1873 firing pin not pushing the hammer back far enough to cock | Restoration, Repair and Maintenance | Forum

The bevel should look more like this.

1873man’s picture look better than mine.

Winchester Bob has new un blued ones for $30. 

https://winchesterbob.com/?page_id=52

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Winchester-1873-38-44-Cal-Vintage-Firing-Pin-Good-Shape/384083064849?hash=item596d227811:g:QuAAAOSwceJgbf-z

KenB said
Part ordered today from Winchester Bob, thanks for the help  

KenB – Did the new firing pin fix the problem?  I have the identical problem that you had. Firing pin not pushing the hammer back far enough to cock.

My problem is with a 1900 32 cal. I have searched the internet for a firing pin for a 32 cal with no results. The pin bevel looks good with no modifications or damage, it looks identical to the one in my 44 cal which works fine.

I am interested if your problem was fixed by the new firing pin. I would appreciate a reply or any comments.

Thank You.  RR

KenB – Thank you for the quick reply. The pin on my 32 shows no indication of any modifications but it is very loose when pushed side to side and up and down. It may be that the hole in the receiver is enlarged. Like yours it takes very little movement to engage the hammer notch. I will keep looking for a new firing pin, a new one might be just enough to make it work. In the mean time I am going to put a couple of thousandth on the face of the firing pin with the tig welder. 

Thanks again for your quick response.  RR

Bob;

The diameter of the firing pin is 0.339″. The length of the pin is 5.064″. Does this sound right for a 32 caliber firing pin?

RR

Bob;

Thank you for the comment and the information. It does not look like my firing pin is that far from normal. The diameter is close and the length if anything, it is somewhat longer. Now I am not sure that a new firing pin will fix my problem. I replaced the lever with one that was on a gun that worked. Same problem. The pin that is in it is very loose when it is backed off of the hammer. I tried to measure the diameter of the hole in the frame. Not much success. It does not look enlarged when looking with the naked eye. I am going to still look for a new firing pin and see what happens.

Thanks again.

RR

Win61 said
Bob;

Thank you for the comment and the information. It does not look like my firing pin is that far from normal. The diameter is close and the length if anything, it is somewhat longer. Now I am not sure that a new firing pin will fix my problem. I replaced the lever with one that was on a gun that worked. Same problem. The pin that is in it is very loose when it is backed off of the hammer. I tried to measure the diameter of the hole in the frame. Not much success. It does not look enlarged when looking with the naked eye. I am going to still look for a new firing pin and see what happens.

Thanks again.

RR  

If you have a donor gun you might try  switching out the firing pin to see if it works, and if it doensnt, put the original firing pin back in and change the hammer with a donor gun to see if the hammer is the issue. 

I dont know much about 73’s but on 1892’s one of the most common mechanical problems is hammer wear, to the point when you work the action, the hammer doenst come back all the way to engage the hammer/trigger sear and collapses with the bolt when the bolt is closed.  With a worn hammer face the firing pin travels as normal but the firing pin will not bear against the worn hammer face forcing it far enough back to engage the trigger sear.   With this type of condition, a little pressure on the firing pin while working the lever will allow the hammer to travel far enough back to engage the sear as mentioned above in one of the posts.    And as others have mentioned, check your trigger and your hammer sear to see if they are worn. 

The inverse would be the scenario with KenB’s gun where someone modified the underside of the firing pin, keeping it from pushing the hammer far enough back to engage the sear as Bob pointed out.