1911 firing pin

bellcat

So I bought a new firing pin and spring for my SA 1911 to hopefully get rid of random light primer strikes. I read where SA puts in the lightweight pin with extra strong spring for some safety reasons?  

As shown in pic, the tip of firing pin is too thick, and won’t go into firing pin hole. 

Is this a gunsmith job? I’ve always thought it was a standard pin?
Any input would help.

Elk creek

I would try a standard weight firing pin return spring before cutting anything. And clean the channel well. 

earlyagain

You have two different applicable pins. The top one is for Series 70 systems. The bottom is for Series 80 systems as evidenced by the rear radius for receipt of the firing pin stop. 

GunNut

IIRC there are two firing pins for the 1911.  The standard .45 and the slimmer 9mm.  I believe SA uses the slimmer 9mm exclusively regardless of the caliber of the gun.  This is done to minimize the potential for an inertia driven unintentional firing pin strike during a drop.

GunNut

I stand corrected from the Wilson Combat website, there are 3 diameters:

Most 1911 handguns on the market use one of three different diameters of firing pins.

• Standard . 45 ACP/USGI 1911 is . 093”.
• Most Springfield Armory Pistols use .075”
• Current Production Wilson Combat 1911s of all calibers and many others uses a .38 Super/9mm pin regardless of caliber of .065” diameter.

Spk

bellcat said:

So I bought a new firing pin and spring for my SA 1911 to hopefully get rid of random light primer strikes. I read where SA puts in the lightweight pin with extra strong spring for some safety reasons?  

As shown in pic, the tip of firing pin is too thick, and won’t go into firing pin hole. 

Is this a gunsmith job? I’ve always thought it was a standard pin?
Any input would help.

I'm guessing that the top pin is your Springfield pin and the bottom one is the one you ordered. I'm also assuming you have a series 70 1911A1. I'm further assuming it's a full size or Commander size govt model? As suggested above, have you considered just changing the firing pin return spring?

They're extra power for a reason...

These springs are approximately 40% stronger than the factory springs and provide an increased margin of safety by helping to reduce the chance of accidental discharge due to the firing pin contacting the cartridge primer in the event of dropping the pistol in a loaded condition or from the increased inertia imposed on the firing pin with extra power recoil springs.

Also note: Springfield 1911 Series pistols use the same springs as Colt 1911 Series Pistols with the exception of the hammer springs in some instances.

https://www.gunsprings.com/COLT/1911 GOV'T PISTOL/cID1/mID1/dID1#816

The series 80 design change pretty much renders that extra power need unnecessary but I know alot of folks who prefer the series 70 design (less things that can go wrong).

You can still buy the standard power firing pin return springs but you'll be assuming any risks real or imagined involved with using them. Btw, Wolff has the springs in stock just use the link above.

Also, you can still buy a replacement Springfield Armory firing pin online:

https://www.gunpartscorp.com/products/1471300

Or use one of the other sources such as Wilson Combat but you'll have to select their 38 Super/9mm firing pins (.0685" to .0695") because the ones listed as .45 are too fat.

bellcat

Thanks everyone! I’ll go to work on it soon! 

And yes, the current pin is on top in picture.