Mountainman on FAL Files looking to fabricate Firing Pin Bushings

He says he has engineering drawings for the part that someone on that other site gave him (not everyone there is a dick, I guess), but he still needs someone in Florida in the Orlando area who would drop by Deltona to test fit and fire the prototypes when he gets them done, which is backburner now that new shop equipment arrived that needs installation.
 
I heard a rumor from a very reliable source that someone has contacted Taylor Spring company about producing new trigger return springs and cocking springs. I wonder what else the future holds for hard to find P7 parts.
 
Grays Guns offers, IIRC, a TR spring and I e-mailed Wolff and one of the family responded and said they do have the spring issue on their radar and had been considering doing some, but they are rather busy at this time - so that's another place to lobby with e-mails to convince them it's worth their while.
 
Is there a significant failure issue with these bushings? I realize that P7 parts a becoming more and more scarce, but didn’t know if this part is the one that everyone dreads breaking.

I’ve got 2 P7s and carry my PSP often. It’s also the gun I qualify with as a reserve officer, so I get out and practice with it at least quarterly (along w/ other pistols).

Years ago, I had a Mauser C96 and cracked the bolt stop because you couldn’t find .30 Mauser ammo, so I was manufacturing my own out of cut-down 5.56 brass. Didn’t load it hot, but enough to crack that part, which reminds me of the bushing.
 
Is there a significant failure issue with these bushings? I realize that P7 parts a becoming more and more scarce, but didn’t know if this part is the one that everyone dreads breaking.

I’ve got 2 P7s and carry my PSP often. It’s also the gun I qualify with as a reserve officer, so I get out and practice with it at least quarterly (along w/ other pistols).

Years ago, I had a Mauser C96 and cracked the bolt stop because you couldn’t find .30 Mauser ammo, so I was manufacturing my own out of cut-down 5.56 brass. Didn’t load it hot, but enough to crack that part, which reminds me of the bushing.

Apparently it is one of the several parts that do break with some regularity and I've seen some posts at some other, unnamed HK site where they had after a couple thousand rounds or fewer. Small sample size and self-selected reporting of events magnifies these things, but I'm kinda cautious. That said, I have heard nothing from the principal on this and I have no idea if he ever will or if he flaked and never had much intention of following through. I now have three spares and many other parts to boot. I feel a little better about shooting it again, but it will never be a carry piece.
 
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On TOS (it's ok to acknowledge its existance) James has noted a few times that the bushing along with some of the springs mentioned above are a part he recommends having spare becuase of failures he has encountered. He hasn't specified quantities or ratios (e.g., for every 10 guns I service, I see one broken bushing...) so it's hard to talk metrics on this topic. I think he gets a lot of guns that have never been serviced and some that have been ridden pretty hard so while his sample size is larger than anyone else currently doing this work, his sample population is also biased. Based on his advice, and having taken his P7 armorer course and thus seen how some of these parts get stressed during assembly / disassembly, I hunted down and stock some of the springs as spares along with some spare gas cylinders (for when I buy a new gun and the cylinder is worn). I have not stocked some of the hard to get - and way more expensive - parts like the sear lever and FP bushing. If I break something like that, I'm just going to assume the HK gods have deemed me unworthy of owning the gun anymore and sell it for parts. YMMV.
 
I hunted down and stock some of the springs as spares along with some spare gas cylinders (for when I buy a new gun and the cylinder is worn). I have not stocked some of the hard to get - and way more expensive - parts like the sear lever and FP bushing. If I break something like that, I'm just going to assume the HK gods have deemed me unworthy of owning the gun anymore and sell it for parts. YMMV.

You've actually found gas cylinders available? Or do you mean the pistons?
 
You've actually found gas cylinders available? Or do you mean the pistons?

I'm sorry, you are correct, I meant pistons! I managed to get one P7M8/M13 new in bag piston (and all the little parts too) and 2 P7PSP pistons with all the little parts.
 
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