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Broken firing pin Big boy Steel .44

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Omegaspeedy
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Broken firing pin Big boy Steel .44

Post by Omegaspeedy » Wed Jun 05, 2019 9:07 pm

Guy guys, I've been really enjoying my carbine. It's so fun to shoot .44!

Yesterday, I was preparing it for range day (today) and as I cycled the action, it jammed just before closing. I jiggled the action being careful not to force it and it came right. Being a little alarmed by this as it had never displayed any jams before, I took the bolt out so I could inspect the bolt and action with a torch to see if I could see anything odd. That's when I noticed a small steel rod with a rounded end floating around. I knew it could only be one thing and checking the firing pin verified this. The firing pin has snapped about 3-4mm from the end. The gun has shot about 400rds and looked after meticulously. It's my pride and joy.

Took it to the shop this morning and hopefully it will be a quick turnaround as I like to get to the range once every two weeks.

My question is, have any of you guys experienced broken pins with your Big boys before? I'd like to get a feel of how common this is as I'm very fond of this carbine. Do I need to buy some spare parts or is this just bad luck.

Cheers
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JEBar
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Re: Broken firing pin Big boy Steel .44

Post by JEBar » Wed Jun 05, 2019 10:27 pm

we've literally fired 10's of thousands of full power 44 Mag rounds through ours .... did have to replace an ejector spring and the outer magazine tube .... no firing pin or other issues
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Omegaspeedy
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Re: Broken firing pin Big boy Steel .44

Post by Omegaspeedy » Thu Jun 06, 2019 12:32 am

JEBar wrote:
Wed Jun 05, 2019 10:27 pm
we've literally fired 10's of thousands of full power 44 Mag rounds through ours .... did have to replace an ejector spring and the outer magazine tube .... no firing pin or other issues
Thanks JEBar, that is reassuring. It must just be a defective pin.
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CT_Shooter
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Re: Broken firing pin Big boy Steel .44

Post by CT_Shooter » Thu Jun 06, 2019 7:59 am

My BBB .357 had a firing pin break after the first few hundred rounds, but once it was replaced, I've had no other problems, at all.
Omegaspeedy wrote:
Wed Jun 05, 2019 9:07 pm
My question is, have any of you guys experienced broken pins with your Big boys before? I'd like to get a feel of how common this is as I'm very fond of this carbine.
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GunnyGene
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Re: Broken firing pin Big boy Steel .44

Post by GunnyGene » Thu Jun 06, 2019 10:52 am

Pretty sure the other BBS calibers(.357, .41, etc.) use the same pin, so thanks for the heads up. I assume there were no warning signs? I'll have to keep an eye on my .41 for this. :)
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Omegaspeedy
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Re: Broken firing pin Big boy Steel .44

Post by Omegaspeedy » Thu Jun 06, 2019 8:11 pm

CT_Shooter wrote:
Thu Jun 06, 2019 7:59 am
My BBB .357 had a firing pin break after the first few hundred rounds, but once it was replaced, I've had no other problems, at all.
Omegaspeedy wrote:
Wed Jun 05, 2019 9:07 pm
My question is, have any of you guys experienced broken pins with your Big boys before? I'd like to get a feel of how common this is as I'm very fond of this carbine.
Thanks CT_Shooter, mines done about 400 to 500rds. Wonder if it's just been heat treated too far and was brittle. Fingers crossed the next is a good one.
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Omegaspeedy
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Re: Broken firing pin Big boy Steel .44

Post by Omegaspeedy » Thu Jun 06, 2019 8:16 pm

GunnyGene wrote:
Thu Jun 06, 2019 10:52 am
Pretty sure the other BBS calibers(.357, .41, etc.) use the same pin, so thanks for the heads up. I assume there were no warning signs? I'll have to keep an eye on my .41 for this. :)
That's good to hear they're all the same. It would make sense for production costs.

Yes no signs except I cycled the action and it suddenly jammed just before closing which I assume was the tip of the pin jamming some part of the action. Inspecting the break, there seems to be two distinct surfaces as though there could have been a fatigue crack for some time? If your ever did break, you'd know about it pretty quickly with either a jam or a fail to fire.
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fortyshooter
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Re: Broken firing pin Big boy Steel .44

Post by fortyshooter » Fri Jun 07, 2019 10:33 am

Will have to watch for this on my BBS .44! If it has to go back for such an issue I'll get them to tighten up that fore stock.
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