219b firing pin

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For no good reason I got my 219b out off the back of the safe and started messing with it. My wife got it for me at a flea market in the mid 80's for $60.00 and I managed to break the firing pin. I knew a guy going to gun smith school who fixed for me for the cost of the pin. Years later with out thinking I pulled the trigger with it open and broke it again. Now it just sits in the safe. So after some surfing I read something about not having to take the insides out to change the pin on the hammer guns. So after taking the stock off I found that you can get it out on the left side.

I ordered two new pins and thy just came and I thought someone mite like to see them. I don't know how long the old one was but you can see the notch on the old one is not centered like on the new one. I don't know if that matters or not but I'm going to find out.

I'm curious as to the new pin's fit and function.
Keep us updated!

I should have said that you can see it from the left side but you have to drop it in on the right side. I practiced putting in the old one back in while waiting for the new pins. I got it back in but it was like building ship in a bottle with one chopstick. I'll try and take some pics and see if any turn out.

It's to bad thy had to make it with a pin that breaks so easily that dry firing it can break it. That is why I got two of them, My thinking is that if I had a extra one the other one should last for ever , if I only got one I would break it putting it in.

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If you have to dry fire any gun, to avoid damage buy or fashion a snap-cap to cushion the FP.

For SF cartridges, replace the fired primer in an empty/fired case with a rubber eraser taken from a #2 lead pencil.

For RF cartridges, buy some commercial snap caps that are really plastic formed into cartridge shape.

https://www.amazon.com/Atac-Snap-22C.../dp/B071JWTWT6


https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon...._AC_SX522_.jpg

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I have 219 project gun right now. Gun is like new and doesn’t work at all. I’m hoping all the parts are in the action and it’s a broken spring. I’ve made firing pins for 219, 220 & 94 series out of drill bits. Heat them up cherry red and dunk in oil. Last for years shooting, don’t know about dry firing.
Mine missing sights but appears to have been factory grooved for scope mounts.

I have "snap cap" I have made by filling the primer pocket with hot glue and trimming it flush. I guess I'll find out if it works.

There must be some kind of spring compressor to get the main spring out and back in. Would make it easier to work on.

If any of you have ever changed one did you have to fit it. I read some were that thy said that after thy put it in that you have to trim the pin end to the proper length , but I can't find any thing about how much it should it stick out. But haven't seen any one else say that said thy had to do that. Thought maybe it was a gunsmith trying to get some work.

I don't have my book in front of me, but memory says firing pin protrusion should be about 0.060-0.065".

Please check that before taking my memory as gospel.

I have one of the first model 219's. I have dry fired it exactly once. I do not want to have to replace the striker on it.

Robert

I replaced the FP on my Model 219B, just dropping it in.

It fired fine, w/o puncturing a primer - as was delivered to me from Numrich

Since the proof was in the pudding, I never bothered to measure the protrusion

WooHoo !!!!!!!!!!!!!! I did it, I did it, I did it ....................................!

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After about three hours of frustration and staring at it in capitulation some thing caught my eye and I think I my have found the key to this firing pin "da vinci code".

You can see the pin hole on the left side but the pin doesn't fit . On the right side the pin will fit but you can't turn it so it will fall in the hole. So while staring at it I noticed that on the pin holding the hammer there was a brass bushing on the left side but not on the right so I was wondering what it did. What I found was that the hammer slides . When you slide it to the left up against the bushing the hammer is over the firing pin, but if you slide it all the way to the right you can drop the firing pin straight down to the hole all most. It was a tight fit and I had to use a small punch to push it through but it went in to the hole , I did have to push it around a bit but it went in and I put the screw in that keeps it in.

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Another thing I saw was that the wear marks on the frame from the ejector went over the pin hole. In the ejector there is a notch for the firing pin but it didn't line up with the pin hole. I used a diamond file to make the notch straddle the pin hole and polished it a bit. I don't know if it mattered but I didn't think it would hurt.

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After I got it all back together I primed a empty case and popped it off in the garage and got a flame of victory a good six inches long.

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So here is the finished product and some extra pic's . I hope this will help give hope to the next poor guy that get's a 219b and brakes his pin right off the bat. I don't know why in all the looking I have done that no one has said that the hammer will slide from side to side! For fun I put it on a scale and it weighed 6 lb's 13 oz's. and you can hang it by the trigger so the has to be more than 6 lb pull.

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And the pic's came out sideways .

At least you have figured out how to post pictures. I haven't yet, but I don't have a digital camera that works anymore either.

Robert

Thanks for the detailed description and photos. Looks like the gun is in good condition. I have a 219-b that was missing parts. Between ebay and Numrich, I found the parts that I needed and the rifle is functional again.

I recently acquired an early 219 with a 12 gauge barrel, but no rifle barrel. I'm on the lookout for any rifle barrel for it in any condition. This search may take a while.

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Originally Posted by riverdog

Thanks for the detailed description and photos. Looks like the gun is in good condition. I have a 219-b that was missing parts. Between ebay and Numrich, I found the parts that I needed and the rifle is functional again.

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I would like to know how you got the main spring out and back in.

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Originally Posted by facetious

I would like to know how you got the main spring out and back in.

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Fortunately I didn't have to go in that far. I simply had to find and install the top lever assembly and the cocking plunger assembly.

I'm wanting to do some trigger work on it, so will most likely have to deal with the mainspring at that time. Do you have any insight into lightening/smoothing the trigger pull?

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Originally Posted by riverdog

I'm wanting to do some trigger work on it, so will most likely have to deal with the mainspring at that time. Do you have any insight into lightening/smoothing the trigger pull?

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Not really ,my best guess would be to shorten the main spring a bit and polish the trigger sear. But my bet is that it has to do with the angle of the sear. If you look at it close you can see the trigger sear is like a see saw and the trigger is on the short end the sear is on the long end so you are not getting any mechanical advantage so that may have something to do with it also.

When my friend changed the pin for me the first time I asked him about it and he said that he polished it but that there is not a lot that you can do to it. Mine is smooth but heavy ,I will say 7 of 8 lb's . I know it is more that it weighs .

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After I got done I gave the barrel a good cleaning and got the old grease out that I had put in there to keep it from rusting and slugged the barrel. One all the way through and one in from each end and knocked back out and thy all where between .308 and .309 my dial caliper. I pushed a slug that was .313 in to the throat and it came out right at .311.

I put a LBT 170-LCFN in to my home made OAL gage and got a OAL of 2.90". If you look you can see that it has a bit over .25" of throat.

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Originally Posted by riverdog

I recently acquired an early 219 with a 12 gauge barrel, but no rifle barrel. I'm on the lookout for any rifle barrel for it in any condition. This search may take a while.

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1. There are different versions, and all barrels are NOT interchangeable.

There are Model 219;s, 219B's 219C's & 219L's. The Model 220 has a similar, but non-identical progression of improved models.

The earliest 219's & 220's were striker-fired, and were re-cocked by the opening action of the top lever, which incidentally released the barrel lock so the barrel could be swung open, and the shell ejector tripped off.

Any early or later 219/219B/219C/219L/220 rifle or shotgun barrel will fit and operate just fine in the early 219/220 guns.

Then, Savage changed the internal design, from a striker to a concealed hammer - which the operation of the top lever no longer was able to recock.



Soooo, on all subsequent models, there is a cocking lever inside the front of the action body, which lies alongside the barrel's locking lug when the gun is closed, or in the firing position.

The cocking lever/arm is raised, re-cocking the gun, only when the barrel is swung open (not by the top lever opening) - by a spring-loaded stud located in the side of the later model's barrel's locking lug(s).

These guns are the 219B/219C/219L, and later 220's.

These later guns ergo require also a later barrel, WITH the cocking lug - which is absent on earlier barrels.

The early, no-cocking lug barrels will not re-cock the later guns - burdensome, to say the least.

The easiest way to check YOUR gun, is to remove the barrel and peek inside the right side action wall, to see if it has a cocking lever there.

If it has one, the gun needs a barrel with a cocking stud.
If it has none, the gun can use any barrel.

Within the barrel interchange limits, defined above, any 219 or 220 in good/serviceable condition is safe with any other 219 or 220 barrel in good/serviceable condition.

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Originally Posted by pietro

1. There are different versions, and all barrels are NOT interchangeable.

There are Model 219;s, 219B's 219C's & 219L's. The Model 220 has a similar, but non-identical progression of improved models.

The earliest 219's & 220's were striker-fired, and were re-cocked by the opening action of the top lever, which incidentally released the barrel lock so the barrel could be swung open, and the shell ejector tripped off.

Any early or later 219/219B/219C/219L/220 rifle or shotgun barrel will fit and operate just fine in the early 219/220 guns.

Then, Savage changed the internal design, from a striker to a concealed hammer - which the operation of the top lever no longer was able to recock.



Soooo, on all subsequent models, there is a cocking lever inside the front of the action body, which lies alongside the barrel's locking lug when the gun is closed, or in the firing position.

The cocking lever/arm is raised, re-cocking the gun, only when the barrel is swung open (not by the top lever opening) - by a spring-loaded stud located in the side of the later model's barrel's locking lug(s).

These guns are the 219B/219C/219L, and later 220's.

These later guns ergo require also a later barrel, WITH the cocking lug - which is absent on earlier barrels.

The early, no-cocking lug barrels will not re-cock the later guns - burdensome, to say the least.

The easiest way to check YOUR gun, is to remove the barrel and peek inside the right side action wall, to see if it has a cocking lever there.

If it has one, the gun needs a barrel with a cocking stud.
If it has none, the gun can use any barrel.

Within the barrel interchange limits, defined above, any 219 or 220 in good/serviceable condition is safe with any other 219 or 220 barrel in good/serviceable condition.

.

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Thanks for the excellent description of the different barrel/receiver configurations. This is an older Utica made gun without the cocking plunger on the barrel lug, so if I understand correctly, any 219 rifle barrel will fit. I'm hoping to find a barrel for it in any caliber. Even something that's been rechambered or Ackley improved.