Tri-Star Firing pin 4th time.

Just machined the third firing pin for my 12ga Tri-Star over under. This is the third time the upper has failed. It's always the upper. It must be some kind of design flaw. The original lasted about 500 rounds and the metal was so soft, the back of the pin deformed. The first one I machined was out of a drill bit. That lasted a summer and broke. I then tried chrome-moly. That maybe lasted 1000 rounds. This time I used annealed 4140 steel and oil quenched it after machining. We will see how long this one lasts. Anyone else have a Tri-Star and have fixed this issue? It is common with this shotgun, but I haven't found a fix yet. I'm thinking of re-designing the firing pin next time and trying that.

Have you contacted Tri Star about this? Maybe they have a fix.

A gun made in Turkey. I talked with the gun shop I bought it at. It's beyond common. All they do is replace pins for people. However, the pins are so soft that they don't last more than 500-1000 rounds. As far as I know, there is really no one to contact.

Ya used it too much when it was new

Have you tried a grade 8 bolt? I made one for my H&R, so far so good.

If it’s breaking YOUR firing pins then maybe it’s not the pins The shells are sitting to close to it machine flaw or design but put 2 shells in it see if top shel sits higher Sometimes the simple problem is over looked But might not be it ?!

Quit dry firing it when the breech is open.

Tri-star = no good for shooting

Get yourself something more reliable and do away with the hassles.

From the description given, sounds like too soft from factory and deforms. Replace with hardened, it is brittle and breaks. Maybe try a material that you can case harden. That may give it enough hardness to prevent deformation without making it brittle.

I have made some out of drill rod without any heat treatment but these were not for guns that get a lot of use. They also did not have a long thin section either.

Trade it in for a WINCHESTER 101 !!

https://www.winchesterguns.com/products/shotguns/model-101/current/model-101-field.html

https://www.tristararms.com/faqs/

That’s very common in them . Back when my son shot trap there was one coach from another county that had his kids buy Tristar, because it’s a cheap gun to buy to start on and if they stick with it then trade off before next season starts up and buy a better gun . It seem that every shoot we went to one of his kids had to shoot another gun because of this problem . When I asked him about it he said the factory had sent him some pins to fix the broken ones but he found a machine shop to make a few extras for him just to have on hand .

Thanks for posting on this. My youngest likes over and unders and I can not remove tri star from the list.

I have been looking for an O/U for some time. I have no desire to drop $3K on a gun of this type. After a year or so of handling and research, I am leaning towards a Weatherby Orion. Reviews are pretty good and it shoulders well and is well balanced for me. It is an "ugly" gun for an O/U, but I intend to use it in the field. Sooo, it might be my next gun purchase.

There's your answer Finster

Did some digging on this Seems they have an issue not with the pin hardness but the pin retracting back after the firing When the gun is opened is what is breaking the pins The tolerances in the top pin channel must be off and ejector is hitting it as it isn’t allowing the pin to fall back enough out of the way

Throw that tri-star in the dumpster where it belongs and buy something decent. Browning, Winchester, Francii, Remington, benelli, even mossberg makes a better shotgun than tri-star.

Correct.cocking the gun retracts the pins.Some of those type guns (This word is unacceptable on Trapperman) and retract the firing pins when opening the breech to eject.
If you dry fire with the breech open then close it one or both the pins will be damaged.

Yep

Have to agree. I've owned just two O/U shotguns. A Ruger Red Label and a Berreta Onyx. The Ruger I found to be clunky but the Onyx was a very nice gun.

Probably not what you want to hear but cut your losses and buy a better gun.

I have never had a problem with my Browning Citori.

The Citori has a reputation for having firing pin and spring issues. You might need to shoot more

X3. I have a Beretta 686 Silver Pigeon. Hands down the best I have ever used.

I also have a Franchi as a back-up . It's a utility type gun but never had a problem

Being you machine your own, have you tried shortening it a few thousands.

White-those Berettas are nice. My next O/U will likely be one in 20.

Mine is a 20. I wish I had one in 410 too )))

I've tried shortening and lengthening them. The major problem is that I have only the beat up original pins to go by and have to "guesstimate" some actual dimensions. There is no drawing online that I have found.

Have you checked to make sure the pin is retracting all the way into the breech face when cocked ?

Are there any marks on the ejectors where they/it might be contacting the firing pin ?

Won’t matter if the issue is they’re not being pulled in before making contact with the opening breech

I'll have to make sure.

Are they manually retracted or springs? Both?

I had the twenty, Ken. I've always been partial to side-by-sides with double triggers. I kept stabbing for the rear trigger that wasn't there. I guess I'm not a very adaptable creature. I sold it. Excellent gun in all other respects.

So I wasn't happy with the length of my new pins. I believe they were too long. I ground them down a bit and test fired. The primer strikes are not very deep, but I'll give it a go and see how long they last.

Looks deep enough to me. I hope they last for you.

If the pin is contacting the ejector as the breech opens, could the ejector be ground a bit to cure the problem?

It's not contacting when the breech is opened.

If anyone has one of these and want's the drawings for the pins, here they are. Some sizes are an educated guess from the deformed pins I had. If you decide to use these drawings, I would custom fit the length of the tip to fit your gun.

I got a little 20ga Tristar, a guy was selling it for $200 so I bought it. Haven’t had an issue, yet, lol. I use it for early dove season and wood duck shoots. Nothing fancy about it at all, but it shoots straight. Guess I need to go ahead and order some pins for it to be on the safe side. I know it has at least 500+ rounds through it because I went through two cases last dove season, lol.

If you called Tristar you would find their customer service is phenomenal. You will speak to someone in Kansas City and they will fix your problem. Good luck