I am having FTF on the bottom barrel of my CItori XT. I had replaced the firing pin because of erosion from shooting Cheddite primers, and the new firing pin from Brownell's I notcied the radius was different , more rounded. When dissembled and fired the bottom pin does not extend as far. I am using Fiocchi primers, and the problems are with Top gun, Estate, and WAA hulls. No problems with STS, or Gun Club hulls. I can put the FTF shell in the top barrel and it will fire. I do have the Wolf extra strength spring installed. 10Tenner
I had a similar problem, I found that the AA hulls would seat the primer too deeply sometimes and that I had a short firing pin, the combination of the two made for many FTF. Also if the firing pin bores are excessively dirty that won't help things either.
There are several things going on here.
There is about .015" variation in Browning Lower firing pins. The last ones that I bought from Browning were longer than my original Firing Pins.
The Wolff Hammer spring is a big help, but it cannot fix a short firing pin and may cause increased wear on the contact surface of the sear. That hapened to me but I cannot prove it in my mind that it was caused by the stronger hammer spring, but I suspect it. I installed the heavier spring when I was having f FTF in the lower barrel myself. It reduced the incidence, but did not eliminate it.
WW AA hulls have a greater variation in the rim thickness than Remington hulls. Combine that with a short firing pin and you get a primer surface that cannot be struck hard enough to go off.
Euro primers, Fio and Nobel Sport at least, have steel strike faces on the primer and may require a harder hit. They do not deform like the ones with a non-ferrous surface. Add that to the short rim and short firing pin and you have a FTF for sure.
My jump to 100% reliability was with the New Browning firing Pin From Browning. The added that .015 of material onto the strike surface of the firing pin. If you ask them, they will tell you it has not been changed, that may be correct, but then there must be a vender someplace that has terrible Quality Control and Browning ain't catching it.
Cleaning the channel and lubing with a light lube is always a plus.
I had a problem with my 20gaAA reloads in my lower barrel FTF which I found the hulls were dished in during the primer seating.
I had already cleaned the pin channels and installed Wolff springs, but to no avail, kept having many FTF in bottom barrel only.
Bought new firing pins, still did not fix it.
Started doing some measurments.
With the hammers lowered
Upper pin protrusion was .047"
Lower pin protrusion was .037
Max pin protrusion is .070" as per my gunsmith manual for Browning Citori's
New lower pin was same length, so no good to me.
So I welded a small bead to the end where the hammer strikes it and machined it at the right angle and length so that now my lower pin protrusion is .066".
My new upper protrudes .052"(but the upper has never been an issue).
Since this modification to the lower firing pin, I have yet to have a FTF since.(I have loaded that same batch of 100 20ga WW's 10 times with no problems)
I have also since switched from Win 209's to Fio 616's(still no problems).
I totally believe that this is the Browning lower barrel FTF cure.
It masks the heads space tolerances, the dished reloads, tube sets that may sink a little deeper into the barrels and etc...
Waht I thinking of doing was cutting some of the notch that the ride the pin so the firing pin would extend farther, but that may cause problems when ejecting the hull. Looks like I may have to give browning a call, or have some one weld and grind down to the desired length. Great info, much appreciated, nothing like FTF flinch to distract the mental game. Some gunsmith could make some money and provide a longer firing pin? 10Tenner
Waht I thinking of doing was cutting some of the notch that the ride the pin so the firing pin would extend farther, but that may cause problems when ejecting the hull. Looks like I may have to give browning a call, or have some one weld and grind down to the desired length. Great info, much appreciated, nothing like FTF flinch to distract the mental game. Some gunsmith could make some money and provide a longer firing pin? 10Tenner
If you are talking about cutting the notch for the Fring pin retaining pin further back, I did that and I also modified the front of the firing pin so that It would go deeper into the cavity. I did not make the tip of the pin longer by welding. All of that was no help at all.
Curly-Nohair, Yes the notch, and no not the tip, but the back of the firing pin. I have local gunsmith, retired machinist that could make me a longer firing pin. He can even heat treat parts. I will give him a call. 10tenner
Curly-Nohair, Yes the notch, and no not the tip, but the back of the firing pin. I have local gunsmith, retired machinist that could make me a longer firing pin. He can even heat treat parts. I will give him a call. 10tenner
Actually you only need to put .015" of metal on the back of the firing pin where the hammer hits. That way it just gets driven deeper until the hammer gets stopped. That is where the difference was on my Browning made pins.
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Related Threads
?
?
?
?
?
Shotgun Forum
4.3M posts
143.1K members
Since 2000
A forum community dedicated to Shotgun owners and enthusiasts including the Remington, Beretta, and Mossberg shotguns brands. Come join the discussion about optics, hunting, gunsmithing, styles, reviews, accessories, classifieds, and more!