Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Gunsmithing 1911 prob, need help.....

I've got a Colt 1991A1 that won't go bang when I pull the trigger, and it won't let me take the firing pin out (the firing pin won't push far enough in to push down the firing pin stop on disassembly). I'm thinking broken firing pin.

Any ideas? What are my options?

Sounds like you're right.. I wonder if you could hold the slide muzzle-end down, and jiggle it a few times and see if the end of the firing pin finally sticks out.. That should then allow enough room to push in the back of the pin and remove the block..

Is this pistol a series 80 Colt? If it is it has a firing pin blocking safety plunger that requires the trigger to be depressed a certain amount before it will unblock the pin.

Thanks for the answers guys.

Rick, that�s exactly what it was! The bad news is that I pulled it apart, and the firing pin looks fine, so now I have to look for another problem. I replaced the spring while I was in there though!

Any ideas on what might be wrong?

Before you do anything else put the pistol back together and grab a pencil. Jack the slide back to cock it and stick the pencil down the barrel point the pistol up and pull the trigger. The pencil should get launched if the firing pin is working.

If it doesn't then move on to these steps:

Does the plunger move in and out freely when you push it down with a small punch? Take it out and clean it if it doesn't.

Do you have an adjustable trigger stop? The trigger bar activates the plunger lever and if the trigger bar isn't going back far enough the lever wont push the plunger in far enough to clear the firing pin. If this is happening back off on the trigger stop screw a bit and test again with the pencil.

If none of this stuff works send it to me and I'll fix it for you.

One other question...have you had the rest of the pistol apart? I mean the hammer, trigger, sear, plunger lever and trigger bar lever, and/or the extractor?

All of these parts can have an effect on the firing pin plunger working properly and if they were not installed and aligned properly the sucker won't get out of the way and let the pin drop.

Same thing happened to me on my 1911. my stupid disconnector broke. hammer would drop but the the firing pin block wouldnt drop from behind the firing pin, hence no bang.

This is what happens in a litigious society where manufacturers get forced into having lawyers design their firearms.

I believe my firearm could redesign some lawyers.

Considering the numbers of lawyers and anti-gun groups out there just looking for any chance to go after firearms manufacturers...coupled with huge numbers of people who want to blame and sue others for their own carelessness and stupidity, I'm surprised we don't see more of these silly attempts to make firearms stupid-proof.

Hey, try this forum, I've had huge luck there with each and every question I've ever had- good group of 1911 addicts.
http://forum.m1911.org/forumdisplay.php?f=14