Firing pin removal?

[Ubik380]

I was getting light strikes at the range today so I though I'd take the firing pin out and clean out any dirt & debris. Never did it before and couldn't do it today, so the question is: is the firing pin retainers swaged in place? Is there a way to remove it that isn't obvious?

[tracker]

I have had light strikes on the R9 with certain ammo such as Hornady Critical Defense. You might try other ammo before attempting to remove the firing pin which may not be advisable from a field strip point of view.

[Ubik380]

The light strikes happened using Winchester white box. I might have over-lubricated the pistol but today I carefully cleaned it with naphtha and blew it out with compressed air. I'll take it to the range tomorrow to try it again.

From what other folks have said, it seems that on the early R9s, the firing pin retainer was held in place by the tail of the firing pin much like the 1911 but mine appears to be firmly in place.

[tracker]

Federal and Winchester make their own primers and they should not be hard as is some foreign ammo. Hard primers have caused light strikes in the past but I have not heard of any light strikes due to firing pin detritus.

[ECR]

The statements are true here. Try a different ammunition in your particular pistol. Many time, hard primers will give the look of "light hits", however, it is usually the pressures inside the round when ignited, pushing the casing and primer back against the breech face, causing the primer face to flatten and appear to be a light hit condition, which, actually, it is not.

Keep us informed after you try a few different makes of ammo through the gun.

Eric R.