Firing pin springs

[taxmiser]

Greetings,
I have an old Mossberg Model 43 target rifle which was made in 1937. My question is do spings naturally weaken with time?  This spring is 66 years old and the indentation it leaves on the 22 case is shallow compared to other 22's I have and it misfires about 15 to 20% of the time. Do I need to find a replacement spring or look elsewhere for a problem?  Input appeciated!
Dale

[jhm]

Taxmizer :  It sounds like the firing pin is worn down a little or the channel that it travels in is dirty, the firing pin spring only returns the firing pin to the rearward position after firing and shouldnt be causing the problem you are describing.    JIM

[gunnut69]

I am unfamiliar with this rifle but Mossberg produced whole a series of bolt rifles.  They were all fairly low priced and were striker fired.  That means the 'striker' was spring powered.  Thus it is conceiveable the spring has weakened.  It is also possible the striker has worn or battered to a blunt state.  It can be sharpened..  Cleaning is a good idea though.  Did the misfiring start suddenly?  There are many things that could be wrong, even a broken striker or a burr obstructing the striker travel.  check for obvious problems and remove and inspect the spring.  If it is not straight when out of the bolt and under no compression you may have a problem.  Coil springs that collapse seldom do so in a stright line..  usually they become crooked as they collapse.  Check these things and let us help you figure out the problem..

[taxmiser]

Thanks for the input, I will look into it further.  I just bought the rifle so I have no idea how long the rifle has been experiencing this problem.
  Dale