Failure to go into battery every time

[spangy]

Originally Posted by DonVoigt

Sprangy,
That is not the original or intended purpose of the grooves, they are there to collect gunk, dirt, trash and allow the striker to still function.
It is however often repeated "common knowledge" that is just not accurate.

Thanks DV & Doubs ... you know I knew that ... I have read exactly what you said elsewhere but sometimes my 70 year old brain misfires and I don't always remember These days I often can't remember anything past the last 24 Hrs. ... a combination of old age and the drugs I have to take for chronic pain.

John Walter (The Luger Book p.116) notes that the fluted firing pin was patented by Georg Luger as early as 1893 (DRP 78,406; DRP 90,433) as a method to keep striker-chambers clear of fouling.

Also as we are talking about a 1940 P08 Army Mauser its my understanding that it would have been manufactured with a fluted firing pin anyway as the fluted design was instituted in 1934. Having said that we can't know that the firing pin may have been replaced with a non fluted design in some other repair cycle.

so much to know ... so little time.