1911Forum banner

Stubborn Firing Pin Stop, need some tips. . .

3K views 8 replies 5 participants last post by  nickE10mm 
#1 · (Edited)
I decided a while back to pull my firing pin out on my Scout. Despite reading the "how to's" I could not get the firing pin stop to drop out. Having never done it before I did not want to destroy anything. I gave up because everything was working fine.

Fast forward. I have since added another 1911 pistol to my collection and tonight I was able to remove the firing pin stop with relative ease. I cleaned the firing pin, spring, and channel. Everything went back together without a hitch.

Thought I would take another crack at the Scout's firing pin. I can't get the stop to budge to save my life. Short of removing the adjustable rear sights and pounding it out, are there any tips I should try first. I would rather not pull the rear sight.

Any help would be appreciated.
 
#2 · (Edited)
Does it have a firing pin safety? In other words, does the firing pin depress far enough to clear the stop?

ETA: Also, some makers will use an oversized stop and set it tight. They do this to prevent the stop from falling down and out if the firing pin does not return after firing. I've often wondered what the point of this is, because the gun is disabled anyway if the FP doesn't return, and a tight stop makes it hard to get to the FP to see if it can be fixed in the field. I like to clean the FP, spring and bore every 500 rounds or so (or yearly), so I have never experienced a FP stuck forward because of contaminatition or broken spring.
 
#8 ·
Thanks for the link and feedback buck-boost and nickE10mm.

I see how it would depress the firingpin to clear the stop but my question is now is, how is it utilized? Do you now have a way to tap the stop down without hitting the rear sight? Can you provide a brief description on how the tool is employed. I will very likely be ordering one in the near future just want to understand the concept a bit better.
 
#9 · (Edited)
Basically, the tool's "peg" provides a perfect fit to the hole in back of the stop and prevents the user from having to PRY down the stop from the top (not that anyone would actually DO that). With the peg in place and the rest of the tool head being held up flat against the slide stop (with left thumb), tap the tool's end with a rubber mallet a few times and the peg will pull down the slide stop enough so that you can pull it out by hand. To reinstall, simply do the reverse. Usually I reverse the direction of the tool's long end (the "body" or "handle") for each operation (on vs. off) so that its sitting in the best direction to be tapped with a mallet.

In addition, don't worry too much about damaging the rear sight... You will see when you get it.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top