[brownUPSman65]

Ok, first of all, new to the group and posting so if I screwed something up, for those of you that are anal about these sorts of things, I apologize. Now to my issue. I took my gun apart to apply a Duracoat finish to make it stand out. I use it for pocket carry. I finally got the trigger assembly back together, I thought, but now it goes thru the motions but doesn't fire. I think I didn't do something right with the seer, but when I pull the trigger, the hammer moves but doesn't fire. If this has been answered before, I couldn't find a response. Any ideas would be appreciated.

 

[PF9Newbie]

Two likely possibilities here. One, of course, that in duracoating, you changed the dimensions of critical parts enough to keep the mechanism from operating correctly. More likely, however, is that in reassembling you may have not gotten the hammer block properly positioned, which would keep hammer from fully disengaging and falling on the firing pin. I would suggest first step to remove the frame from the grip again, and being very careful, get the hammer block properly positioned as you put the frame back in. Here is a an excellent tutorial on reassembling the P3AT, with some good illustrations on being sure this part and others are properly positioned/Installed. It was written for changing the trigger to the Northwood aluminum trigger, but may help you fully see how these parts go together in reassmbly.

http://www.northwoodcomp.com/p-32p-3attriggerinstallationguide.aspx

 

[brownUPSman65]

Thanks PF9newbie. I was able to disassemble and reassemble the trigger correctly. The link really helped. I test fired it and now I have another issue. It is now misfiring on every other pull of the trigger. Before, it didn't fire at all so I have made progress. Any ideas on the misfiring ? I used Winchester 95 gr FMJ to test fire. The first pull it fired, the second it didn't, 3rd pull fired and 4th didn't. I didn't duracoat any of the internal areas of the gun, just the outside of the slide and the outside of the polymer lower. So I don't think that has caused an issue. Could it still be something in my seer or would this be more in the trigger assembly? Thanks for the help. Btw, when I first bought the gun it misfired until I had about 20 rounds through it and then it cleared up and haven't had an issue since.

 

[PF9Newbie]

Several possibilities. In the disassemby/reassembly process, the hammer spring may have gotten a bit stretched, causing light hammer falls. If so, it would have to be replaced. But another area to check first is the firing pin channel. In the process of coating, possible for some dirt/grit to get in the channel causing pin movement issues. Even more likely is that in replacing the extractor spring screw, the firing pin might be mis-aligned. Since the tip of the extractor screw is what holds the firing pin in, it could be binding a bit if the slot in the pin is not properly aligned with the tip of the screw. Remove the screw and the firing pin, clean the channel and pin. Do not lubricate the channel or pin at all. These should be dry. carefully align the pin so that the screw, when reinstalled, rides in the slot. One other thing, if the Winchester you were testing with is White Box, it is notorious for problems in Kel Tecs, so you might want to try another brand.

 

[brownUPSman65]

Thanks for the advice. I will take it down and clean it next weekend. Thanks again.

 

[brownUPSman65]

Ok have some news to report. Went to the range today and the gun fires everytime I only use the tip of my finger to fire it. If I put my finger on it as I normally do, it misfires. Could I have a misaligned trigger?

 

[CJP32]

Does the trigger still feel normal when it fails to fire? If not, the trigger pin could have worked loose.