Firing pin seems to stick.

[B. Dudley]

Just looking for some ideas or maybe others who have had the same issue.

I have a PH grade 12g. that I have been shooting skeet with occationally for a year or so. It always worked great but recently it has been hard to open after firing the gun. I have to bump it on my knee to get it to open.

I have narrowed it down to it only being the right barrel being fired that causes this. If I only fire the left, it is fine.

It almost looks as if the pin is sticking in the primer as I can see just the slightest sign of a drag on the primer after getting it open.

I was using Federal ammo. Maybe the ammo was the issue? But I would think that both barrels would be giving me trouble if that were the case.

[Opening Day]

Remember Parkers have the firing pin attached to the hammer, could be the hammer coil spring is broken I've seen that before. Eric

[Kensal Rise]

BD:
As you probably know, some malady is preventing the firing pin tip from withdrawing out of the primer dent to allow easy opening of the gun. It is "out of time" for some reason. This is worth checking into. If there is a hammer bent/sear problem, it could be dangerous. It could also be pits or roughness of the firing pin tip. Then, there's the entire Rube Goldberg cocking system of the Parker. Best to take the gun down and find the issue. It won't get better on it's own.

Best, Kensal

[B. Dudley]

Well, Meriden Parkers have the pin on the hammer too. I know that the Hammerless Parkers are supposed to have rebounding hammers, but they must not rebound much since they still stick out of the breech face when uncocked.

I may tear into it to see if I can see any issues. I have done external cleaning, but have not gone into it. A look at the hammer spring may be in order.

[Bruce Day]

Brian, rebounding hammers in the hammerless ( internal hammer) guns began use after the first few years of hammerless production. Depending upon your production year, the rebounding mechanism could be at issue.

However, there is another possible cause. Although I like Federal loads, I have found that for reloading I have problems with shell sticking. The cause seems to be softer brass bases in the Federals which expand more than Rems for example. I have also had problems with the primers seating too deep in Fed reloads with the softer brass. A resizing collet may help but my MEC Grabbers do not include them. Because of this for multiple reloads I have gone to Rem STS.

Good luck with your efforts.

[B. Dudley]

I cannot get the problem to replicate itself when putting a spent shell back in, firing and then reopening. So it is only an issue with a freshly fired shell on that one side. Signs of the pin catching/dragging on the primer is very very minimal, but they are there.

[J. A. EARLY]

Brian,

I had the same problem on a 16 Trojan. Shooting cheap factory stuff, no problem. Shooting my reloads, problems.

Quite a difference in primers, their hardness and material, and depth the pins would drive into primer. Also a difference in head sizes of resized spent hulls. There were no internal problems with gun but when I shot both barrels, thought I would break the gun getting it to open.

Change shells and see if it does not go away.

[Bill Murphy]

Yup, change shells or change primers. Primer problems are common today, in both bulk primers for reloaders and in factory shells. Just change your source.

[B. Dudley]

The tip of that firing pin looked a little peened down with a bit of a hard edge on the bottom site of it from the distortion. I dissassembled the whole action and reshaped the tip of the pin as well as cleaned the rest of the parts (they needed it). Hammer Springs were fine.
I tested after reassembly with a empty hull and fresh primer. Seemed to be fine. We will see the next time I get out to the range.

[Pa SxS]

Brian,

You didn't mention what Federal shell you were using. Gold Medal, Top Gun, Estates, etc.? Is it difficult to close the gun sometimes on a loaded shell? My closet queen 12ga Parker has a difficult time closing and opening on certain types of new shells. Have to force it closed and then break it over my knee to open the gun. I had my gunsmith cut the chamber rim depth just a little deeper. What I've found is some shells have a radius where the rim is formed and others have a more 90 degree shape between the brass wall and the rim.

Gold Medal's use brass bases, the others are steel. Some modern gun chambers don't like steel based hulls and won't extract properly. The steel bases don't retract like brass bases do after firing. I've heard that polishing the chambers can help. I shoot nothing but Federal primers in Estates or Top Guns with no problems so far.

You ought to make a trip to Hausemann's this weekend to chat with the guys