Hi Alex, you are correct in the observation that the spring pushes forward on the front of the firing pin.... but, it also pushes back... so, what does that mean you might ask... well, we are all assuming that two things are going to occur at once, and that is that the pin is going to just randomly break from a static position, and secondly, once broken the spring would exert enough tension to slam fire like an open bolt type set up... well, here's what really happens, (disclaimer, MOST of the time!! Anything is possible!)... The pistol in normal cocked firing position shows no indication of a pending malfunction... you fire the shot, the breechblock locks closed and the firing pin falls as normal, and the gun goes off. Upon discharge shock, is when the failure occurs, and upon recoil the pin separates. so the front half of the now two piece pin stays forward in the front half of the breechblock, while the rear part goes back normally into what used to be a cocked and as yet disconnected position... The Breechblock comes forward, but the firing pin spring being 100% extended, (WRONG! it is compressed as normally contained, but not cocked) just closed on the loaded chamber as it would normally??? But, no click, no bang?? That because the spring is pushing back on the rear half (WRONG! pushing back on the retainer, same result, wrong terminology!) as well as pushing forward on the front half....
... it would seem it should go off, but it doesn't??? It just doesn't have enough spring tension to overcome the primer skin... Now, that being said, I would bet anyone's life on it, but after have two failures of this type with the very same results, I think the chance of full auto or additional discharge are remote...
(Thank God, or it would certainly have happen to me!!
) Best to all, til....lat'r....GT
