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P38 faulty firing pin?

DRP-AZ
Customer brings me a nice commercial Walther P38, aluminum frame, high polish blued pistol. Sure glad he never had to use it to defend himself, because the thing doesn't fire.

The Firing pin seems to be too short. Ordinarily, I'd just assume a broken firing pin. But if it's broken at the tip, it's the cleanest, ROUNDEST, break I've ever seen. Clearly the pin was made this way.

It will not, however, engage a primer. It simply isn't long enough. Measures out at 2.630" with my Mitutoyo calipers.

This is an odd one and I don't get stumped too often. If anyone has a P38 firing pin sitting around, please measure it out for me.

Thanks.
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Comments

10 comments

Date Votes
  • Knifecollector
    I just pulled the slide off a P38 and it looks like 2.630 would be correct. When the pin is at rest in the slide the tip of the pin looks to be sitting back about .140 from the breech face.
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  • nmyers
    Is the firing pin spring good? Any gunk in the firing pin hole in the slide?

    Neal
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  • rufe-snow
    There's a internal locking block that the safety is supposed to actuate. It functions vertically in the slide. If there's nothing wrong with the firing pin? Most likely for some reason this locking block isn't being disengaged. This will prevent the firing pin from functioning.

    Check both the firing pin and the locking block for burrs and make sure that the firing pin moves freely when the locking block is in the correct position, i.e. with the safety off.
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  • DRP-AZ
    with everything removed from the slide, except the firing pin and FPRP, the FP does not move forward enough to detonate a primer.

    It's weird stuff. I don't really know what to do.
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  • rufe-snow
    The Firing pin lock that I mentioned in my previous post is spring loaded. There is a spring underneath the rear sight that forces it down vertically. Are you sure that the block slides up and down without binding and the spring underneath the rear sight is there and functional?
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  • Knifecollector
    rufe-snow is correct, if that block is in the way the firing pin will only move forward about 10 thousandths, it will stop short of coming thru the breech.
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  • DRP-AZ
    Like I said, I've removed EVERYTHING from the slide, except the FP and the little shouldered pin which retains it.

    Still will not go forward enough to engage the primer, not even close.
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  • rufe-snow
    quote:Originally posted by DRP-AZ
    Like I said, I've removed EVERYTHING from the slide, except the FP and the little shouldered pin which retains it.

    Still will not go forward enough to engage the primer, not even close.




    The firing pin lock pushes the firing pin down do to spring pressure. This enables the firing pin to hit the primer of the cartridge.

    Get a small diameter punch and put it in the vertical hole that the lock pin slides up and down in. As you push the firing pin in from the rear of the slide also maintain pressure on it with the punch from the top of the slide this should enable the firing pin to go forward enough so it's tip will protrude from the front of the slide.
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  • DRP-AZ
    OK, except that the firing pin is still too short.

    FP intercept block or no, the firing pin will not go forward of the firing pin retaining pin. Its almost like the the cut for the FPRP isn't long enough to allow the FP to move forward enough.

    IMG00345-20101208-1920.jpg
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  • rufe-snow
    P 38's have two generations of firing pins. The original second World Guns had one with machined flat surfaces. The post war alloy frame P-38's were round.

    The only thing I can think of is that Walther made a number of similar pistols to the P 38 in the 70's/80's time frame, namely the P4 & P5. I don't know enough about them or their firing pins to say how much they differ from the P 38's. Their is always the possibility that the original firing malfunctioned or broke and it was replaced by one of the above that was shorter in length, although it sounds farfletched.
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