USP Compact - Just broke the firing pin!

[Cameron Lamont]

Well at least now I know that it is true.

I was lying on the couch shooting the liberal talking heads on the news with my USP Compact .40S&W ... when the click didn't sound right (luckily it wasn't a bang...)

I tried to rack the slide but it would not travel all the way to the rear.

I pulled off the slide and the firing pin block and spring fell out.
Then the rear end on the firing pin fell out also.
It looks as if has broken right where the firing pin block notch is.

Oh FYI it is a KI 26-020XXX so 1998 production... I purchased it brand new in August 1999.

It has been dry fired and fired A LOT!

Regards,
Cameron

After posting this I found a thread were someone here describe the exact same thing happening. Looks like I got a badly heat treated part too.

 

[Tag]

Bad heat treat on the pin is possible, but I'd wonder how many times you dropped the hammer without some kind of a cushion.

I've got a new HK USPc on the way and I'm planning on fitting a small piece of leather to the rear of the slide to cushion the hammer.

Even a Glock will wear out if it's dry fired many tens of thousands of times with no snap caps...

Roughly how many dry firings are we talking about?

 

[SouthpawShootr]

Even a Glock will wear out if it's dry fired many tens of thousands of times with no snap caps...

Curious since you have to do this to field strip the gun. I'm not saying it doesn't happen, but I haven't see any reports of a Glock stock firing pin being broken from dryfiring. Can't say the same for aftermarket add-ons, though. I seem to recall a report about a year or so ago where someone damaged a Glock after years and years of snaps and a high round count. Wasn't the firing pin, but something else on the slide. For what it's worth, I always use a snap cap when dryfiring my Glocks except when (disassembling).

I've heard of this particular complaint with HKs before. Still you got alot (by your own admission) of use from it. The trick will be finding an armorer to put your gun back in service quickly (the part will be cheap). You might want to use a snapcap from now on to minimize the wear and tear on the firing pin.

 

[larryw]

Call HK (free under warranty) or Fountain Firearms (cheap) and get a new firing pin. Installing it is easy:

1. Unload gun.
2. Remove slide (remove barrel and spring).
3. Make mental/written note of the orientation of the firing pin block (the thing with the quadrant end shape visible on the underside of the slide) and of the firing pin (note the flat side at the rear end)
3. Tap out rear roll pin (I tapped it from the top of the slide to the interior). The roll on the pin may need to be slightly spread to ensure a tight fit when reinstalled. Or, use a new roll pin.
4. Firing pin will shift rearward about 1/4" and permit removal of the firing pin block and the coil spring captured beneath.
5. Remove and clean firing pin and firing pin spring. Replace firing pin and spring.
6. With the slide upside down so that the underside is facing up, the rear end of the slide toward you, ensure that the firing pin is properly oriented flat side to your left, positioned about 1/4" to the rear (where the spring places it). You will be able to see into the firing pin block bore that the cutout on the pin is oriented to make the bore clear.
7. Insert the firing pin block spring, followed by the firing pin block in proper orientation. The block will be oriented with quadrant extending to the right and toward you.
8. Slightly insert the roll pin into its hole from the underside of the slide.
9. Now comes the only tricky part. With your left index fingernail, fully depress the firing pin block.
10. With your right little finger, press the firing pin fully into the firing pin bore so that the pin rear end is about flush (watch the orientation.) If you release pressure on one or both pins too soon, the block will tend to rotate the firing pin out of position, requiring you re-set the positions.
11. Nudge the roll pin in as much as you comfortably can with your left middle fingernail.
12. Release pressure from pins (check orientation).
13. Tap pin home (not too far).
14. Reassemble gun.

 

[Cameron Lamont]

Larry W the firing pin block and spring fell out of the pistol when i removed the slide...

Cameron

 

[Cameron Lamont]

Thanks for the info about I have printed it for future reference.

Thanks,
Cameron

 

[JohnKSa]

Southpawshootr,

You have a point--if you fieldstrip your Glock several hundred times a week.

There's a HUGE difference between dryfiring your Glock to field strip it and dryfiring it hundreds of times in a week.

I haven't heard any reports that I can recall of broken strikers in Glocks. I have heard a couple of reports where the breechface eventually cracked.

The big debate about dryfiring continues because people believe what they want to believe.

Example. A pistol manual says it's safe to dryfire the pistol. Some folks assume that means that clicking it now and again won't hurt it. Others assume it means they can spend a half an hour each night dryfiring the pistol and when it finally breaks after a couple of years that it must be defective.

 

[larryw]

Cameron, the firing pin block is oriented so the pie shaped part is towards the rear and center of the slide. I can post a pic if needed.

HTH
LW

 

[Tamara]

JohnKSa,

Example. A pistol manual says it's safe to dryfire the pistol. Some folks assume that means that clicking it now and again won't hurt it. Others assume it means they can spend a half an hour each night dryfiring the pistol and when it finally breaks after a couple of years that it must be defective.

Depends on the gun.

I have S&W wheelguns that probably have tens or hundreds of thousands of dry-snaps on them, yet I haven't dry-fired my Beretta Jetfire once without a snap-cap in the chamber.

It's a peculiarity that varies from gun to gun, based on the design and the materials used. In general, dry-firing a modern centerfire should be safe, but there are exceptions that prove the rule...

 

[JohnKSa]

Tamara,

I'd go so far as to say that dryfiring a modern centerfire of reasonable quality is always safe.

BUT, I'd also say that there's no such thing as unbreakable.

I don't think that I have the dedication to break the pin on my GP100. But I have no doubt that it's been done.

Maybe you've never broken the pin on a S&W wheelgun, but my money says that someone has--maybe they even did it with a lot fewer trigger pulls than you. Even a good design, made well, of quality materials doesn't guarantee you that every part in every copy of that design will last forever.

Popping a primer takes a decent amount of energy. If there's no primer to absorb that energy, then something in the gun must absorb it. The fact is that in any gun, dryfiring stresses the gun in a way that firing the gun does not. In some designs that's more of an issue than in others.

 

[Cameron Lamont]

H&K insist that it is perfectly harmless to dry fire the USPs without snap caps.
However, we all realize that eventually if you keep smacking to pieces of metal together over and over again eventually something will happen.
I am not particularly upset about the breakage and it would be good if it can be attributed to a batch of badly heat treated parts. The gun has been extremely reliable, no PERFECTLY reliable for far.
I would estimate that I have approx 20,000+ rounds through it and probably double that in dry fires. BTW this amount of trigger pressing has given it a fantastic trigger feels when compared to other USPs.

I will have a chat with H&K's cust serv dept tomorrow and let you guys know what they say.

I will probably run it over to Cal's Sporting Armory and have them install a new firing pin for me, rather than the shipping and wait of sending it back to H&K.

Has anyone ever shipped anything back to H&K?
Is it worth the extra effort to send it to them?

Regards,
Cameron

 

[Bergeron]

Hey.

Might've been my post that you read. My case was almost exactly the same as yours, except according to the parts diagram, only the back half of the firing pin fell out. FWIW, I've got a KH date-coded USPF in 9mm.

As to what you might want to do, I called up HK, got it shipped out and back to me in a little less than 2 weeks, no charge to me. The folks on the phone were helpful and professional.

Best of luck.

 

[Tag]

Glock stock firing pin being broken from dryfiring

It was not a problem with the firing pins. The breach face on a few pistols that had been dry fired fifty some odd thousand times cracked off...

 

[Kentucky Rifle]

Tamara...

Since the Jetfire's slide doesn't lock back when it's out of ammo, do you count your shots? I've *accidentally dry-fired my Jetfire a couple of times after I've lost count of how many shots I'd fired.

KR~
P.S. I like the way your's looks. Those white grips and worn places--I just like that. Do you remember how old your Jetfire is? (About)

 

[Bobarino]

its bad heat treating on a series of guns. mine broke too, under the same circumstances as yours. serial #26-029XXX. i sent it back to HK and they replaced it free of charge. it took about two weeks. call them first and get an RMA number. there were also a series of USP full sizes that had a similar heat treating problem with the slide. its been corrected on the new pins and slides. mine is fine now. i use snap caps when dry firing now too, just to be safe. at least you're not alone.

Bobby

 

[larryw]

Cal's is a good shop to take it to, but last I heard, their HK smith was over in 'ganistan.