Barbed pin?

[lklawson]

I may need to disassemble the Pedersen block to clean the Firing Pin Chanel.  Something has gotten inside the channel in my Smoke R51 and is preventing the FP from slamming forward.  I've had this problem once before with my black R51 and ended up sending it back to Rem for warranty work.  That doesn't look to be an option now.  So I need to disassemble the block, take out the FP and spring, and clean it all.  But I've heard rumors that the retaining pin is actually barbed.  I know that when it happened with my standard black, I tried to drive the pin out and it didn't want to budge.  That's when I decided I didn't want to risk it and just contacted Remington.

The parts diagram I found online sure looks like a standard pin.  Anyone know for sure?

Peace favor your sword,
Kirk

[springfield art]

I don't know, but thanks for the 'alert'. Have you tried
blasting the heck out of it with high pressure air or
some spray can gun stuff? Good luck. My R51 has
been apart some time now, and I need to get back
to studying it and get it operable. It was a project
learning thing that I just let lapse.

[lklawson]

I don't know, but thanks for the 'alert'. Have you tried
blasting the heck out of it with high pressure air or
some spray can gun stuff? Good luck. My R51 has
been apart some time now, and I need to get back
to studying it and get it operable. It was a project
learning thing that I just let lapse.

Not yet.  I've got several things to try first before disassembly.  Flushing it out, an ultrasonic bath, and maybe a dental pick.  But those things didn't work last time so I figured I'd ask and try to be prepared.

In the mean time, I was pointed at a web page someone put up with a complete disassembly video, and also to the Numrich parts page.  No barbs.

https://www.themccluskeyarmscompany.com/feat-of-the-week-gunsmithing-blog/remington-r51-disassembly

Peace favor your sword,
Kirk

[FlatEarther]

I had mine apart to clean after about 2000 rounds because the firing pin channel was jammed with carbon.
I stopped oiling the firing pin channel after this as I'm guessing this caused the problem...

The retaining pin is stepped so it only goes in and comes out of the left side of the block.
If you look close you'll see the left side of the pin is bigger and the left side hole has a small counter sink.
It was tight. I bent a brass punch trying.
So you'll need a 1/16 steel punch. Drive it out from right to left.
Once the big end of the retaining pin is clear of the block, it will drop out.

Re assembly is easy. Just push the firing pin/spring in and drop the retaining pin in place.
It will hold the firing pin and spring in place while you drive the retaining pin in until flush.

Good Luck - Joe

[lklawson]

Popped it out last night.  The pin is stepped just as you said.  In fact, it seemed to have a head with a rim a little like a roofing nail or the rim on a .22LR.

It took a bit more force to hammer out that I expected but it came out and went back in without damaging anything.

The channel was clean of carbon.  The detritus binding up the channel was a small disk of some metal.  It might have been just a flake of lead from the HC bullets that I use to hand load.  But it might also have been a bit of primer.  Follow me here.  I've noticed that even with standard pressure ammo, no matter what ammo I use, my R51's would always kind of crater the primers.  I suspect this is because of how the Hesitation Lock works.  If a primer was a bit thin or there was +P pressure (or both) then as the Hesitation was partially cycling, but after the firing pin retracted, the pressure could potentially force the primer against the Firing Pin hole and press out a plug of the primer cup through the Firing Pin hole.

I didn't find the brass so I don't know if the the primer appears to be pierced or not so I can't do any more than guess where this bit of metal came from.  It might be either of the guesses above or something else.

Peace favor your sword,
Kirk

[sebvox]

Did you take any photos of the stepped pin or of the metal debris?  Did you happen to remove the extractor while you were at it?  Just curious if the green extractor buffer is showing any fatigue or wear.

[FlatEarther]

Picture of the retaining pin.
The big end is about 1/3 total length.
https://www.gunpartscorp.com/products/1583270

[lklawson]

Did you take any photos of the stepped pin or of the metal debris?  Did you happen to remove the extractor while you were at it?  Just curious if the green extractor buffer is showing any fatigue or wear.

Unfortunately, I did none of that.

I thought about taking a pic of the tiny disk, but not before I'd thrown it in the trash.

Peace favor your sword,
Kirk

[lklawson]

Picture of the retaining pin.
The big end is about 1/3 total length.
https://www.gunpartscorp.com/products/1583270

This one is a little different from mine.  Mine had a "rim" or "head" on the wide end, a little like like a nail or the rim on a .22lr.  But it was stepped like the one in the link.

Peace favor your sword,
Kirk

[gtarp]

I believe the "small disk of some metal" to be pieces of the primer.  I have to clean them out of my firing pin channel frequently when shooting.  They will jam the firing pin and the gun will not fire.
I have examined the fired brass and there are little "pin holes" where for some reason the brass has flowed out of the primer and into the firing pin "hole".

[springfield art]

Not good to have the pinholes. Wonder if the firing pin is too "sharp"? Would have it diagnosed; not safe and it's not a black powder percussion pistol, which you would expect such stuff....