of you are using small rifle primers in your PCC. My recollection is that the small rifle primers are longer than small pistol primers.

[L9X25]

Small Rifle and small pistol are the same size and interchangeable.  Many of us also load other "Major" pistol calibers like 9x21 or 38 Super and have a healthy supply of small rifle primers in the cabinet.  Large pistol and large rifle have different dimensions and are not interchangeable.    When you are attempting to make minor power factor with a 14"+ barrel, we barely produce enough pressure to blow your nose. The nose of the firing pin is deformed from not being perfectly aligned with the hole in the bolt and banging on the top on the way out.  

[Jeremyc_1999]

I don't think a small rifle primer would bend this firing pin.  I use small rifle primers in my 38SC open pistol and have no issues.   They don't appear to be any harder than any other primers

[Shooter212]

I don't have a taccom bolt. I have a discontinued kaw valley bolt, so I have been looking at the taccoms to replace mine when it goes down. I guess I am curious how grinding down some of the pin fixes light strike? How is everyone liking the taccom bolts beside the firing pin issues that seem to plague everyone regardless of bolt? 

[L9X25]

1 hour ago, Shooter212 said:

I don't have a taccom bolt. I have a discontinued kaw valley bolt, so I have been looking at the taccoms to replace mine when it goes down. I guess I am curious how grinding down some of the pin fixes light strike? How is everyone liking the taccom bolts beside the firing pin issues that seem to plague everyone regardless of bolt? 

 

You are combining two different issues. 

 

Firing pin failure seems to affect most pin types across several brands.  The firing pin that came with new Taccom bolts was of a traditional design that had a small round head at the spot where the hammer strikes it and they are prone to failure.  Rather than using better materials, or strengthening the failure point, they opted to redesign parts of the pin that were causing the pins to fail.  Having to replace a pin because the head peened too far to remain functional is not a widespread problem, as breakage is.  

 

The new design features a large head, intended to eliminate the head  peening problem, but many hammers strike the large head at the lower edge (well off-center) and cause the pin to "yaw" as it moves forward.  The pin is no longer in perfect alignment with the hole in the bolt and loses energy by impacting the sides on the way to the primer.  This results is decreased energy to ignite the primer.