I have a pre 1916 Marlin model 20 that has a circular shaped firing pin and I'm trying to find a brand of standard velocity or sub sonic 22 that has the softest primer since I am getting a lot of misfires with CCI and I don’t want to grind the original firing pin to a point. I am pretty sure the hammer spring is in good shape because the spring is a case hardened flat spring not a coil spring and the firing pin has sufficient protrusion.
I suspect the primers in Gemtech's ammo is really soft - I get no misfires with it, and lots with other brands. Give me an address UPS can deliver to and I'll ship you some to try.
Originally Posted By AeroE:
Whatever you do, don't grind a firing pin to a point!
I don't know why you think the spring is working correctly, millions of flat springs have been worn out, broken, and yielded from people prying on them. It's not case hardened, or shouldn't be, although I can understand why you might believe that.
I have to say, I've never given thought to finding a .22 RF cartridge with extra soft rims, but I understand your motivation.
Well so you know I will not destroy the value of this 90% + firearm by grinding the firing pin. If I can find a second one I will only grind that one. It is a segmented firing pin and from my research all later Marlin firing pins were one piece so the search continues. As far as the case hardening is concerned I thought that this hammer spring was case hardened because I thought I saw the rainbow case hardening colors on it. I don’t think the spring is worn out partially because it is a 90%+ gun and because the hammer seems to have normal tension on it. I'll try the gold medal match ammo next.
