[glocksman]

and then.... CLICK :what:

Fortunately I was at the range getting in some practice, instead of in a bad social situation.

After inspection, I believe that the tip of the firing pin on my 'shorts & t-shirt' gun (Taurus PT-22) has broken off.

When I press inward on the base of the firing pin with a screwdriver, the tip doesn't protrude from the breechface and there were no marks of any kind on the shell in the chamber even after repeated pulls on the trigger.

I guess I'll ship it to Taurus on Monday for repair.

Moral of the story: Inspect your guns every so often. :o

[TonyB]

Is it possible that it's really dirty??
Scary though.....makes you think,what if it was a self defense situation????
I'm double checking my carry gun right now.................:uhoh:

[Mal H]

When you press on the firing pin base, does it go in far enough below flush to show the pin if it were intact? The reason I ask is that some firing pin assemblies won't show the pin protruding from the breech face if it is pushed slowly. It requires hammer speed and momentum for the pin to protrude. There may be something else other than the pin causing it to fail. In either case a trip to Taurus is in order.

[Grayrock]

Please keep us posted on your experience with Taurus customer service.

[Coffee357]

Every so often if I can't get to the range (or after working on my guns) I'll drop a pencil down the barrel (empty chamber, of course) and pull the trigger. Depending on the weapon, when the barrel is pointed up, the pencil will either be lifted a few inches or launched accross the room. This verifies that everything works as it should. Last time I found out I had a broken firing pin (and the only time) was after an unsuccessful hog hunt. Was fixing to go home and figured I'd fire a few shots out of the pistol I had brought to back up my long gun. To borrow the line from this threads originator "So I drew, aimed, and pulled the trigger, and then.... CLICK!"
Glad I didn't need it that day!

Don't know what you'd drop down the barrel of a .22, though.

Coffee

[firestar]

I had a Taurus PT-22 and it had many jams and FTFs. I sent it back to Taurus and they replaced some parts, it still didn't work. I asked if this time would they pay the shipping because it was the second time going back with the same problem, NO! I sent it in again and when I got it back 2 months later, it had the same problems.

I have heard good thing about Taurus customer service but if they don't fix it, how can that even be considered "service"? They were sort of rude and uncooperative also, it was like pulling teeth to get them do anything. They acted like I was trying to pull a fast one or something by getting them to fix a faulty gun.

That was my first, last and only Taurus. I will never buy one of their products again.

The Taurus PT-22 is a cheap copy of the Beretta 21A, which 10 years and many guns later I know carry as a pocket gun. It is weird how things come full circle. You can still find the Beretta 21As for just a few bucks more than the Taurus. I bought my Taurus P-22 not because it was $20 cheaper than the Beretta but because of the articles I read in the gun rags about how it was an improvment over the older Beretta! LIES! It also looks really well made, it had nice wood grips, good looking blued finish, etc. Too bad it doesn't shoot as good as it looks.

My Beretta 21A, is nothing special to look at, it has a matte black finsh which is wearing off in spots and had black plastic grips but it has not jammed and is more accurate than the Taurus. Also the grips are thinner than the PT-22s which make it a better carry gun.

[glocksman]

I've had the gun for 2 years and this is the first problem I've had out of it.
It's always fed and fired the CCI Stingers that I used as carry ammo.

I've had jams with the Wally World 500 round carton ammo, but that ammo jams in my Ruger 22/45 and my 10/22 as well.

The PT-22 never jammed on quality ammo.

I paid $150 for it. Other than the nickel finish starting to wear on the backstrap, this is the first problem I've had out of it.

I've heard good things about Taurus customer service, we'll see if they live up to it.

[10-Ring]

Not a good thing to happen. Good thing Taurus has that lifetime warranty. Don't forget to keep us informed as to how well they treat you & your gun!

[WebHobbit]

Moral of the story: Inspect your guns every so often

I think the better moral might be:

1) Dont buy/carry mouse/pimp guns

2) Don't buy Taurus (or any other cheap junk)

:)

[George Hill]

Gimmie a break. The moral of Inspect Your Guns Often is a good one.

Mouseguns are sometimes the only option you have if deep concealment is critical.

Taurus will take care of this guy's gun with no problem... they make good guns.
I've seen breaks on NIB Rugers, Glocks, HKs, and Kimbers. It happens.
Taurus is just as good as that group.

[coldshot03/04]

Was the trigger pulled all of the way. You know that most guns will not fire unless the trigger is pulled competely. (Firing Pin Safety). I havent had any problems with my PT 22.

[glocksman]

I don't believe the PT-22 has a firing pin safety. In any case, the trigger was pulled completely back several times.

These things can happen with any gun. It's how Taurus handles it that'll determine whether or not I purchase any more Taurus firearms.

[firestar]

Was the trigger pulled all of the way. You know that most guns will not fire unless the trigger is pulled competely.

LOL! That comment gets my vote for the absolute stupidest remark I have EVER heard on a gun forum! "Was the trigger pulled all of the way...", Hahahahahahah!

No. He just pulled it half the way and said "this gun is not working for some reason". Oh my God!:rolleyes:

[Mike Irwin]

I've had mine for about 5 years now, and have put going on 3,000 rounds through it, almost all Winchester Wildcats.

With the Wildcats I've had ZERO failures to feed, ZERO failures to fire, and ZERO failures to eject.

I had some problems with initial strike failures to fire with CCI Blazers, so I just went back to Wildcats.

It's accurate, it shoots a little to the left, but it's not a target gun. It's a shoot & scoot gun.

Taurus isn't the highest quality gun on the block, but serious crap normally doesn't come with a lifetime warranty.

There's two ways of looking at that warranty, by the way.

The first is that the company offers it because they know they make crap. That's sort of self-defeating, though, because if they have to keep repairing guns under warranty it's going to do two things -- cost them a ton of money and give them a very bad reputation in the community. Ultimately, a potentially company killing prospect.

The other way of looking at it is that the company believes it has a quality product, one that's worth purchasing, and it's a way of showing the public that it believes that.

[owen]

Mal H,

Don't hit a firing pin with a hammer to get it to protrude! If you can't get it to go all the way forward, look for a Firing Pin Block, and depress it, rotate it or whatever. The firing pin should move freely with the Firing Pin Block disengaged. Hitting the firing pin to get it to protrude will damage the firing pin block, a crucial safety device!

I am not at all familiar with the Taurus guns, but it probably does have a faulty firing pin, or it is missing the part that disengages the firing pin block, if there is one.

Either way, send it in for service.

owen

[Mike Irwin]

That's NOT what Mal was suggesting, Owen.

What Mal is saying is that some handguns, and the Taurus TP-22 is one of them, has a firing pin that is shorter than the channel in which it rides.

When the hammer is down, the firing pin does not protrude past the breech face.

It takes the hammer hitting the rear of the firing pin to propell it forward with enough force to clear the breechface and hit the primer, in this case the rim of the cartridge.

The TP-22 does NOT have a firing pin block of any type.

To examine the firing pin, take a punch and push on the rear of the firing pin.

Overall travel will be less than 1/4 of an inch, and firing pin protrusion is quite a bit less than that.

When the slide is off the gun, and the firing pin is at rest, you can very clearly see it in the hole in the breechface.

On mine it sits probably no more than 1 to 2 mm back of the breechface.

It's square, and when you push it out, it is sort of wedge shaped when you look down on it.

If you're not seeing that, or if you're not seeing a flat, square face, the firing pin is probably broken.

[Mal H]

What Mike said, exactly.

owen, you don't actually think I was suggesting that he hit the firing pin with a hammer of the ball-peen or claw type, do you?!! :what:

[Mike Irwin]

I could see you doing it with a 5-pound sledge, Mal. :D

[glocksman]

To examine the firing pin, take a punch and push on the rear of the firing pin.

Overall travel will be less than 1/4 of an inch, and firing pin protrusion is quite a bit less than that.

When the slide is off the gun, and the firing pin is at rest, you can very clearly see it in the hole in the breechface.

On mine it sits probably no more than 1 to 2 mm back of the breechface.

It's square, and when you push it out, it is sort of wedge shaped when you look down on it.

If you're not seeing that, or if you're not seeing a flat, square face, the firing pin is probably broken.


That's exactly what I did, and I didn't see anything protrude.


Slightly off topic, it cost me $27 to ship that gun from Indiana to Florida. :what:

Believe me, I was tempted to send the gun to Taurus disassembled and declare it as 'gun parts' in order to send it via 2nd day air and save $15.

[Grayrock]

I agree on the shipping. It seems that is a big racket these days!

[clubsoda22]

you could just send them the slide assembly. That would cost a lot less.

[owen]

sorry Mal H, thats the way I read it .

I've seen enough returned guns that I never underestimate people anymore

owen :o :o

[s&w 24]

point #1 a good reason to go with 25 acp instead of 22lr is it's center fire and better reliability/stronger firing pin

point #2 As an R.O. at an indoor range I saw enough pt-22/25's spontainiosly field strip that I don't and won't have one

[firestar]

glocksman,
I hate to be the guy that says what you should have done after you just did it but you should have just sent the slide in. It would have cost $3-4 if you went USPS Priorty mail. If I have a gun that needs work, I find it is best to figuire out what the problem is and just send that part to get fixed. If it is on the frame, you are stuck with the high shipping but if it involves the slide, it is worth it to just send that part.

Taurus may give you all new parts so you may have lucked out. They tend to just replace parts rather than try to fix it. Maybe they will throw in a free mag also.

[glocksman]

I hate to be the guy that says what you should have done after you just did it but you should have just sent the slide in. It would have cost $3-4 if you went USPS Priorty mail

I thought about doing that, but then I was concerned that they'd want the entire gun in order to check it out in case I was wrong about the firing pin.

I also thought about driving the retaining pin out and trying to fix it myself, but the last time I completely stripped down a gun I wasn't familiar with, I spent an hour on my knees looking for an extractor spring. :D

Oh well, next time I'll field strip it and declare it to be 'parts'.

[firestar]

Oh well, next time I'll field strip it and declare it to be 'parts'.

Can you do that? Is that legal? I thought if you mailed the frame, it was considered a handgun.

[glocksman]

Who's talking about using the US Postal Service? :confused:

I'd ship it 2nd day air UPS or FedEx Saver.

$10-$15 shipping via 2nd day air is reasonable.
$27 is not.

[firestar]

I got it now! That is a good idea. Will they still insure it for the full value?

[coldshot03/04]

firestar (kahrma) I have seen it happen!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:evil: LMFAO!!!!!!!!!!!! :evil: :neener: :evil: