KSC Beretta M93R Firing Pin

Post by Mark

Well, last nite, i was working on my KSC Beretta M93R (HW) to correct a weak magazine catch spring so, i removed the RH grip and when i did, i dislodged a small coil spring of the ratchet for the burst fire assembly that the RH grip holds down.
I of course, noted this and realizing that i didn't need to have that grip panel off and couldn't access the magazine catch assembly from that side anyways, i tried to put the spring back...
It went flying off! I looked for sometime, and i still could not find it so, i put the RH grip panel back on to retain the parts until i could replace the spring. So, i then pulled the LH grip panel off and accessed the magazine catch assembly which i was after as i wanted to increase the magazine catches spring tension as the magazine would sometimes drop for no reason as the tension was very slight.
Anyways, the magazine catch project went great and the catch works better now, so, i put the LH grip back on and i started to search for the missing ratchet spring...
My Father had a suggestion that i use a magnet to try to locate it in my carpet near my work area..It worked! The spring that i had thought had flown off to history, was found in the carpet near my feet.
So, i replaced the spring in the ratchet assembly and to see if it still worked correctly, i placed the selector in the burst position cocked the hammer pulled the trigger and held it down, and actuated the slide by hand it worked great!
But, i noticed something fell out of the magazine well after the third time the hammer fell..
I could not identify the part at first, but looking at the small,short black plastic "dowel" i realized that it might be the front half of the firing pin.
Sure enough, it was the firing pin (this is a near new, fired only one magazine, HW KSC M93R!) Looking at the slide, i could see that the front half of the firing pin was missing and of course, there was no visible way to remove the broken firing pin and replace it (as KSC along with all of the other modelgun manufacturers) glues in the breech block assembly to prevent "remodeling" or conversion to a real firing pin.
You can remove and replace the extractor assembly, but you cannot replace the firing pin unless you either replace the slide($$$$$) or you remove the glued-in breach block assembly as the firing pin retaining pin is a "blind" pin and it cannot be accessed from the bottom.
I of course, along with all of the modelgun fans outside of Japan, have a hard time getting new parts so, this meant removing the glued-in breech block assembly to replace the firing pin.
At this point, it would be a good idea to say that you should NEVER "DRY FIRE" your modelgun! As the firing pins have no "cushion" like a cartridge to hit with an empty chamber.
The firing pins in the center fire modelguns is usually a hard ABS plastic or sometimes nylon, two piece assembly with a (sometimes) steel or zinc rear pin assembly.
The front plastic assembly is often broken from "dry firing" and long use and replacements are extremely rare and i am sure that you could not get them from the manufacturer!
So, i decided to remove my near new KSC Berettas breech block assembly so, i removed the extractor assembly first (KSC shows this step in their manual) and then, i studied just how the breech block was glued in place also, i looked for any cross pins or other hidden parts.
Thankfully, i discovered no other pins or inserts that might get in the way of the breech blocks removal from the slide. So, after the extractors removal i started the removal by looking for weak spots to pry the block out. I found a great spot back at the top of the breech block/slide just below the rear sight just above the rear of the firing pin.
So, i placed a flat bladed screw driver at this point and tapped it in slightly with a small hammer ( this is a very scary point as the slide is very thin at this point and it is made out of brittle HW plastic that chips badly and is hard to repair. So, when the screw driver was inserted as far as i thought that i could get away with, i used a razor knife to slightly scrape/cut the visible glue(super glue??) at the joints between the slide/breech block.
At first, there was no movement and i was beginning to get worried that i might break the slide or the breech block! Then, i noticed that when i cut one side of the glue a little deeper and put more pressure on the screw driver, i heard a slight crack! At first, i thought that i had broken the slide! But, it turned out to be that i had separated the breech block from the slide!
Now that the breech block was loose, i pulled it out to look at it



and i discovered the "blind" pin for the firing pin at first i thought that i might have to drill it out but later i found that in this case anyways, that i did not have to
remove it




At the front of the breech block, KSC has placed a small piece of steel and it is held in place by the slide and two cast in pins this small piece of steel falls out after the breech block is removed. The front of the breech block is made of two parts of HW plastic and you can see the parting lines for the two pieces.
This front part must be removed to access the broken front half of the firing pin assembly CAUTION: this part has two guide "pins" that help to ensure that it is centered on the front of the breech block correctly.Also, the spring is directly in the path of any razor blade that is used to separate the front half of the assembly.
After the front of the breech block is removed, the spring and the broken firing pin can be removed.



I plan to make a new firing pin (front half) out of aluminum soon so i can shoot this KSC again!
Anyways, removing the breech block is not that hard but, it is scary to think that you can damage the slide/breech block badly enough to have to scrap it and buy another!
I will add to this topic later when i finish my new "firing pin" for this KSC.

Post by John

Hi Mark,

It's so detailed. Even better if there are photos. Also, I'm pleased to know that it is possible to get the glued fire pin block out from the slide without scratching much.

I also want to do it for my Tanaka USP HW which is 99.99% brand new. I bought a metal slide made in Taiwan which looks very close to the HW slide (with real extractor slot). However, I don't want to ruin my pretty HW slide even a scratch, not to say any broken part. I once thought if I can weaken the glue by putting the slide into a solvent (e.g. petroleum) so that I can easily "hammer" out the block. Anyway, until someone has tried a better method, I would still keep my USP intact and my metal slide aside.

Post by Claymore

This happened to me and is a problem with the firing pin for the 93r. I had to send it for repair but for some reason when it came back it would not fire full auto only semi (which worked great). So i bought a new slide, making sure not to dry fire the gun because the pin will come out.

i now have a spare slide so will follow what you have done mark and see if i can get it to work on full auto again.

Post by Mark

John,

The glue that the manufacturers use is a cyanoacrylate adhesive that is impervious to solvents and the only good way to remove it, is to break it's bond by cutting it and prying the pieces apart. When i removed my breech block, i didn't scratch the slides exterior in any way.


claymore,

That's too bad about your firing pin problems when my pin broke, i wondered if this might be a common problem or not with these KSC Berettas.

I am going to make a spare firing pin for you if i am successful in making a new one for mine. It's too bad that they have to make the firing pin so weak.

Post by Claymore

Excellent, a new firing pin would be good cheers for that.

Yes it is a pity that modelguns on a whole are rather weak, i can understand why this is done (prevention of conversion) but do they really need to be as bad as some are, some models seem to go opn for ever and others break if you breath to hard. Oh!! well nothing's perfect.

Post by Mark

Yes, i know what you mean about the modelguns that seem to go on forever and very rarely break and some break almost instantly! It is all about the design of the modelgun and the materials used to make the modelguns internal components. I would be nice to have perfect modelguns that would never break!