Quote:


Much better to go for overkill than to use bubble gum to hold in a piece of finishing nail!     As long as it holds up for the job you want it to handle, and you're comfortable with the workmanship, go for it.  I do firing pins my way because that's  what has evolved on my workbench in finding a more efficient way FOR ME to do the work, based on gunsmithing school plus 30 years experience...  If you get six experienced gunsmiths together and ask them how to do a particular job, you're likely to get about ten different ways to do it...all of them "right"!

David Kaiser
Montezuma, IA

Not really close to the same, Mike:

O1
Element /
Weight % 
C 0.85-1.00 
Mn 1.00-1.40 
Si 0.50 
Cr 0.40-0.60 
Ni 0.30 
W 0.40-0.60 
V 0.30 
C 0.25 
P 0.03 
S 0.03 


SAE 1095
Element /
Weight % 
C 0.90-1.03 
Mn 0.30-0.50 
P 0.04 (max) 
S 0.05 (max) 

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38 Cal:

Ok, I stand corrected, I’ve been using O-1 and SAE 1095 interchangeably for years, O-1 makes beautiful springs. So please educate me.  Why purposely make firing pins in two pieces?  Both pieces out of med/high carbon steel. 
I want to learn: 


Singleshot: 

Thanks for the composition breakdowns of 1095 v. O-1   

Yes O-1 has some Cr and Ni added, I suppose for corrosion resistance, but both 1095 and O-1 rate the same (Poor) for corrosion resistance. W and V are added to aid heat treatment, but since he’s using O-1 in it’s annealed state, I would think the addition of W and V is  kind of  moot. Adding P to steel makes it machine a little better, but I’ve never seen a difference between machining O-1 and 1095.   

Ok gentlemen, I am willing to learn

Mike Hunter

David 

Thanks for the reply. 

I remember one of my mentors, when he did a firing pin, he would heat treat them so that it had a hard tip and a tough body. His reasoning was that if the firing pain was going to fail, he wanted the tip to fail first, potentially preventing slam fires. 

Mike

Chuck 

Pleas don't change the way you make firing pins on my account,  as I stated earlier, I'm in the learning mode as to why 2 piece firing pins. 
Heck, I've made firing pins out of O-1, 1095 and even case hardened 1018 and 12L14, so far no returns.

Mike