Primer impacts slightly off—how normal ?

[JimGP100]

Other Rugers strike dead dead center on the primer.

New GP100 strikes slightly off center. Not center. Same all 6 cylinders. Found a Reddit post that approximates how it looks (not mine; similar):



Goes bang every time. I gather it’s not a big issue. How common is it—you all run into this too?

 

[GunnyGene]

Fairly common. As long as it goes bang, I don't worry about it. Can sometimes be just cheap range ammo. Can't see your reddit pic - no link.

 

[s4s4u]

How well do the chambers line up with the barrel/forcing cone? I would shine a light between the recoil shield and the rear of the cylinder and look down the barrel, with the trigger pressed and hammer down in full lock-up, and make sure that there is a perfectly round hole and not a "partial eclipse" that might indicate a lack of proper cylinder alignment.

 

[contender]

Very common in all brands for the most part.

 

[hittman]

Looks like OCD to me.

 

[JimGP100]

How well do the chambers line up with the barrel/forcing cone? I would shine a light between the recoil shield and the rear of the cylinder and look down the barrel, with the trigger pressed and hammer down in full lock-up, and make sure that there is a perfectly round hole and not a "partial eclipse" that might indicate a lack of proper cylinder alignment.

Good call

 

[JimGP100]

Looks like OCD to me.

. Hey if other revolvers are dead center and a new one isn’t I’m gonna have questions.

 

[RoninPA]

There are tolerances in everything. How loose are the rounds in the cylinder? If they are a bit loose, then the indentations could be anywhere. Are the indentations all at the same point? I know the picture is not yours but look at it, the indentations are all around the clock (yes you could rotate the ammo and you could make it look like they are all in the same position). Have you run a range rod through the barrel/cylinder to see if everything lines up? When I shoot a new firearm, and it goes "bang" I don't look at the ammo to see if anything is "out of place", I shoot the gun. Now, if I were were having ignition problems, that is one of the first things I look at to determine my starting point to troubleshoot the problem.

 

[JimGP100]

It was my first range outing with it. Noticed while unloading. When I clean it I’ll give everything a look over alignment wise. My original question was just: how common is this with Rugers. Was my first time seeing it, but I’m gathering that it can be typical.

 

[s4s4u]

It was my first range outing with it. Noticed while unloading. When I clean it I’ll give everything a look over alignment wise. My original question was just: how common is this with Rugers. Was my first time seeing it, but I’m gathering that it can be typical.

It is not uncommon with any type of firearm. There is tolerance in the channel that the pin rides through as well as the pin. There is tolerance in the locations of holes in the cylinders and the notches that index the cylinder. There is a tolerance in the size of the holes relative to the tolerance of the ammunition. When things are at the extreme ends of tolerances, it is called tolerance "stacking" and is a common occurrence with anything mechanical.

 

[Laserbait]

I will say that I don't pay super close attention to my spent primers, so all of mine may do the same thing, however: My 4" 44Mag Redhawk was getting really out of time after about 15K rounds. The firing pin was no longer striking the anvil of the primer so it would not go off until I manually rotated the cylinder into position before dropping the hammer..

 

[eveled]

Definitely check chamber alignment and timing.

The offset hit in and of itself is not an issue.

 

[cee_Kamp]

You would think that I would have learned my lesson buying Colt 1911 pistols.
But apparently I needed a refresher course. At times, even the best of us can be a slow learner.
It's human nature to remember the good times, and forget the hard, difficult, painful things.

Over my decades of USPSA competition, I had bought multiple brand new Colt 1911 pistols that were turds right out of the box.
They needed hundreds of dollars of parts & labor so they would run reliably with factory 230 grain ball ammo.
Bullseye shooters can get an alibi if they get a firearm malfunction.
USPSA shooters don't get that luxury.
That 1911 has to run perfectly, every match, every round. Season after season.

For a long time, there were no Colt 1911 pistols in my safe.

About 10 years ago, the bad memories had faded and I loved the look of the new Colt 1911 Gold Cup Trophy. Stainless Steel. Shiny!
Finally, they came from the factory with the upswept beavertail grip safety and Commander style hammer.
I couldn't resist.
So I ordered one.

At the first range trip, that new Colt Gold Cup Trophy ran beautifully and gobbled magazine after magazine of Winchester 230 grain ball ammo without any malfunctions.
I was pleased!
A friend of mine walked into the pistol bay where I was shooting and we chatted for a while.
He picked up a fired case up off the ground, looked the fired case over, and said uh-oh, here look at this primer.
He asked me to shoot another round and caught the fired case in mid air before it hit the ground.

Yup, that was my brand new Colt 1911 Gold Cup Trophy that had the firing pin indent WAY off center.
I called Colt and they told me it was impossible for the firing pin "hit" to be that far off center.
I emailed them this photo. (below)

I sent the Colt back to the factory and they replaced the slide.
They should have replaced the gun.
When the Colt 1911 Gold Cup Trophy returned from the factory repair visit, it was just as bad as when I sent it in for repairs.
I don't own that Colt any longer, I don't own ANY Colt handguns now, and I won't own any in the future.

That Colt was perfect for reliability and accuracy. It didn't malfunction and shot like a laser beam. Certainly zero problems with failure to fire.
But that Colt was another turd.
I recall the retail price approaching $1400 for that Colt Gold Cup Trophy, and I decided that for that amount of money, it should have been perfect.
My Dan Wesson Pointman 1911 runs very reliably, never jams, shoots accurately, AND has centered firing pin indentations.
FYI: CZ Group owns Colt and Dan Wesson now. Maybe the folks at Dan Wesson can train the Colt workers to do it right.

Gold Cup by cee_Kamp 32ACP, on Flickr

 

[Jim Walsh]

I have three 1911’s, a Colt Government, a Kimber Gold Match, and a Norinco. All feed reliably, go boom, and eject reliably. When I say reliably I really mean flawlessly. Are the primer strikes a dead bullseye…I never checked, perhaps my standards are less than those who compete and demand perfection in all categories.

 

[unspellable]

I had a Ruger P85 or P89 (Don't remember which.) that struck the primer so far off center that ignition was very unreliable. Around 40 or 50 percent misfires. Stuff happens,

 

[PRichardson87]

Is this real? It either goes bang or it doesn't.

 

[cee_Kamp]

John Browning designed the 1911 firing pin to hit the primer near or at the center of the primer.
When I spend $1400, I expect the same. :)

 

[cee_Kamp]

It's also an important enough item for custom 1911 pistol smiths that Brownell's sells fixturing/gauging equipment for that exact purpose.
Centering the rear of the barrel on the firing pin hole in the breech face of the slide.
That's all part of fitting a barrel to a 1911, something that some high volume manufacturers still can't do correctly, even after more than 100 years.

 

[Jim Walsh]

Now I’m being forced to inspect the firing pin strikes the next time I’m at the range…maybe tomorrow. I’ve spent a few recent evenings at the reloading bench preparing for just such an occasion.

 

[JimGP100]

Now I’m being forced to inspect the firing pin strikes the next time I’m at the range…maybe tomorrow. I’ve spent a few recent evenings at the reloading bench preparing for just such an occasion.

I feel responsible.

 

[DGW1949]

John Browning designed the 1911 firing pin to hit the primer near or at the center of the primer.
When I spend $1400, I expect the same. :)

Nothing wrong with JMB's design. Colt's execution though, now that's a different matter.
Maybe you should have bought a $400 RIA M1911A1-FS instead. Or better yet, for your $1400, you could have bought two and spent the change on a case or so of ammo..LOL......I've got two of them and the firing pins hit center on both. And plenty reliable too, I might add....Enough so that I bet my life on one of them every day.

DGW