Steyr 1908

[Angus Magnus]

Purchased a beautiful mint example a while back, including holster. I did not realize until later that the FP was broken in half...

I have been looking for a replacemente firing pin for one of these for quite a while. I even had a smith fabricate one for me which broke at first use.

Does anyone have any sources for parts or decent reproductions?

[azlaw]

Originally Posted by Angus Magnus

Does anyone have any sources for parts or decent reproductions?

I have used these guys here in Tucson, they fabricated replacement firing pins for my Llama XV (still have a few if anyone needs one). Excellent machinists and metallurgy guys, but need to persuade them to take small jobs. With firing pins the issue is whether or not to heat treat, which adds cost; gunsmiths seldom do, which means their work often breaks.

www.adsmach.com
Steve Kuker

Happy hunting.

H

[sheepherder]

Originally Posted by azlaw

With firing pins the issue is whether or not to heat treat, which adds cost; gunsmiths seldom do, which means their work often breaks.

By 'heat treat' I suppose you mean hardening and annealing/tempering. It's true that this is not well known, and time consuming, but if your smith uses good quality ordnance steel (or a higher grade steel) it is usually not necessary.

However, that is a more expensive option, and can get out of hand. A 'friend' of mine once got me a chunk of Kryptonite* when all I had asked for was mild 1020 steel. I ruined more end mills on that part (they would start to dull, the steel would heat up & harden and the end mill would dull more etc) than it would have cost me to buy the mild steel block [4" x4" x 14"].

* My name for 8600 series steel

Anway, you could call Sarco also; they get weird stuff in all the time.

[alanint]

Although Gun Parts Corp shows it as sold out, they often have small numbers of parts that are not enough to advertise. Contact them and see if they can have someone visually look for one. I've done this in the past with occasional success.

[azlaw]

These guys tested the firing pins from the Llama, a Colt 1911, and an AR15 firing pin that was rattling around in my car. They go on and on about RC hardness curves and ASTM specs and blah, blah, blah. I am impressed that the subject of metallurgy and heat treatment is very deep, and that kitchen table gunsmiths like me should stay on the porch...

Bottom line on a firing pin seems to be that real gun manufacturers do heat treat firing pins, and this is essential for a proper service life. That said, they used some kind of steel that was pretty hard, and said that it will work fine but will eventually deform with much use.

H

[sheepherder]

Originally Posted by azlaw

...and that kitchen table gunsmiths like me should stay on the porch...

I would happily join you...

I am a shade-tree gun hack, and I have learned many of my limitations...Using anything higher than 4140 steel is too expensive for my work...Steel like 8620 work hardens quickly, especially in thin areas...8620 will get harder than HSS drills, reamers, and end mills...I have the invoices and box of junk tooling to prove it...

4140 (also called 'Ordnance Steel') is what I use now for firearms parts; it is quite user-friendly but can still be hardened & annealed/tempered...

Production firearms are like any other commodity; they are made to the lowest possible specifications to keep cost down...

If whatever was done by the OP's smith caused it to break, then IMHO, that smith did something wrong...

...$.02...