Author Topic: po8 HELP! (Read 895 times)

GRIMJIM · « **on:** April 23, 2006, 01:31:18 PM »

FINALLY GOT TO THE RANGE TO TRY OUT MY NEW PO8. FIRED THE FIRST SHOT DEAD CENTER OF THE BULLSEYE AT ABOUT TEN YARDS. THEN WOULD NOT FIRE. COCKED IT BY HAND AND THE NEXT SHOT LANDED TOUCHING THE FIRST ONE. THEN IT WOULD NOT FIRE. THE GUN IS CYCLING ENOUGH TO EXTRACT THE SPENT ROUND AND LOAD A NEW ROUND BUT IT DOESN'T COCK THE HAMMER! HOPEFULLY IT IS JUST A MATTER OF CHANGING SPRINGS. I KNOW SOMEONE HERE WILL HAVE AN ANSWER FOR ME SO THANKS IN ADVANCE,

JIM

Mikey · « **Reply #1 on:** April 23, 2006, 02:00:44 PM »

Probably more a matter of changing the ammo with those Lugers. They were designed to shoot a 124 gn bullet at near 1100'/sec. They do not function well with light weight bullets. If the piece ejects and rechambers a round but does not lock back the firing pin the piece would go full auto as the firing pin would function like a fixed firing pin on a submachine gun in the situation you have described.

If she ejects and rechambers but does not fire, does she at least go 'click'?? Are you saying that the firing pin does not lock back? When you re-cock the piece manually are you ejecting a live round from the chamber? Does she actually rechamber a round or do you do that when you re-cock it????

You can check the firing pin for function ith the pistol empty - cock the piece - drop a pencil, eraser first down the barrel and pull the trigger - the force of the firing pin impact should just about eject the pencil from the barrel. If that doesn't work for you check your firing pin to see if it is broken. HTH. Mikey.

GRIMJIM · « **Reply #2 on:** April 23, 2006, 02:28:00 PM »

HEY MIKEY GOOD TO TALK TO YOU AGAIN, THE FIRING PIN FUNCTIONS PROPERLY ONLY WHEN THE PISTOL IS COCKED BY HAND. IT HAPPENED EXACTLY THE SAME EVERY TIME. I WOULD FIRE A ROUND, THE NEXT ROUND I TRIED TO SHOOT THERE WAS A FRESH ROUND IN THE CHAMBER BUT THE FIRING GUN WAS NOT COCKED, NO CLICK. YES I WAS EJECTING LIVE ROUNDS WHEN I COCKED THE GUN MANUALLY. THEN IT WOULD FIRE FINE ON THAT ROUND, AND THEN THE SAME THING WOULD HAPPEN.

Mikey · « **Reply #3 on:** April 24, 2006, 01:16:34 AM »

GRIMJIM: OK, something is interfering with the firing pin. Remove the firing pin and check it for any broken edges where it catches the sear lever or any dirt or debris in the firing pin channel. If the sear connection edge was broken the firing pin would travel forward under spring pressure and detonate the chambered round as the bolt closed over the round. That's how they go full auto on ya.

But something isn't right here. Something must be hanging up the firing pin to keep it from doing that and not releasing it to fire. I'm going to take one of mine apart and see if I can duplicate your problem. I'll get back atcha later...... Mikey.

Mikey · « **Reply #4 on:** April 24, 2006, 07:40:06 AM »

OK, back again. I've got a P-08 infront of me now. This is a bit of a mystery. If your Luger fires and ejects but does not reset the firing pin (which is under it's own internal spring pressure). [The firing pin is tripped or released by a slidebar (might be the sear as we would think of it) on the left isde of the bolt forks. The sidebar has a notch that slips onto a vertical pin in the left fork. It has a detent plunger on the end facing the muzzle. The plunger is impacted on its sides, not front, by the lever found inside the sideplate, which in turn is activated by the downward action of the notch in the top of the trigger. The sidebar simply pivots on its pin to release the trigger.] the firing pin would go forward and strike the primer. But for some reason it is not detonating the cartridge.

What does your firing pin look like? Nice portruding rounded point? Release edge nice and shiny and sharp? Does the striker penetrate through the bolt face? Is there a burr or crud buildup in the pin hole or on the front of the firing pin? Does the firing pin look worn at the face of connect with the sidebar/sear? What do your firing pin strikes look like? Are they rounded and of normal depth or shallow?

Lugers are not meant to run heavily oiled or with a graphite grease. They are meant to be run almost on dry with oil used sparingly.

Even if you had crud buildup in the bolt where the firing pin functions it shouldn't cause the firing pin not to reset (or recock).

More questions: Did you disassemble and clean the piece afore ya took it to the range? Did she reassemble easily for you or did you have some difficulties? Would you know if it was turned in to the place you bought it with any problems?? How is your trigger pull - sometimes folks who own Lugers like to, ah, 'adjust' the trigger pull and 'smoothing' the faces of the sear and firing pin can cause malfunction.

Is the sear or sidebar retaining spring in the proper position and puting tension on the sidebar??? HTH. Mikey.

Mikey · « **Reply #5 on:** April 24, 2006, 07:44:03 AM »

OK, back again. I've got a P-08 infront of me now. This is a bit of a mystery. If your Luger fires and ejects but does not reset the firing pin (which is under it's own internal spring pressure). [The firing pin is tripped or released by a slidebar (might be the sear as we would think of it) on the left isde of the bolt forks. The sidebar has a notch that slips onto a vertical pin in the left fork. It has a detent plunger on the end facing the muzzle. The plunger is impacted on its sides, not front, by the lever found inside the sideplate, which in turn is activated by the downward action of the notch in the top of the trigger. The sidebar simply pivots on its pin to release the trigger.] the firing pin would go forward and strike the primer. But for some reason it is not detonating the cartridge.

What does your firing pin look like? Nice portruding rounded point? Release edge nice and shiny and sharp? Does the striker penetrate through the bolt face? Is there a burr or crud buildup in the pin hole or on the front of the firing pin? Does the firing pin look worn at the face of connect with the sidebar/sear? What do your firing pin strikes look like? Are they rounded and of normal depth or shallow?

Lugers are not meant to run heavily oiled or with a graphite grease. They are meant to be run almost on dry with oil used sparingly.

Even if you had crud buildup in the bolt where the firing pin functions it shouldn't cause the firing pin not to reset (or recock).

More questions: Did you disassemble and clean the piece afore ya took it to the range? Did she reassemble easily for you or did you have some difficulties? Would you know if it was turned in to the place you bought it with any problems?? How is your trigger pull - sometimes folks who own Lugers like to, ah, 'adjust' the trigger pull and 'smoothing' the faces of the sear and firing pin can cause malfunction.

Is the sear or sidebar retaining spring in the proper position and puting tension on the sidebar??? HTH. Mikey.

GRIMJIM · « **Reply #6 on:** April 25, 2006, 05:25:14 PM »

sorry didn't get back sooner been working a lot lately. i have the slide off the gun. should i be able to see the firing pin? it does not protrude from the face of the bolt. tried the pencil trick. the pencil doesn't shoot out of the barrel, but it does move and gets a round mark where the firing pin strikes it. seems to get hung up on the extractor. bought the gun over the net so history is unknown. wasn't observant enough to look at the marks on the primer so am not sure if they were good. was pretty oily inside when i opened it up just now. cleaned the barrel and chamber when i bought it but did not take apart and clean. ran reloads through it with 115 grain jacketed round nose. you said that's a little light? it reassembled fairly easily once i figured out how to get the fork to fit in the slot in the spring. thanks again for taking the time to help me out, i do appreciate it.
jim

Mikey · « **Reply #7 on:** April 26, 2006, 01:59:08 AM »

Jim - you should not be able to see the firing pin with the slide off the gun unless you are looking at the back end of the 'bolt' and even then you may not see it.

Pull the slide off the gun and depress the sear lever/sidebar, pushing the detent pin from the side in toward the chamber - you should hear a 'click' as the firing pin is released to go forward. Pull the entire bolt from the slide by pushing out the bolt retaining pin at the rear of the forks and take the tension off the firing pin, then with your finger or a small screwdriver rotate the firing pin from right to left until it clears its notch and releases backwards under its own spring pressure. This is pretty easy to do. Clean and inspect the firing pin, clean out the firing pin channel and hole. Reassemble the firing pin in the bolt and the bolt into the forks. The sear will reset the firing pin and cock it (normal). Once the slide is back on the gun use the empty magazine to hold it in place and then reinstall the sideplate and rotate the slide retaining lever up. Pull the magazine and let the bolt go forward.

Once you have the slide bolt assembled it may be easier to reassemble the slide to the receiver upside down so turn the receiver and the slide upside down and you will see how the 'J' hook on the bottom of the slide fits easily into the spring forks in the frame.

When you fire it next check your primers for impact sign. Also, your ammo may be a bit light but try a 124 gn rn at around 1100'/sec and that should allow the piece to function. Let me know how it goes. HTH. Mikey.

GRIMJIM · « **Reply #8 on:** April 26, 2006, 10:24:24 AM »

got it apart, thanks. firing pin looks good, not broken, nice rounded tip. was quite a bit of oil and gunk in the bolt. cleaned it out , will check it out next time at the range. thanks again for all the help,
jim