39A firing pin, 16+ months later

Two years ago, 2009 I guess, I made it my mission to ENSURE my 39A was sorted for rams.  Obviously the reason I missed 3 attempts at 10th ram was due to a sub standard equipment as the shooter is always perfect :)

Scope bolted on, ammo, targets, notes, I head to the range for nothing but 100m testing.  Found the most accurate ammo to be CCI Mini-Mags in my gun.  Your gun may or may not like this ammo.  To confirm my ammo choice and the gun/shooter ability, with the scope on I moved to my two feet.  Spotting scope, target by elbow to mark POI vs POC (point of call) etc etc.  I was not going to skip any of my tips and tricks!  No holding back!

A funny thing happened.  Some bullets seemed to leave the barrel with less of a report than other shots.  And, these shots tended to have POI well below POC unlike prior shots in that same training session.  Could some off the Mini-Mags be duds?  I had purchased a case and this was not a happy discovery.  I embarked on a quest with John Bartlett's Beta Master Chrony.  That is an entirely different topic.  Results showed the 39A and the Mini-Mags were just fine and of course, the "soft report" would not repeat.  Grumble grumble and then grumble some more!

I had talked with a mentor and he asked me the basic question, "what did the struck case look like?"  I felt stupid I could not offer an answer to such a basic question.  Clearly I had jumped on blaming the ammo.  So, next time I felt as though the gun, ammo, shooter had a "soft report",  I saved the cartridge to see the pin's strike.  As can be seen in an earlier post, the strikes were somewhat dull and not on the rim.  Diagnosis, order a new firing pin. I did and promptly tossed it in my gun kit and did nothing as I was defeated by my 39A and had moved on to other more rewarding challenges.

Fast forward to yesterday.  I drug the pesky 39A out of the safe and decided to forget about the past.  With my new spare time, I settled down to fit the new pin.  I can tell you it must be fit to the gun with the use of a file.  It ships designed to not be installed by the owner and I recall reading somewhere only "Gunsmiths" can order a pin.  Well, they are not "drop in and go" but anyone with a good hand, eye and patience can shape the new pin to fit.  A square piece must have a radius filed in to fit "into" the bolt correctly.  The more steel you remove when putting this radius on, the further the pin travels forward to strike the shell.  Go slowly on a spent shell until you like the strike depth.

What I found interesting was the geometry on the new generation FP. (right in picture)  One could conclude my 1985 mfg blunt FP has been updated  to perhaps solve the very issue I was having.  A big mushy strike would yield inconsistent ignition.  Look at a case struck by an Anschutz!  It is narrow and sharp quite opposite of what my old 39A pin was producing.  The new 39A pin has a rather small yet sharp "point" which is biased to the outer rim of the case.  Looks good until the smaller surface wears faster?  Only time will tell.  Brass is soft so I can't see much wear. See pics.

Test at the range today suggests all is well.  Now back to shooting SB Cowboy after a year off.

(Note: To see larger picture, click on the picture for a full size image.  This can be done on all pictures.)