Browning 525 Firing Pins

[Andilicious]

Hi all

The firing pins on my 525 XS Pro Exquisite are looking a bit worn on the ends. 
Is there any aftermarket ones that are an upgrade etc before I buy standard new ones. 
Cheers,

Andy

[TIGHTCHOKE]

How many rounds have you put through it?

How many misfires have you had?

[Andilicious]

On 02/10/2022 at 19:02, TIGHTCHOKE said:

How many rounds have you put through it?

How many misfires have you had?

About 7000 I guess. Not had any misfire’s that I blame the pins for. I think 3 or 4 in the time I’ve had it. 

[DUNKS]

IF IT AINT BROKE! But yes I have read that you can get aftermarket firing pins that may be better.

[Wylye]

I doubt very much that the gun needs new pins. Your misfires were probably a cartridge issue as you say. Leave it alone. Don't mess with it.

[Westward]

Browning/Miroku firing pins always suffer with erosion through pitting. The point at which bottom barrel misfires start varies enormously. I knew of one that needed new pins at less than 1,000 rounds and I've heard of others going past 30,000.

No one seems to know why it always happens on Miroku built guns and almost never happens with other makes. My CG is 11 years old and the pins are as good as new as are those on my 1976 Aramberri - and I've never had a fail to fire with either gun.

[old'un]

10 minutes ago, Westward said:

Browning/Miroku firing pins always suffer with erosion through pitting. The point at which bottom barrel misfires start varies enormously. I knew of one that needed new pins at less than 1,000 rounds and I've heard of others going past 30,000.

No one seems to know why it always happens on Miroku built guns and almost never happens with other makes. My CG is 11 years old and the pins are as good as new as are those on my 1976 Aramberri - and I've never had a fail to fire with either gun.

My O/U Miroku is 47 years old and never had new pins and its had a lot of cartridges through it.

[Westward]

Okay, but I reffed at registered sporting shoots for 12 years and witnessed fail to fire many times. Other than the occasional dud shell, almost all of them were with a Browning or Miroku and usually a light strike on the bottom barrel. Maybe twice I saw it happen with a Krieghoff but to the best of my recollection, never on any Italian guns.

[bruno22rf]

My Miroku was made in 84 and never needed new pins , nor anything else come to think of it.

[Johnny English]

I was told mirokus pit the firing pins because there aren't return springs on them, so when they hit the primer there isn't a spring to pull it back away again. The pin then effectively welds itself to the primer temporarily.

[bruno22rf]

3 hours ago, Westward said:

Browning/Miroku firing pins always suffer with erosion through pitting. The point at which bottom barrel misfires start varies enormously. I knew of one that needed new pins at less than 1,000 rounds and I've heard of others going past 30,000.

No one seems to know why it always happens on Miroku built guns and almost never happens with other makes. My CG is 11 years old and the pins are as good as new as are those on my 1976 Aramberri - and I've never had a fail to fire with either gun.

My apologies, my following post, on second thought, looks like I'm simply trying to prove you wrong - I have heard of Brownings going through firing pins (often the bottom barrel first) so I agree with your post.

[old'un]

1 hour ago, Johnny English said:

I was told mirokus pit the firing pins because there aren't return springs on them, so when they hit the primer there isn't a spring to pull it back away again. The pin then effectively welds itself to the primer temporarily.

Well my Miroku has return springs.

[Westward]

I don't doubt there are exceptions but pitted firing pins are an ongoing problem with the Miroku/Browning action that they've never fixed and I'd advise keeping a spare set of pins. The chances of a lifespan of 40 or 50K rounds are pretty slim.

[Wylye]

You're right about exceptions - I have an MK38 which must have fired at least 20k+ cartridges and so far no problems. I only use decent cartridges though, maybe Hull or some of the better Fiocchis so maybe that has something to do with it.

[samboy]

My mate has had his Miroku for about 20 + years and has put thousands of cartridges through it and has no trouble with the pins.

An ejector screw did fall out so he put a new one in and job done. 

[old'un]

2 hours ago, samboy said:

My mate has had his Miroku for about 20 + years and has put thousands of cartridges through it and has no trouble with the pins.

An ejector screw did fall out so he put a new one in and job done. 

Like I said, my Miroku 800SW is 47 years old, bought new and as never missed a beat, gawd knows how many cartridges its shot but if I was only shooting 1000 per year that's 47k and it would not surprise me if it was double that.

 

This is the first I have heard about Miroku having problems with firing pins, is this fairly new guns or as it been a problem from day one?

[MrPhantom]

Just to add that I had firing pin replaced on my Browning XS a couple of years ago. Bottom pin was pitted, top was fine. This was after 15 years of ownership and used weekly. I remember gunsmith saying at the time that it was a known issue.

[Westward]

5 hours ago, old'un said:

This is the first I have heard about Miroku having problems with firing pins, is this fairly new guns or as it been a problem from day one?

I've been aware of it for 20 years and the MK60 I had at the time had both pins pitted although not to the point of failing to fire.

In America it's believed by many that it's caused by hard primers. Obviously imported ones such as Cheddite as they'd never blame US made primers! Even if it is a primer issue, it still doesn't explain why it never happens on Berettas or Guerinis.

Edited October 5, 2022 by Westward
Spelling

[Old farrier]

It’s a known problem 

no harm in replacing them if they look worn or pitted rather replace them before they fail 

you can always keep the old ones as spares 

easy enough job along with cleaning out the dirt when you fit the new ones 

[Westley]

I have posted this before, BUT, before you think  of putting the gun in for 'new firing pins', remove the existing pins and clean both the pin AND it's housing. It is a simple enough job and takes me around 30 minutes to do. ONLY the bottom pin has a return spring, the top pin is 'floating'. I do my Browning/Miroku guns at least once a year, sometimes twice, dependant on use. The bottom pin in particular, has a tendency to carbon up, which causes it to stick and not get struck properly by the falling hammer. I hate to think of the number of firing pins replaced by 'Gunsmiths' when they did not require it. The carbon can take some shifting but some 3 in 1 oil and fine wet and dry does the job. Oh, and I use mainly Cheddite cartridges, hard primers or not, they work well enough for me.

[Speycaster]

Sorry to hijack the thread. Was reading through the forum and noticed it, which spurred me to look at my own 525. Just bought 2nd hand from a dealer last month and is my first gun.

There's a clear difference between the top pin and bottom, but not had any issues shooting since I got it. Dealer gives 3month warranty with any S/H purchase, so just wondering if folk think its worth bringing it in for them to look at? First gun, so completely clueless about how pitted/worn it can get, but could see a clear difference between the two pins 😅 top's still a nice enough dome but bottom's looks like it has a flat top... hopefully pictured it well enough to show. Tried to get a side on angle as well but camera wasn't having it.

Thought to ask on here first as I won't be able to get to the shop regardless for a few weeks.

TIA, Chris 

Edited October 5, 2022 by Speycaster

[Stephen-H]

18 minutes ago, Speycaster said:

Sorry to hijack the thread. Was reading through the forum and noticed it, which spurred me to look at my own 525. Just bought 2nd hand from a dealer last month and is my first gun.

There's a clear difference between the top pin and bottom, but not had any issues shooting since I got it. Dealer gives 3month warranty with any S/H purchase, so just wondering if folk think its worth bringing it in for them to look at? First gun, so completely clueless about how pitted/worn it can get, but could see a clear difference between the two pins 😅 top's still a nice enough dome but bottom's looks like it has a flat top... hopefully pictured it well enough to show. Tried to get a side on angle as well but camera wasn't having it.

Thought to ask on here first as I won't be able to get to the shop regardless for a few weeks.

TIA, Chris 

Mine are worse then that on 2017 gun various loads & ex amount of cartridges I just whipe it all with a rag & then gun oil it reassemble it stick it in the cabinet & don't worry about it have done for 5 years now its never missed a beat they are browning/miroku's they will outlast most of the shooters that pass through there hands. Only thing that I've ever had a " miss fire " on is cheap rubbish lyalvale express cartridges with dud primers 

[Gordon R]

I'm with Westley on this. A mate, Chris, has the bottom firing pin problem on his Browning 525, which is relatively new. If he is reading this, he will remember how many times I have said he should take the pin out and clean the housing. Even offered to do it for him. 😉

[Speycaster]

9 hours ago, Stephen-H said:

Mine are worse then that on 2017 gun various loads & ex amount of cartridges I just whipe it all with a rag & then gun oil it reassemble it stick it in the cabinet & don't worry about it have done for 5 years now its never missed a beat they are browning/miroku's they will outlast most of the shooters that pass through there hands. Only thing that I've ever had a " miss fire " on is cheap rubbish lyalvale express cartridges with dud primers 

 

9 hours ago, Gordon R said:

I'm with Westley on this. A mate, Chris, has the bottom firing pin problem on his Browning 525, which is relatively new. If he is reading this, he will remember how many times I have said he should take the pin out and clean the housing. Even offered to do it for him. 😉

 

Cheers guys! 

Glad to know, gun's not missed a beat the few times I've been out with it since buying it, but only been around 3-400 down for me so probably not a big enough sample size for a misfire. 

[bigroomboy]

The firing pin pits very quickly but then has no effect of firing. No need to be taking things in worried unless you actually experience problems and then as said above clean the pins and channel and that will probably solve it. There are also reports of people carefully cleaning up the tip with fine wet and dry and reporting success. One theory floating around is that the pins are actually a fraction too long to start with.