I've had a few misfires lately that look like light strikes in my Pardini SP and I'm suspicious it may be time for a new firing pin. I can tell it's not broken, but comparing the tip on it to the tip on a new firing pin, I can see that it's slightly peened and may not be giving quite as sharp a strike as it did when new.
It looks like it should be a simple matter of punching out the retaining pin in the bolt that slips through the notch in the pin. But I can't see how to get it out. I've tried drifting it out from both sides but while it'll move a little (maybe 1/16"), it's not coming free and I'm at point of thinking, wait a minute, this ought to be easy. Maybe I'm doing it wrong.
Advice, please?
How do you replace the firing pin in a Pardini SP?
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Nicole Hamilton
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Fred Mannis
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Nicole
Do a search on author: Trinity, subject Pardini in the Olympic Pistol forum and you will find some TT discussion on removing the firing pin retainer pin. I have never had any trouble removing mine. If yours is tight, use a short punch, make sure the bolt is properly supported, and give it a good wack.
Fred
Do a search on author: Trinity, subject Pardini in the Olympic Pistol forum and you will find some TT discussion on removing the firing pin retainer pin. I have never had any trouble removing mine. If yours is tight, use a short punch, make sure the bolt is properly supported, and give it a good wack.
Fred
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Guest
Nicole, I just changed the firing pin on my Pardini HP less than 30 minutes ago. The SP is identical.
Drift the retaining pin out from top to bottom. Once you drift it out a little, it will start to bind a little - just keep tapping gently and it will pop out. You probably already know this but make sure you use a punch that is small enough not bind in the hole.
Remember that after you drop in the new firing pin and you start tapping the retaining pin back in, you must depress the new firing pin until it is flush against the bolt in order to line up the slot in the firing pin that allows the retaining pin to pass thru to the bottom of the bolt.
BUT WAIT !!!
Before you go to all that trouble, I would definitely try replacing the recoil spring first. Replacing a weakened recoil spring has ALWAYS cured my SP light hits. I have 12-15K rounds through my SP and it still has the original firing pin although it is on its fourth recoil spring.
Good luck
Drift the retaining pin out from top to bottom. Once you drift it out a little, it will start to bind a little - just keep tapping gently and it will pop out. You probably already know this but make sure you use a punch that is small enough not bind in the hole.
Remember that after you drop in the new firing pin and you start tapping the retaining pin back in, you must depress the new firing pin until it is flush against the bolt in order to line up the slot in the firing pin that allows the retaining pin to pass thru to the bottom of the bolt.
BUT WAIT !!!
Before you go to all that trouble, I would definitely try replacing the recoil spring first. Replacing a weakened recoil spring has ALWAYS cured my SP light hits. I have 12-15K rounds through my SP and it still has the original firing pin although it is on its fourth recoil spring.
Good luck
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Nicole Hamilton
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Thank you! As both of you indicated, I just needed to pound (quite a bit) harder and when I did, the retaining pin did finally come free. With the old pin out of the gun to compare side-by-side with the new one, I admit the peening of the tip is pretty slight, so the suggestion that I try a new recoil spring does sounds like a good one.
As it happens, I had seen the discussion of Nygord's suggestion that the useful life of a recoil spring was about 5000 rounds. I'm certainly well over that, so I did order some new springs from Larry's Guns last week (at the same time I was ordering an SP New and a K22) but they haven't shown up yet. Otoh, I did have a new firing pin. (What is that about, if all you have is a hammer, the whole world looks like a nail? :) Also, I'd seen the swap described as a 5-minute task at the kitchen table and I figured it'd also give me the the chance to clean out any crud that might have been in there. So it seemed like it was worth trying.
Fwiw, having done it once, I could do it faster next time, but 5 minutes seems pretty optimistic unless you're a whole lot better than I am. I was very glad I had some foreceps to lock onto that tiny pin when it came time to put it back in 'cause you have to whack it just about as hard to get it in as you do to get it out. You don't want to hold it with fingers and it slips right out of needle-nose pliers.
As it happens, I had seen the discussion of Nygord's suggestion that the useful life of a recoil spring was about 5000 rounds. I'm certainly well over that, so I did order some new springs from Larry's Guns last week (at the same time I was ordering an SP New and a K22) but they haven't shown up yet. Otoh, I did have a new firing pin. (What is that about, if all you have is a hammer, the whole world looks like a nail? :) Also, I'd seen the swap described as a 5-minute task at the kitchen table and I figured it'd also give me the the chance to clean out any crud that might have been in there. So it seemed like it was worth trying.
Fwiw, having done it once, I could do it faster next time, but 5 minutes seems pretty optimistic unless you're a whole lot better than I am. I was very glad I had some foreceps to lock onto that tiny pin when it came time to put it back in 'cause you have to whack it just about as hard to get it in as you do to get it out. You don't want to hold it with fingers and it slips right out of needle-nose pliers.
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Fred Mannis
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quote="Nicole Hamilton"] Also, I'd seen the swap described as a 5-minute task at the kitchen table and I figured it'd also give me the the chance to clean out any crud that might have been in there. So it seemed like it was worth trying.
[/quote]
That 'kitchen table' reference you gave sounded familiar, so I had a look. My memory must be going - 'Delrin' in that discussion of 4 yrs ago was me! I was just getting back into pistol shooting and having a lot of problems with my Pardini which I hadn't shot in over ten yrs. Nygord did finally get it to work. Problem was the chamber, not the firing pin or springs.
[/quote]
That 'kitchen table' reference you gave sounded familiar, so I had a look. My memory must be going - 'Delrin' in that discussion of 4 yrs ago was me! I was just getting back into pistol shooting and having a lot of problems with my Pardini which I hadn't shot in over ten yrs. Nygord did finally get it to work. Problem was the chamber, not the firing pin or springs.
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F. Paul in Denver
Glad to see you got it figured out Nicole. While you are waiting for a new recoil spring, you might be able to get some more life out of the old one the way I do.
Take it off the recoil spring guide and give it a gentle stretch both from the middle and at the ends. Its a very light spring so it wont take much pulling. I can usually get 500-1000 additional shots out of it before the steel just gets too weak to fully return the bolt to battery. It's no risk, the spring is shot anyway.
Take care,
F. Paul in Denver
Take it off the recoil spring guide and give it a gentle stretch both from the middle and at the ends. Its a very light spring so it wont take much pulling. I can usually get 500-1000 additional shots out of it before the steel just gets too weak to fully return the bolt to battery. It's no risk, the spring is shot anyway.
Take care,
F. Paul in Denver
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Nicole Hamilton
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Thanks for the suggestion, F. Paul, about stretching the old recoil spring a bit to get a last little bit of life out of it.
And re: your comments, Fred, about your problems with a gun that hadn't been shot in 10 years, well, that may have been some of my problem, too. I was really active in shooting back in Boston, but when I moved to Seattle in 2002, it was for a job at Microsoft with insane hours that left zero time to shoot anymore. (I quit last summer, which is how I happen to have time again for the important things in life!) Anyway, the gun was certainly way overdue for a good cleaning. (Pardinis don't seem to need cleaning often, but this was ridiculous.) Stripping it down, I could see there was definitely some crud around the bolt face that might have been preventing it from seating properly, I just wasn't volunteering that embarrassing bit of information!
So between a new firing pin, a stretched and soon-to-be-new recoil spring and a good cleaning, hopefully, the problem will be solved.
And re: your comments, Fred, about your problems with a gun that hadn't been shot in 10 years, well, that may have been some of my problem, too. I was really active in shooting back in Boston, but when I moved to Seattle in 2002, it was for a job at Microsoft with insane hours that left zero time to shoot anymore. (I quit last summer, which is how I happen to have time again for the important things in life!) Anyway, the gun was certainly way overdue for a good cleaning. (Pardinis don't seem to need cleaning often, but this was ridiculous.) Stripping it down, I could see there was definitely some crud around the bolt face that might have been preventing it from seating properly, I just wasn't volunteering that embarrassing bit of information!
So between a new firing pin, a stretched and soon-to-be-new recoil spring and a good cleaning, hopefully, the problem will be solved.