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Installation of Guarder 1911 Dummy Firing Pin Set


Sturm

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How to troubleshoot: revert to previously working parts incrementally to isolate probable cause.

That's what I did to determine that it was probably related to the hammer spring.

 

I removed the dummy set several times, did nothing. I considered the possibility that maybe the modified screw I was using was too long. I cut it down by several millimetres. Didn't seem to help.

 

I then decided to try and fire the gun (dry firing since I am lazy) without the dummy firing pin 'button,' which protrudes a little bit. That seemed to fix it, at least from what I could tell at the time.

 

I reinstalled the 'button,' pushed the *suitcase* out of it with a small flathead bit, and made sure the whole perimeter of the oring was completely seated in the 'notch' in the retention plate. I fired, the hammer seemed to have a little more travel, but still 0.5mm or so less than without the protruding piece. It started to work much better after that, but I have still seen some of the 'weak' behaviour.

 

I took a video:

 

I intended on trying to capture the weak, non-blowback shots, but I was actually unable to produce any. It functioned perfectly. Maybe it just needed time to wear itself in? I don't know, although I presume the reseating I did helped a lot.

 

Edit:

 

See 0:04-0:05. I sort of got it to do what I am talking about. Interestingly enough, it seems to occur much more frequency the more gas is in the magazine. Is this do to higher PSI relative to the strength of the hammer spring? Also, notice how quickly cooldown and gas loss occurs. Pretty quickly ~ within four shots. Is a weak hammer spring (or at least, too weak to run the dummy firepin) a possible explanation for this? I do not really understand how a dummy firing pin could impact performance in such an odd way. As I have mentioned several times, the protrusion of the firing pin piece does result in the hammer staying back ~0.5mm at most than it would without it installed. Is this related to what I am experiencing? Would a stronger hammer spring compensate for this?

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There's a notch in the valve knocker which gets locked forward by the valve knocker lock/interrupter. If the hammer isn't able to push it to this point (or if you have a broken lock/interrupter) you get irregular, sometimes NBB like operation. With the slide and dummy firing pin on, no magazine, pull the slide back and drop the hammer. Look from underneath the magwell then manually thumb the hammer back. If the knocker stays forward then the dummy firing pin has no bearing.

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i had that problem when i installed the guarder dummy firing pin on a nova kit

what i did was to just file down the dummy pin so that it sits flat, which doesn't interfere with the hammer anymore

by the way Sturm, where did you find that screw and what are the specs? cause i'm looking for one too, for my inokatsu series 70

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There's a notch in the valve knocker which gets locked forward by the valve knocker lock/interrupter. If the hammer isn't able to push it to this point (or if you have a broken lock/interrupter) you get irregular, sometimes NBB like operation. With the slide and dummy firing pin on, no magazine, pull the slide back and drop the hammer. Look from underneath the magwell then manually thumb the hammer back. If the knocker stays forward then the dummy firing pin has no bearing.

Alright. I'll check that out tomorrow.

 

What do you mean by no 'bearing?'

i had that problem when i installed the guarder dummy firing pin on a nova kit

what i did was to just file down the dummy pin so that it sits flat, which doesn't interfere with the hammer anymore

by the way Sturm, where did you find that screw and what are the specs? cause i'm looking for one too, for my inokatsu series 70

That's interesting.

 

I'm hoping there is nothing wrong internally with my gun. Inokatsu parts are, well...impossible to get a hold of. I've tried many times in the past. Nothing.

 

I don't think the Guarder dummy firing pin set is a typical 1911 upgrade, so that might explain why I haven't heard much about this issue.

 

Could it be that Guarder's tolerances are not too great (which is probably at least partially true, considering their reputation)? I don't think installation in a Nova kit would be any different than installing the set in a plastic Marui slide, or even a Guarder slide. Perhaps it is just that their tolerances are off?

 

Filing could be an option. I need to reference Guarder's pictures again, but I thought the set protruded just a little bit. I would think this would affect the hammer travel a bit, but perchance maybe it was protruding less and did not make a difference with hammer travel.

 

As for the screw I was using, it was nothing special. You could grab a bag of them on Amazon for five quid.

 

The supplied Guarder screw is extremely short, and as covered in this thread, did not work with the KJW-spec Inokatsu internals. The screws I got were dirt cheap, stainless steel, M3x0.5mmx16mm. The diameter of the heads were 5.6mm originally, which was too big to fit in the Guarder firing pin 'plate.' I bitched and moaned a lot about this, but in actuality, it only took a minute of Dremelling to reduce enough to get a nice fit. I also reduced the length of the screw by a few millimetres, but I do not think this is a necessary precaution. It's actually a very easy job.

 

Now, do you mind telling me where you filed down the Guarder firing pin 'button?'

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install the dummy firing pin to see how much it protrudes out the back

that's how much you need to file out

even if it protrudes just a little bit, it affects hammer travel

do this bit by bit, when you file out enough material, your pistol should function normally

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install the dummy firing pin to see how much it protrudes out the back

that's how much you need to file out

even if it protrudes just a little bit, it affects hammer travel

do this bit by bit, when you file out enough material, your pistol should function normally

Should the work be done the back side, so the part of the firing pin piece that is seen doesn't look like *suitcase* and is all marred and scratched up?

 

Do you think a similar situation would even happen on a Guarder slide? Well, I guess everything simply needs a little bit of work (especially if it is from Guarder and is not a spring).

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There's a notch in the valve knocker which gets locked forward by the valve knocker lock/interrupter. If the hammer isn't able to push it to this point (or if you have a broken lock/interrupter) you get irregular, sometimes NBB like operation. With the slide and dummy firing pin on, no magazine, pull the slide back and drop the hammer. Look from underneath the magwell then manually thumb the hammer back. If the knocker stays forward then the dummy firing pin has no bearing.

 

What do you think? Does anything look wrong besides the *suitcasey* quality of the video?

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I'll take your word on it, in which case it looks to function fine. Have you tried firing it without the button?

Yes, and it appears to function normally.

 

The Guarder pictures show protrusion as well. If there is significant protrusion, it means it will interfere with the trigger. I guess filing is necessary? The problem with that is that it'll surely *fruitcage* up the look and finish of the 'button' piece.

 

I wish there were more options on the market, lol. Plenty of manufacturers have different firing pin sets...if you buy an entire slide set.

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File it down then install it backwards?

Maybe, but I do not know how well that would work since the retaining oring is positioned near the back side.

 

Would a stronger hammer spring compensate for the reduced hammer travel? Honestly, the distance is very small, but it obviously has major consequences on the reliability of the striking. A heavier hammer spring would *fruitcage* the pistol's performance (which is already not great due to the steel slide, but acceptable)?

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