Whats causing this?

[problemchild]

The pin looks like a pretzel. I have never seen a gun do this before.

[Vanguard]

I would think it has to be the firing pin hitting it. Maybe the hole for the retaining pin is out of alignment or something?

Strange.

[sevensix2x51]

i have a pin that looks just like that in one of my ars. Its definitely from contact with the firing pin. But for the life of me, i cant figure out why... Havent taken the time to order another one yet...

[Josh3239]

How many rounds, obviously the firing pin retainer doesn't last forever.?

[CHS]

Maybe it was hammered in when it wouldn't pop in nicely the last time it was re-installed?

[ar15barrels]

I have seen this before in AR-15's, but never in 308 AR's.
In AR-15's it's caused by either the lower or the fire control parts being out of spec.
What happens is that your hammer is sticking up too high and striking the large diameter ring at the head of the firing pin.



One fix is to modify the hammer like this:



On your piston operated 308, it's probably related to carrier tilt.

[CHS]

I have seen this before.
It's caused by either the lower or the fire control parts being out of spec.
What happens is that your hammer is sticking up too high and striking the large diameter ring at the head of the firing pin.

Heh. Olympic. That would explain things

[ar15barrels]

Heh. Olympic. That would explain things

How many RAW's do you own again?

[bomb_on_bus]

could the pin be moving around loosely inside the hole as well? it looks as though the firing pin is hitting the cotter pin giving it that bent all outta whack look.

Did you have any problems removing the pin or did it come out with little effort?

Is that a POF .308 BCG. If so I would say that it might be the wrong size pin all together. When my .308 came the pin was loose in the box and when I put it back into the BCG the pin just slid back out without any resistance. I had POF send me out another pin and havent had any other problems since. There was a little difference in diameter between the pin they sent and the one that came with the gun.

[ar15barrels]

could the pin be moving around loosely inside the hole as well? it looks as though the firing pin is hitting the cotter pin giving it that bent all outta whack look.

It does not matter if the pin is free moving or not.
What happens is the hammer strikes the firing pin spool and the firing pin bends the cotter pin against the carrier.
The firing pin is NOT supposed to hit the hammer when the carrier is sliding forward past the hammer.

One other fix is to turn down the diameter of the firing pin's spool.