Barrel Nick at Breech

[soram]

I am responding to a thread entitled "New Member - New P64" found here, but I feel this issue needs to be addressed more formally and with a more descriptive title to aid other members in searching when this post scrolls out of sight:

I [...] would like comments/suggestions regarding a ding and chamber wear that I noticed [...] Is it safe? I believe it was caused by feeding issues, possibly use of steel cases? The rest of the gun is OK [...]

Since reading this post, I got my three P64s out and checked them. The 1967 was flawless, the 1969 shows some indication of damaged as noted above (and below), BUT the 1974 (the newest?!?) looks as bad or worst than Tbone's post. EGAD!

<center></center><center>You can see the triangular piece at the bottom of the nick (10 o'clock) extending into the barrel</center>

<center></center><center>The nick is in the 1 o'clock position just above the slide lock bar</center>

I bought this one several months ago "just in case" to have parts (also from J&G Sales). I have no intention of raising a ruckus or sending it back, but I have a few questions.

1] Can this nick be filed down (i.e. Dremmel) and the gun still be safe to shoot? It's obviously NOT safe to fire now with the nick extending into the barrel!

2] As TBone suggested, this appears to be caused by the cartridge grabbing the barrel while being ejected. Is this caused by steel cased ammo or some other reason?

3] Do any of you other members have similar wear on your P64s?

As I said, I never noticed this before and until the previous post, I never thought to check!

Ross

[dom]

Ross,
Thank you for taking the time to pull the slide and examine your three.
I started a thread on 12/23 hoping to address the same problem.
At this date, with 110 views to the thread, you were the 1st member who pulled the slide to look and offer any feedback. Thanks again.
viewtopic.php?t=3042

That triangle nick on yours looks as though it could be removed with a small needle file. A dremel would also work, but with one slip you could easily add to the damage. Have you ever fired that P-64? Appears that notch is big enough to cause feed/eject issues. So far the damage i've seen are all in the 10 o'clock area, leads me to guess it is from excessive use of steel cased ammo.

Wanted to add-
The damage is in the chamber and not the barrel. One thing you could try is drop a few rounds in by hand (slide removed) and see if they hang up, drag, or scratch up the casing.

[normsutton]

soram

I think I would send that one back, or keep it for a parts gun,
don't really know I do not have it my hands, all these guns are surplus guns,

read the tag that came on them



NORM

[zenithman2003]

I checked my P-64 last night after reading your post and Mine does indeed have a nick at the same 10 oclock position. The only thing I can think of, is a steel cased shell may have become lodged at that position during a failure to fully eject, wedging itself between the slide and the barrel breech. It does not seem to make any difference in the shooting ability of the gun, and is very small. I would think as long as it's a chip and not a crack it should not make any difference in the structural strength of the barrel itself.

[tbone]

Ross,

Thanks for checking your pistols! Sorry, I should have been more descriptive in my post title. Dom and I both had similar posts in two forums (see my post here: http://www.surplusrifleforum.com/viewto ... 69&t=88432 ) regarding this very same issue, and virtually no one chimed in with their observations.

I am beginning to believe that this type of wear may be quite common and normal with use. My pistol also had the triangular piece jutting into the chamber. I have to admit, yours looks a lot deeper. How does it function?

I'm also thinking that the deep ding may be caused by an area of metal in the slide, roughly at 1 o'clock as you look into the slide towards the firing pin (use a flashlight). I imagine this obviously common ding could be caused by the slide slamming into the breech every time a cartridge is cycled. Mine had a portrusion or ridge of metal that looked to be an opposite match for the ding in the breech. My pistol also had excessive extractor claw wear on the same side as the ding.

Hope this helps.

Regards!

[hangfire]

Ross, tbone, I checked my P-64s, two of them (1970 and 1974) are dinged in the exact same 10-11 o'clock spot, not quite to the extent as in the photos but visible nicks nonetheless. I've disassembled and cleaned both guns numerous times and never noticed it before. Both function perfectly so I'm not going to worry about it. Only one (the '70) came from J&G.

It appears that this may be a fairly common issue that many of us weren't even aware of before now. It'll be interesting to see if someone figures out the cause. I agree that returning the gun to J&G was the correct thing to do, especially if you've paid extra for hand select.

[manicmechanic]

I guess there are three of these threads regarding this that could be merged together. Here's a link to a post in one of the others.
viewtopic.php?t=3051&start=0#32450

[james832]

I too had a small nick on the breech, polishing wheel and dremmel took care of it. I had assumed that sometime during disassembly, someone had lifted the slide out of the rails and let it slam forward causing the nick.

[zark]

Mine has light ones at 10:00 and 12:00. My guess would be that it was caused by one of the "prongs" below the bolt face.

It could be that it occured when putting the slide back on after field stripping. It probably happened on a hot summer day after the slide slipped out someone's and/or their friend's sweaty hands a split second after the trigger guard accidently slipped back into its locked position.

That's my guess on what caused mine and it may not be applicable to others.

[normsutton]

if the neck in it isn't as deep as the extractor cut I wouldn't worry about it , I would just smooth it or just take the sharp edges off

NORM