TL3 Firing Pin Lifespan

[wpeach1912]

I have a TL3 that I bought used in September. I broke the firing pin in it dry firing (I think) at the end of October and didn't think much of it since it was used and had already possibly been used quite a bit. I bought a new firing pin from Zermatt and replaced the broken one. I have put maybe 500 live rounds through it since then. I do dry fire a decent amount, but nothing super crazy. At most 1000 cycles since then beginning of November. I went to the range today and went to check zero and realized the firing pin was broken again. I was assuming I would get a lot more dry fires on it before breaking again, so I did not think anything of dry firing. Has anyone else had problems with the Bighorn firing pins snapping? If they're sensitive to dry firing, I can just swap the broken one in when I dry fire, but that would be a pain to keep track of which firing pin is in it.

 

[Rob01]

Hmm should last a lot longer than 1000 rounds. I would get with Zermatt and see what they say.

 

[wpeach1912]

Hmm should last a lot longer than 1000 rounds. I would get with Zermatt and see what they say.

I'll shoot them an email. I have already had them replace and extractor and bolt head retention pin, and they have been super helpful. Just wanted to see if anyone else here had any experience with the pins breaking/if I am doing something wrong by dry firing it

 

[DaleAGribble]

Someone I know broke one in an origin. But it had considerable rounds a bunch of dry fire on it. They replaced it without issue

 

[BlueLacy]

I had same issue on an origin, broke 3 times. After buying spare firing pins I was ready to dump the action because I felt like I just couldn't trust it. One last run of CS with Zermatt with the entire bolt and they replaced the bolt itself. After that, have not had any issues with firing pins breaking and this includes alot of dry firing and live firing. I can accept that anything man made can have problems and the CS at Zermatt was beyond responsive, fast, and truly cared about getting it right. Bottom line in my opinion is they make a great product and will do what is needed to make it right, they care about their customers and reputation.

 

[Zack_va248]

I had the same issue with my fp. Sent an email to them and they sent me a new one. No issues since.

 

[MakeSawdust]

Dryfiring is hard on them. I broke one after around 10k dryfire cycles. I also broke the bolt head across pin after 10k-20k more. I now have spares of everything except the action body and the bolt body. I swap a fire control assembly with a broken firing pin in to dryfire. That way I never have to worry about if my pin is broken from dryfiring. I keep a spare assembly in my shooting bag and try to keep the normal one in there as well. That way I always have a good pin with me.

Zermatt customer service is very good. I like my TL3s and rimx a lot. That said, they are Gucci actions. They are not 100% bulletproof. They do work well in dirty conditions but there are certain things about them that aren't as reliable as say an AI.

 

[wpeach1912]

Dryfiring is hard on them. I broke one after around 10k dryfire cycles. I also broke the bolt head across pin after 10k-20k more. I now have spares of everything except the action body and the bolt body. I swap a fire control assembly with a broken firing pin in to dryfire. That way I never have to worry about if my pin is broken from dryfiring. I keep a spare assembly in my shooting bag and try to keep the normal one in there as well. That way I always have a good pin with me.

Zermatt customer service is very good. I like my TL3s and rimx a lot. That said, they are Gucci actions. They are not 100% bulletproof. They do work well in dirty conditions but there are certain things about them that aren't as reliable as say an AI.

I had that cross bolt broke too and might have to purchase an extra (they replaced it and overnighted it to me). Now that I have extras I might just swap broken and non broken while dry firing or invest in snap caps. Selling this and buying the new AT-X has certainly crossed my mind...

 

[Clint E.]

My TL3 broke the firing pin and cross bolt at 4100 live rounds, probably 10k dry fire. Zermatt sent me a whole new firing pin assembly and cross bolt free of charge. I now use my broken firing pin for dry fire.

 

[Rob01]

Sounds like dry firing is a common thread in the breaking.

 

[Sheldon N]

I've broken several pins and a cross bolt as well. Lifespan for each seems to be about 10k dry fire cycles, though some have lasted much longer including my current one. My main match rifle (which I don't dry fire) has never had a broken part despite having gone through many barrels worth of live fire.

I have spares and also carry a complete fire control assembly (rear shroud, spring, pin, etc) in my range bag so if I ever get to the range or a match and discover a broken pin then I can just swap it out instantly.

The guys at Zermatt have always been extremely helpful with replacement parts.

Broken firing pins aren't just a Bighorn thing, I broke a firing pin on my GAP Crusader by dry firing as well.

 

[wpeach1912]

After several thousand makes sense. I wouldn’t expect them to last forever. 1k just seemed low. I’ll probably just end up swapping pins for dry fire once I replace this broken one

 

[Sheldon N]

After several thousand makes sense. I wouldn’t expect them to last forever. 1k just seemed low. I’ll probably just end up swapping pins for dry fire once I replace this broken one

The pins themselves are cheap but take a bit of work to change out since you need to compress the firing pin spring and properly locate the retaining allen screws and cocking piece. I'd recommend getting a complete separate fire control assembly if you plan on doing a ton of dry firing.

 

[wpeach1912]

The pins themselves are cheap but take a bit of work to change out since you need to compress the firing pin spring and properly locate the retaining allen screws and cocking piece. I'd recommend getting a complete separate fire control assembly if you plan on doing a ton of dry firing.

That's what I meant. I assumed they only had the whole assembly. I have two broken assemblies at the moment and could pretty easily swap those around with a functioning assembly

 

[wil_pt]

Mine broke couple of times from dry firing as well. E-mailed Bighorn and they replaced it free of charge. I stopped dry firing with my Origin and just use my howa 1500.

 

[Mike Casselton]

Let me start off by saying I don't own one and probably never will.
Not the Bighorn, a Snap Cap.

With that said, would using a snap cap help with the firing pin breakage?

Has Zermatt looked into the cause of the breakages?

My first centerfire rifle was a Savage and I dry fired it a lot, and I do mean a lot.
Took it out to go hunting one evening with a buddy and the cross pin was broken.

Since we were still at his house, I cleaned it up and super glued it back together. It held together until I got the new pin delivered.

Knowing this issue with Bighorns, it makes me want to purchase a couple spare cross pins.

 

[MakeSawdust]

I ran a savage before my bighorn. It took a lot more dryfiring to break the firing pin on the savage. The cross pin never broke. The firing pin tip on the TL3 is much smaller than the savage.

 

[spife7980]

Mine broke couple of times from dry firing as well. E-mailed Bighorn and they replaced it free of charge. I stopped dry firing with my Origin and just use my howa 1500.

I do too but it wasn’t out of fear or breaking, the howa and rem are just that much heavier and in lighter weight rifles so I feel it makes me practice that more strictly, so the match rifles are a joy on the comp days.
The cross pin breaking blows my mind though.

 

[wpeach1912]

Let me start off by saying I don't own one and probably never will.
Not the Bighorn, a Snap Cap.

With that said, would using a snap cap help with the firing pin breakage?

Has Zermatt looked into the cause of the breakages?

My first centerfire rifle was a Savage and I dry fired it a lot, and I do mean a lot.
Took it out to go hunting one evening with a buddy and the cross pin was broken.

Since we were still at his house, I cleaned it up and super glued it back together. It held together until I got the new pin delivered.

Knowing this issue with Bighorns, it makes me want to purchase a couple spare cross pins.

A snap cap definitely would help prevent it, they’re just a pain to use if you don’t have a lot of them. They usually average about $10-15 for 2. I have a savage as well that I broke the firing pin on after 3 years, 1800 live fires, and several thousand dry fires

 

[wpeach1912]

Ray emailed me back today and said they’d send me a new one and to just use one of the broken ones for dry fire. Zermatt definitely has the best customer service of any company I have ever dealt with!

 

[PlinkIt]

A snap cap definitely would help prevent it, they’re just a pain to use if you don’t have a lot of them. They usually average about $10-15 for 2. I have a savage as well that I broke the firing pin on after 3 years, 1800 live fires, and several thousand dry fires

If you file a portion of the rim off couldn't you just let one stay in the chamber until you finished dry firing?

Then push it out with a cleaning rod

 

[wpeach1912]

If you file a portion of the rim off couldn't you just let one stay in the chamber until you finished dry firing?

Then push it out with a cleaning rod

That’s a creative solution and would probably work! I plan on just swapping the broken one in though since they’re pretty quick to swap on bighorns

 

[Rob01]

Has anyone who does not dry fire ever broke one?

 

[A&8's]

My Origin broke, too. Actually, the night before the Red Brush finale last year in Indiana. Unbeknownst to me, apparently it broke the night before during dry fire in the hotel room. 1st stage of the finale, I was the 1st shooter: Shooter ready...engage....Click.......run bolt....click........smack mag....click.........remove bolt and look at it (like that was going to tell me anything. , but I did!)....insert bolt....click.........Stand up and say "I'm out."

Called them on Monday and they sent another firing pin free and told me to use the broken on for dry fire. I also purchased a spare, just in case.

 

[earthquake]

The cocking piece on my first one broke, then I broke the firing pin on my other one. Zermy took care of both. I keep the broken pin for dry-fire and picked up a spare assembly just in case....haven't had to use it yet. I put a red-X in tape on it so I don't accidentally leave it in the gun when I go to the range.

@alicea8541

 

[padom]

I broke 2 firing pins in 7 days in my first 2 TL3's 2-2.5yr ago dry firing. I was under the impression it was because of the heat treat and they replaced mine and sent me some spares. The heat treat was changed I thought to resolve that issue. They sent me new firing pin assemblies and to date, 5 TL3's later I have never broke another firing pin again....

 

[Ledzep]

Makes sense I guess; at least the cross pin breakages. Even a tight(ish) headspace dummy would suffice. FP hits the back of the bolt head, bolt head pushes on the cross pin. If you put something in front of the bolt head it won't slam the cross pin so hard. Repeat FP breakages seem like an alignment issue but I could be wrong. ETA: heat treat makes sense too.

I'll have to compare TL3 and Nucleus/MF firing pins. I've got over 12,000 live fires and several thousand more dry fires on my old Mausingfield and haven't broken anything. Granted, the Bighorn/Zermatt consumer base is probably bigger, but I'm still a little surprised to see how many this has happened to.

 

[Rob01]

So sounds like no dry firing then no issue. Good to know.

 

[b6graham]

Makes sense I guess; at least the cross pin breakages. Even a tight(ish) headspace dummy would suffice. FP hits the back of the bolt head, bolt head pushes on the cross pin. If you put something in front of the bolt head it won't slam the cross pin so hard. Repeat FP breakages seem like an alignment issue but I could be wrong. ETA: heat treat makes sense too.

I'll have to compare TL3 and Nucleus/MF firing pins. I've got over 12,000 live fires and several thousand more dry fires on my old Mausingfield and haven't broken anything. Granted, the Bighorn/Zermatt consumer base is probably bigger, but I'm still a little surprised to see how many this has happened to.

i think it's more the 'negative review' case

how many broke one versus total sales.

people blah blah the same with vortex, but you only ever hear about fails

 

[alicea8541]

So sounds like no dry firing then no issue. Good to know.

I dry fire the crap out of mine. Broke a firing pin on my second action which was practically new at the time and it was replaced no questions asked. I also bought a spare. My original action has never broken one and I have quite a few barrels through it also.