Aren't all firing pin chambers supposed to have springs?

[marklbucla]

I just cleaned out my WASR-22 and noticed that there didn't seem to be a spring inside the bolt for the firing pin. If I held it upside down, the tip of the pin would stick out! I haven't had any slam fires yet, but I have had some light strikes.

Aren't all guns supposed to have springs holding the firing pin back or is this a common thing?

 

[JohnKSa]

Some do some don't. AK's don't.

 

[arthurcw]

Many firearms have free floating pins that require a lot of inertia to set off a primer.

I don't think a single rifle or shotgun I have has a spring and only about half of my semi-auto pistols do.


ETA: Yes, the natural result of this is that a free floating pin COULD be hit with enough force to ignite a primer. It's rare, but it happens. But it takes a lot of force in the exact right direction.

Also ETA: Keep the pin and channel nice and clean per operating instructions. Stuck pins can cause nasty surprises. (i.e. "Bang" when you expected "Clack", "CLick" when you expected "Bang", or "BANGBANGBANGBANGBANGBANGBANGBANGBANGBANGCLACK" when you expected "Bang")

 

[Bobarino]

AR's don't have springs either. release the bolt on a full mag and then take that round out and look at it. little tiny dent in the primer. must be ok without the spring though. a gazillion of them out there that function properly says so.

Bobby

 

[bogie]

Better overall, if you're loading for an AR, to use "military" primers.

Slightly thicker cup.

 

[lee n. field]

Aren't all guns supposed to have springs holding the firing pin back or is this a common thing?

No. This is common.

Other guns you might have heard of, with no FP spring: SKS, Makarov.

 

[Conqueror]

Even many pistols have no spring. My old Steyr M40A1 always had swipes across the primers from the pin still being forward during ejection, factory told me they use no spring and it's normal.

 

[Mr White]

ARs, AKs, SKSs and Garands come to mind as ones that don't have springs.

 

[Bwana John]

ARs, AKs, M1 Garand and Carbines, M14s, FALs dont have one.

What else?

 

[foghornl]

A large number of "Mil-Surp" rifles/carbines do NOT have firing pin springs, but use the inertia or free-floating firing pin style.

SOME commercial (read as non-Mil-Surplus) guns use free-float pins, too.

The SKS series come to mind as having the free-float firing pin, and are known to sometimes slam-fire if the firing pin gets stuck.

 

[sacp81170a]

AR's don't have springs either.

AR10's do have a spring, at least the new incarnations on the market since the '90's.