1911 Primer strike not centered???

[BB93YJ]

Out shooting my fairly new Colt Commander yesterday and when I finished picking up the brass, as usual, I looked at the primers to see how things looked pressure wise. No problems there, but I did notice that all the indentations from the firing pin were off center to the middle of the primer by about half the width of the firing pin.

The pistol has never failed to function yet with more than 500 rounds thru it as of yesterday, and is very accurate for a factory piece. I have shot PMC 230gr RN, 230gr Hydra-Shoc, and Golden Saber thru it so far and it all works.

So, my question is, should I worry about the off centered firing pin strike, or are there other issues that might need to be addressed, like the link's length, or the lugs being off or something?

Thanks for the help.

 

[burrhead]

The gun works and it's acurate. Now what is it you're worried about again?

 

[HSMITH]

It is pretty common, but usually more off in the vertical plane than the horizontal plane. Drills get dull and start walking, and before it gets dull enough to replace it some of the holes are a little off. You will also see this if the chamber is a bit on the large side and the extractor is tensioned a bit tight, it holds the case off to the left side of the bore as you look down the sights.

Bottom line is don't worry about it unless the firing pin strikes are out of the middle one third of the primer.

 

[BB93YJ]

HSmith, thanks, I hadn't thought of that. Makes sense.

Burrhead, reason I asked is that in the 1911 design, of which I own, or have owned, around twenty in the last thirty years, this is the first time I've noticed this condition. As you probably know, there are several things that can affect the timing and locking up of the pistol. Links that are incorrect in length can throw it off, the lower lugs of the barrel can cause problems if not correct in shape and height. Neither of these two things is the problem in this case. I was just asking if there might be some other cause that I'd not thought of, and whether or not it might cause problems at some point.

edit to add: It's not that the previous guns I've had didn't have the off center strikes, it's just that as I have learned more about pistols over the last few years, I've gotten more interested in what is involved in the whole process of firing them and the actions that take place to cause the little darlin' to go bang.

 

[Rottweiler]

I wouldn't worry about it. I own 3 1911s none of them strike primers dead center,but they all go bang every time I pull the trigger.

 

[Jim K]

First, which way is the indent off center? To find out, mark some cartridges on one side with a magic marker, then load them so the mark is always on the top. Then you can look at the fired cases to see where the firing pin is striking.

If the strike is high, you might want to check to be sure the barrel is locking up fully. If the strike is low, there should be no problem. If the strike is to one side or the other, the barrel also might be off in locking up.

Only the first (high indent) could be a possible problem since the gun is accurate.

Jim