"Interesting" Day at the Range

[b5.5dan]

OK! I took my 52 out to the range for the first time today, and I have to say, it sure is fun to shoot! However, I had some strange things happen while I was shooting. First thing was, I would pull the trigger and there would be a VERY slight delay between hammer drop and the shot firing. Another issue was FTF. The indent on the primer seemed deep enough and hard enough, but nothing. I hatre to admit it, but after waiting for a few moments with the pistol pointed downrange, I cocked the hammer and tried one of them again. It worked the second time. So my question is, is this an ammo issue or a firing pin issue? I know I could be looking at ammo that is at least 30 years old (Norinco stuff. No weight on the box, but the box looked like it was printed in teh 60s or 70s).

Great pistol. I'm not as accurate with it as I am any of my other pistols, but they are all completely different animals. Any insight would be appreciated!

[lklawson]

Can you pick up some new ammo to fire and compare?

I've had a few hard primers that didn't ignite off of the first strike when using surplus ammo but I've not had any hang-fires.  Both could be a possibility with surplus ammo, of course.

Not sure what the issue could be if not hang-fires and hard primers.  Nothing that I can think of would really act the way you describe; not a broken firing pin tip, not a dirty firing pin channel, etc.

Peace favor your sword,
Kirk

[Rodolfo Fierro]

It there is a good dent in the primer, the firing pin is doing it's job.  If you have 50 year old ammo you are not getting out to shoot enough.

[b5.5dan]

Hangfire! I knew there was a specific term for it. It's a strange feeling... Trigger, hammer, wait, boom... haha! That ammo is definitely of a vintage which predates my birth ('76). A once-bright yellow box... Norinco... I will post a picture of it. I have a lot of it. Well, probably another 400 rounds. The pistol came with some reloads. THose should be fresh. Well, "fresher", anyway... I need to shoot that thing more. I was not proficient with it...

[Tiberius]

Old ammunition is likely the culprit, Romanian/Czech/Turkish/Chinese and some Bulgarian surplus is notorious for hangfires and not firing at all.

Also, never attempt to fire anything Pakistani made in your gun, it's dirty, inaccurate, unreliable and 2x more corrosive than anything I've ever used before.
Just putting that out there.

[b5.5dan]

Thanks! I figured it was likely the ammo, but I had never experienced anything like that before. It's very odd. I'll just have to burn through this stuff and get some new. Hopefully by the time it's gone I will be better with this pistol!

[GhostWarrior]

        Same thing happens when I'm using my Surplus rounds. Scary as heck when it happens. Feels like you have a snake by almost the neck and trying to keep it from biting you. I allways feel a tad silly standing there with my arm sticking out holding a pistol and not shooting.

[b5.5dan]

haha! That about sums it up. Standing there with your, well, something in your hand... 
But when the round goes off, everything seems right again. I swear... The bullets shoot sparks off the backdrop like my .45 never did, and just a bit less than a 7.62x39. It's an impressive caliber. I want to get some new production stuff and see what that does for accuracy. I would feel just fine carrying that one if I were better with it...