The PSL

[OberFeldwebel]

Well I was messing around with it again today and cycled some rounds through it to see if the magazine works and to see if it cycles alright.

After noticing some very distinctive scrapes on the casings from the mag rails, I looked at the primer.

There's a slight dent from the firing pin on 3/5.
eek

On three of them I let go of the bolt just before the magazine and let the action slam the bullet into place.

Should there be a spring holding the firing pin back so that it wont do this?

Is it possible to get a slam fire from this?


gonk  

[Requiem ex Inferni]

Honestly, I don't know much about firing pins, but I'd assume that if there's damage to the pin it would either not fire at all or cause a slamfire.  

[OberFeldwebel]

Requiem6661

Honestly, I don't know much about firing pins, but I'd assume that if there's damage to the pin it would either not fire at all or cause a slamfire.

Hmm, well, when I do test it out I'll just put two rounds in the mag and try it then.

eek  

[Freak_090]

Is it possible that your firing pin is set forward by mistake?  

[OberFeldwebel]

Freak_090

Is it possible that your firing pin is set forward by mistake?

Huh?
What do you mean by that?  

[Inquisitor Brock]

Your firing pin is most likely misgapped, some ******** up didn't know what he was doing when he assembled it.

You need to either find out the proper gapping distance and do it yourself, don't ask me how, or you need to take it to a competent gunsmith Asap, because if you're not lucky enough, you're gonna slam fire and end up putting a bullet in your computer screen, and that's the best option.  

[OberFeldwebel]

Inquisitor Brock

Your firing pin is most likely misgapped, some ******** up didn't know what he was doing when he assembled it.

You need to either find out the proper gapping distance and do it yourself, don't ask me how, or you need to take it to a competent gunsmith Asap, because if you're not lucky enough, you're gonna slam fire and end up putting a bullet in your computer screen, and that's the best option.

Well, I'm not that stupid.

Bullet hole through my wall or a big chip out of the ceiling.


I just don't know of a competent gunsmith anywhere.

I know Gander Mountain charges a flat rate of $40 for any work done but... I'm not sure.
Are they good or are they the Wal*Mart automotive equivalent?  

[Freak_090]

OberFeldwebel

Freak_090

Is it possible that your firing pin is set forward by mistake?

Huh?
What do you mean by that?

What Brock said.  

[Inquisitor Brock]

OberFeldwebel

Inquisitor Brock

Your firing pin is most likely misgapped, some ******** up didn't know what he was doing when he assembled it.

You need to either find out the proper gapping distance and do it yourself, don't ask me how, or you need to take it to a competent gunsmith Asap, because if you're not lucky enough, you're gonna slam fire and end up putting a bullet in your computer screen, and that's the best option.

Well, I'm not that stupid.

Bullet hole through my wall or a big chip out of the ceiling.


I just don't know of a competent gunsmith anywhere.

I know Gander Mountain charges a flat rate of $40 for any work done but... I'm not sure.
Are they good or are they the Wal*Mart automotive equivalent?

Never been to Gander, heard of it, but never been there.  

[OberFeldwebel]

Freak_090

OberFeldwebel

Freak_090

Is it possible that your firing pin is set forward by mistake?

Huh?
What do you mean by that?

What Brock said.

Oh ok.

But if it was set forward like that, wouldn't it do it every time, and not just when I let go of the bolt?

I took the cover off and I can see the assembly and in fact the rear bit of the firing pin.
I can push it forward where it stays but if I manually cycle the bolt it stays back but... when I let it go the pin seems to stay flush with the...
ah ******** I don't know what it's called. Help? Is there some kind of schematic that shows the parts name?

Bloody hell, I can't find any that aren't for paintball or ******** airsoft.
Thanks for flooding the internets full of your dreck. Thanks a ******** lot.
Even with -airsoft -paintball I can't find s**t.


Anyway, the only thing that knocks it back to the right place is, essentially a knock.
Rifle in one hand, open palm in the other, strike the palm with the buttstock pad and you get a pin returning to where it probably should be.  

[Fresnel]

Does the PSL have a free-floating firing pin? Because that would absolutely do this, and there's nearly no risk of slam fire.  

[Barru]

Fresnel

Does the PSL have a free-floating firing pin? Because that would absolutely do this, and there's nearly no risk of slam fire.

... it's supposed to freely float?

Yeah, I knock it back and forth easily I guess that would be considered floating?  

[Fresnel]

Barru

Fresnel

Does the PSL have a free-floating firing pin? Because that would absolutely do this, and there's nearly no risk of slam fire.

... it's supposed to freely float?

Yeah, I knock it back and forth easily I guess that would be considered floating?

An AR has a free floating firing pin. The pin isn't attached to anything, it just has boundaries in every direction. It's guided by a tube, it can't go farther forward than the bolt head or farther back than the retaining pin, but within those bounds it moves around freely, like a rock in a box. If you ease the bolt forward, there will be no dent on the pin, but if you let it drop, when the bolt stops, the firing pin doesn't, and it leaves an impression on the primer, but never enough to set it off unless the primer is seated badly.

I just looked it up, both the PSL and SVD have free floating firing pins. You're good. [sauce] Just make sure to keep it clean, because if it gets very dirty, the pin can jam forward and your gun goes full auto and uncontrollable. Also, badly seated primers, ones that stick out abnormally far can also cause a slam fire, but that's most often a problem in reloading, so factory rounds shouldn't have that.  

[OberFeldwebel]

Ah ok.

So proper maintenance and properly loaded rounds and it's all good.
Good.  

[Fresnel]

OberFeldwebel

Ah ok.

So proper maintenance and properly loaded rounds and it's all good.
Good.

I've fired thousands of rounds through my AR and not cleaned it for a couple months or so in a stretch, and even the notoriously dirty rifle didn't start sticking on me, so with something like a PSL, you'd have to neglect it for a LONG time before it jams up on you.