Pro tip: An old guy at a gun show in Tulsa taught me a trick for checking a firing pin without taking the bolt apart

I was at the Wanenmacher's show last fall, just looking at some old Mauser actions. This older gentleman, probably in his 70s, was at the next table over. He saw me fiddling with a bolt, trying to feel the pin protrusion with my finger. He just leaned over and said, 'Son, use a pencil.' He took a regular wooden pencil, stuck the eraser end into the bolt face, and gave it a light tap with the heel of his hand. The lead tip left a perfect little dimple on the eraser, showing the exact pin strike depth and shape. It was so simple, but I'd never seen it done. He said he learned it from an armorer in Korea back in the day, checking rifles in the field. I've used that trick a dozen times since on milsurp stuff when I don't have my gauges handy. Has anyone else picked up a neat little field check like that from an old-timer?

3 comments

3 Comments

kim_martin1mo ago

Honestly that pencil trick is genius. Tbh I learned something similar for checking headspace in a pinch with a piece of masking tape on a cartridge base. Ngl the old guys at shows have all the best hacks that you just don't see in the manuals. It's all about using what you have on hand to get the job done.

terry_owens431mo ago

Yeah, @kim_martin, they've got a lifetime of jury-rigging stuff. My grandpa used a paperclip to check a firing pin once. Another guy at the range swore by using a rubber band and a dime for some scope thing. Manuals are fine, but they never tell you how to fix it with junk from your truck's cup holder.

the_robin1mo ago

Right? Where do they even come up with this stuff?

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