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How Many XCR Firing Pins Have You Broken?

XCR Broken Firing Pins Poll

19K views 66 replies 24 participants last post by  Candiacan 
#1 ·
It seems like that broken firing pins is a pretty common problem with the XCR even with the updated pins. I haven't broken any yet, I have maybe 1K through my rifle which came with the updated pin. I just wanted to take a poll to see how many have experienced this problem. This is my go-to rifle for a number of reasons, but I'm not sure if it will continue to be if I'm worried about my firing pin going bad on me when I need it most.

If you have broken an XCR firing pin, please post how many rounds you had through it at failure. Thanks!
 
#4 ·
I've got over 5K rounds through a couple with the "updated" firing pin....no problems....but I too am a little concerned about hearing of all the broken ones. Have a spare bolt and get some additional spare pins, JIC....at least that's my plan now.

Sean
 
#9 ·
I have a 5.56 bolt that has seen aprx 9500 rounds, another that has just broke 1000 and a 7.62x39 that is hovering around 6000. All are the new design. All still running like a champ.

Now that I have commented on this one of them will break. :tinhat: That's what happen when I commented on the cracked op rod thread.
 
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#10 ·
Out of all my XCR's, I've had one pin breakage, and that was with the new-style pin.
I had about 5K through that one at the time IIRC, and it still functioned just fine. Because I had cleaned it not that long before Alex found the broken pin, I question if it had broken AFTER I cleaned it - I always work the action several times after reassembly to spread the lube and function check. That makes the most sense to me, because I never had a malf.

Anyway, Alex found it and Terra (the lovable Queen of the Universe) replaced it right then and there - he told me at the time that they'd had a bad run of pins, where some of them had a ridge left after the machining process that wasn't polished out. That ridge created a stress riser, and that's where they were breaking. Not many of them had failed from that batch, but it was noteworthy that the known failures were pretty much located in that batch.

And no, the -M uses a completely different pin than the -L. Personally, I prefer the way the -M bolt is made to the way the -L bolt is made. At one time, Alex said something about possibly taking the bolt design retro to the -L. I'd be all for that.
 
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#11 ·
Nice thread, I was wondering this myself. I remember I dug up a post a while back where Terra posted a list of parts you could order as a pretty sweet little repair kit. It was from years ago though. Have any of you guys gotten one of these recently? Do you have to go through Robertsons, or does Kermit carry a similar repair kit? I'm mostly concerned about the buffer and pin, but it seemed like a pretty nice list.
 
#14 ·
I bought one from Kermit a while back and if my memory serves me right it was like and had all sorts of stuff and just sits in my gear locker just encase if I ever need it.

Do you guys have spare parts kits for your ARs? Just curious.
Yuuup. Spare bolts primarily as it's the most common break point, but cotter pins, piston parts (for my piston ARs), firing pin, FCG with springs, different buffers, recoil springs, carriers, cam pins, etc. Alot of it is just redundancy.....I can't think of a time where I've seen a broken AR carrier....but I upgraded to different styles over time, so I have extras.

Same with my Glocks and VZs.....not so much with my AKs....but I don't really shoot them much at this point, nor are they a primary go to rifle.
 
#15 ·
Are you using the heavy hammer spring that's used for the hard primers? It might be hitting the pin too hard causing it to wedge like a plug in a whiskey barrel. Would it fire, probably not, not out of battery. You could pull a bullet off, dump the powder, then leave a loaded a primer in the brass. Release the bolt on it, see if it pops or pushes the pin back. I would take a good look at the inside of the bolt... check for evidence of wedging, like flaring of the firing pin hole from the inside.
 
#20 ·
I could hardly believe it. I will take a better look later when I clean up. It was also used with an unknown round count. I guess it is a chance to start with a fresh pin in each bolt?
 
#21 ·
Man, that sucks. What are the chances?

Let us know how it goes. I'm curious as to how prevalent this problem is.

Sean
 
#22 ·
It does suck... But as I said, I put these together from used parts. I will post when I get them apart and back together. I just dropped a line to Kermit, because although I had the foresight to buy a few firing pins, roll pins escaped me.
So, we will see what he has in hand. :)
 
#25 ·
I do recall the machine marks, I think Terra posted a drawing of what she meant when it was discussed. I would appreciate any input as to the "mismatched chamfer", as I am not picturing what that means? Thanks
 
#26 ·
I never saw the drawing, but a mismatched chamber generally means that they used the wrong angle on the chamfer to meet up with the other part (however, in this case, the other "part" is the case).....so I'm not sure what she meant, unless she was just stating the chamfer was not done correctly, had burrs, or wasn't the engineered angle.

Sorry, no help here.

Sean
 
#28 ·
Well i just toasted my firing pin today. Was testing out the new AR and brought the XCR along for some fun. Put the mag in and stripped off the first round and jammed. Pulled the bolt back a bit and the round slipped in. Few rounds and jam again and again.

The gun is S/N 7305 and has approx 2000+ rounds through it. All American Eagle 55g.

Does the new firing pin come with a new roll pin?
 
#30 ·
Maybe instead of roll pins, we should be finding out what kind of steel the firing pins are made from. If RA does go under, we're going to have to have firing pins made locally to keep some rifles running.
 
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