Well that's a new one!
 

Chalk it up to me to destroy a Parabellum in a brand new way.

well, I've blown the rear out, but not sure what you did :)

Made expensive scrap.

Ouch! :eek: That was a show stopper. I trust you didn't loose any fingers or eyeballs.

It just stopped working and i racked it and no slam of the firing pin.
Took it apart and discovered the broken spring guide/retainer. Thught nothing more of it and got a replacement one, when it wouldnt lock in place i discovered the broken "bolt".

I have baited a couple of hooks and hopes something bites and i can get a replacement. In Germany that part is considered a licensed part so no easy Egun deal there.

That is nothing new, many of the used bolts for sale have the retaining area for the striker retaining tab worn or even worn through.

The "tab" is only about 1.5 x 1.5 mm, and is a wear point- good place to remember to oil.
Yours does look like the rear "ledge" cracked off and caused the problem, which is a little different.

When the retainer works through, it then jams at an angle and breaks- as you see yours.

The worn through slot can be welded and re-shaped, or a pin inserted to act as a retainer.
Placing the pin takes very careful work and then re-fitting of the retainer.

I believe yours could be "saved" the same way, but a new/used breech block would likely be cheaper!

These can be fixed by micro welding these days.
You could try contacting Otto Repa in Oberndorf. He repaired quite a few in the past.

A fine bottle of Scotch whisky (spelled the right way!) and my problems are over.
I apparently know the right man and he had parts in a bin and i got what i needed for free :-)

I have had a broken retainer just like the one in your photo, but it did not damage the breechblock.....thank Heaven!! I repaired it, but do not use it, as OEM and repos are readily available....just wanted to see if I could do it. I feel that this is definitely a weak point in the P08.

Did you pierce a primer?

I can't tell if this is a later pistol, but if it's to be a shooter, swap in a fluted firing pin when you replace things.

What difference would that have made with a pierced primer?

That is not why pins were fluted.

The fluting has the side effect of venting exhaust gas around the piston the firing pin forms within the breech block. It relieves some of the pressure that leads to catastrophic failure.

Here's a discussion over at Jan Still's forum:

http://luger.gunboards.com/showthrea...ed-Firing-Pin!

No,
I'm not buying that explanation.
If you look at the construction and the fluting, the flutes have NO where to vent any gas to.

The Finnish made a mod by drilling a hole just aft of the forward wall of the breech block that will vent gas downward into the magazine area.