Sharps might have a headspace problem, it's odd.

[guninhand]

How far does your firing pin protrude from the face of the breechblock?

Firing pin protrudes 0.051 inch., firing pin dia is .124 inch and firing pin hole .147 inch. I can live with this problem as long as it's not doing any real harm. Might be hard on the firing pin though and I have just one spare. 1st photo is block with pin protruding and bottom with pin at rest.

Uploaded at Snapagogo.com

Uploaded at Snapagogo.com

[Chill Wills]

I have never heard of a FP that large. Of course, I have not heard of a lot of things!

Many of the old 1800's era FP's ran large (0.094") compared to what is common in today's rifles, sixty or seventy thousands diameter pins.

I've never messed with a Farmingdale - were they really that large?

I don't want to say too much but just from the pictures, which are very good BTW, if the full protrusion picture is what it looks like; there IS room for a lot of improvement and primer metal around the pin!

I would get that bushed. It is only going to get worse shooting it.

I've been wrong before.......

Good luck with that. BTW - some pretty knowledgeable people (above) have as much as said the same. Also, Shiloh will give you a honest answer if you go that route.

[Lead pot]

Michael the old Farmers had a one piece firing pin and they ran around .128" in diameter. To me it looks like the firing pin has been replaced with a smaller diameter pin. One of these days he will have blown primers and if he don't pull the hammer to 1/2 cock that deep hitting pin will break or make the hole in the breach block a lot larger.

What I would like to know is. In the first post the case is in what looks like a Pedersoli forend screw bushing??? is this a Pedersoli??????? if so you might have a Hinz 57 mix of parts

[guninhand]

Lead pot,the gun is all Farmingdale. In my first post with the picture of the case, the case is under a magnifier. Since then I learned to use the magnifier feature on my iphone camera. Your first post here sums up the problem nicely. Henceforth I'll always do a double strike on the primer and put the hammer to half cock before extracting. If I get a load where the pressure is so much that I see etching on the face block I'll back off. By chance I was talking with the Sharps people at Quigley last year and they mentioned they can replace present system with one that takes an ordinary style firing pin. I didn't know I would have a firing pin problem then but I did know that these pins were prone to breakage and difficult and expensive to replace. I expect to be at Quigley again this year will see what they say.

[Gunlaker]

If they convert it to their present day system you will find that firing pins are quite cheap and easy to replace. Some people have trouble with Sharps firing pins breaking, but I've been lucky I guess. I shoot my various Sharps rifles quite a bit. Certainly thousands of rounds have been through mine. I've only ever broken one pin, but I also clean out any gunk in the firing pin channel and am careful to put it on half cock before lowering the breech block.

That is one fat firing pin!

Chris.

[ryan28]

Odd that there were no issues when it was a 45-110, but now as a 45-90 there are.

[BrentD]

Guys, I have a Farmer. The pin works fine. I broke the tip after many thousands and had it repaired, not replaced.

At one time I called Shiloh about this and they said they could REPLACE THE BLOCK - as I recall it was something like $300. And then there would be shipping both ways and lots and lots of time without my rifle.

There is nothing wrong with those firing pins if you have bit of patience. If you can live with something like $400+ dollars and 6 mo w/o your rifle, get the block replaced and use modern pins. But, if you like to shoot a lot, work with the pin you have.


Now the Farmingdale barrel - that's another matter all together. If you send it it, get it rebarreled, if you haven't already.

[guninhand]

I owned the Farmingdale only 5 days before I sent it away to get rebarreled. I fired maybe 6 or 7 rounds of 45-110 just to make sure it worked, and didn't notice anything wrong. Those cases were deprimed right away to facillitate case cleaning so I can't check back. It now has a Ron Smith barrel with a 1 : 18 gain twist.

[Lead pot]

Lead pot,the gun is all Farmingdale. In my first post with the picture of the case, the case is under a magnifier. Since then I learned to use the magnifier feature on my iphone camera. Your first post here sums up the problem nicely. Henceforth I'll always do a double strike on the primer and put the hammer to half cock before extracting. If I get a load where the pressure is so much that I see etching on the face block I'll back off. By chance I was talking with the Sharps people at Quigley last year and they mentioned they can replace present system with one that takes an ordinary style firing pin. I didn't know I would have a firing pin problem then but I did know that these pins were prone to breakage and difficult and expensive to replace. I expect to be at Quigley again this year will see what they say.

No I was asking about the blurry photo below the first photo with the case under the magnifier.

[waksupi]

Check for a broken firing pin.

[Rick B]

What Hawkeyes stated in post #19 is correct. The Farmingdale Guns had a larger firing pin. Sometime after the move to Montana, Shiloh started manufacturing the rifles with a smaller firing pin. Find a gunsmith who is competent at bushing the breechblock. Have it bushed to the current sized pin. Problem will go away.
Rick
PS Greg Tannel of Gre Tan Rifles is the best for center fire bolt guns. Super fast, reasonable pricing and superb workmanship.

[guninhand]

What Hawkeyes stated in post #19 is correct. The Farmingdale Guns had a larger firing pin. Sometime after the move to Montana, Shiloh started manufacturing the rifles with a smaller firing pin. Find a gunsmith who is competent at bushing the breechblock. Have it bushed to the current sized pin. Problem will go away.
Rick
PS Greg Tannel of Gre Tan Rifles is the best for center fire bolt guns. Super fast, reasonable pricing and superb workmanship.

Thanks Rick.

[John in PA]

Again, agreeing with the firing pin hole in the very early Farmingdale guns. I spoke with Shiloh about the very thing quite recently, and they will NOT stand behind the Farmingdale guns with this issue. You have to return the gun as they say they have to fit the breechblock there. I have no idea why this is the case as the blocks are all the same dimensions. And they do charge for the new block, which is somewhat substantial. I wouldn't bush the hole in the block unless you also replace the pin with a smaller one made from drill rod, pressed into the face of the firing pin body. And because of the angles involved, this is a bit of a tricky gunsmithing proposition. You may be best off letting Shiloh have it and getting their latest breechblock/pin design. I know the other problem Wolf had with the early design pins was breakage, and I believe they went through a couple designs before the settled on the current one.

[BrentD]

Told ya....