1187 12 gauge - light hits on primer

charlie in md · February 6, 2006, 06:57 PM

I was skeet shooting yesterday, and got several failures to fire. When I checked the shells, the primers were barely dimpled. I've put a couple of thousand rounds through the gun with no previous problems of this type. I had stripped it down and cleaned it last week.

At first I figured it might be a broken firing pin spring, but that checked out ok. After looking at it at home, I swapped the trigger assy out from my 1100, to see if that works (at least I can narrow it down to either something in the bolt, or something with the trigger assy.)

In the meantime, any thoughts as to what might be the cause?

C

cntryboy1289 · February 6, 2006, 08:00 PM

double post again

cntryboy1289 · February 6, 2006, 08:03 PM

You said you cleaned the gun, but did you remove the bolt and then remove the firing pin and spring and clean out the inside of the bolt? If not, I would say you might have some dirt or a sliver or brass in it that is blocking the pin from going all the way forward.

If you did this and still have a problem, drop the pin back in a push it forward at the rear as for as it will go, it should have altleast .040" stick out for the firing pin to cause the primers to fire. If you don't have that much, you may have borken the tip of it off. Most any smith can retip a firing pin for you or you can get a new from www.e-gunparts.com

You could have a wore out mainspring as well. This will need to be replaced by a smith unless you have the tools to drill out the rivets and can handle putting the parts back in.

charlie in md · February 6, 2006, 08:13 PM

I've taken both the bolt out, the firing pin out, checked the firing pin spring, and the tip. No damage seen. I have also taken the trigger assy out, and I've blasted it with gun scrubber just in case there was some grit hiding in there somewhere. Since my original post, I've put a primed casing in, using each of the trigger assys I have. In both cases, the primer was successfully fired. I did see that the one assy made a little less of a dent in the primer. I am hoping that it was just a bit of gunk. I don't have close access to a gunsmith in case it is the mainspring.

thanks
C

cntryboy1289 · February 7, 2006, 02:06 AM

You have already done the first thing I would do which is scrub it out well. Did you actually check for firing pin protrusion though? The tip may be broke off slightly, you might do a check just to make sure. I would also make sure you don't have a little sliver of brass still in the firing pin hole. That may have been the culprit from the beginning.

You may very well have it fixed for now, but then again you may end up having a weak mainspring. You could do the work yourself if you have the right tools and know how. They started riveting the pins in on the hammer so you have to drill out the rivet and grind the head of it off to get the pin out. It is best left to someone that knows what he is doing, but you could most likely handle it yourself if you can remove the bolt and firing pin and put it back to gether correctly. Let us know how it comes out.

February 6, 2006, 06:57 PM	#1
charlie in md Senior Member Join Date: November 22, 2005 Posts: 185	1187 12 gauge - light hits on primer I was skeet shooting yesterday, and got several failures to fire. When I checked the shells, the primers were barely dimpled. I've put a couple of thousand rounds through the gun with no previous problems of this type. I had stripped it down and cleaned it last week. At first I figured it might be a broken firing pin spring, but that checked out ok. After looking at it at home, I swapped the trigger assy out from my 1100, to see if that works (at least I can narrow it down to either something in the bolt, or something with the trigger assy.) In the meantime, any thoughts as to what might be the cause? C

February 6, 2006, 08:00 PM	#2
cntryboy1289 Senior Member Join Date: July 19, 2004 Location: Ms Posts: 1,160	remove it and clean it double post again

February 6, 2006, 08:03 PM	#3
cntryboy1289 Senior Member Join Date: July 19, 2004 Location: Ms Posts: 1,160	remove it and clean it You said you cleaned the gun, but did you remove the bolt and then remove the firing pin and spring and clean out the inside of the bolt? If not, I would say you might have some dirt or a sliver or brass in it that is blocking the pin from going all the way forward. If you did this and still have a problem, drop the pin back in a push it forward at the rear as for as it will go, it should have altleast .040" stick out for the firing pin to cause the primers to fire. If you don't have that much, you may have borken the tip of it off. Most any smith can retip a firing pin for you or you can get a new from www.e-gunparts.com You could have a wore out mainspring as well. This will need to be replaced by a smith unless you have the tools to drill out the rivets and can handle putting the parts back in.

February 6, 2006, 08:13 PM	#4
charlie in md Senior Member Join Date: November 22, 2005 Posts: 185	yep did that I've taken both the bolt out, the firing pin out, checked the firing pin spring, and the tip. No damage seen. I have also taken the trigger assy out, and I've blasted it with gun scrubber just in case there was some grit hiding in there somewhere. Since my original post, I've put a primed casing in, using each of the trigger assys I have. In both cases, the primer was successfully fired. I did see that the one assy made a little less of a dent in the primer. I am hoping that it was just a bit of gunk. I don't have close access to a gunsmith in case it is the mainspring. thanks C

February 7, 2006, 02:06 AM	#5
cntryboy1289 Senior Member Join Date: July 19, 2004 Location: Ms Posts: 1,160	You have already done the first thing I would do which is scrub it out well. Did you actually check for firing pin protrusion though? The tip may be broke off slightly, you might do a check just to make sure. I would also make sure you don't have a little sliver of brass still in the firing pin hole. That may have been the culprit from the beginning. You may very well have it fixed for now, but then again you may end up having a weak mainspring. You could do the work yourself if you have the right tools and know how. They started riveting the pins in on the hammer so you have to drill out the rivet and grind the head of it off to get the pin out. It is best left to someone that knows what he is doing, but you could most likely handle it yourself if you can remove the bolt and firing pin and put it back to gether correctly. Let us know how it comes out.