Technical Tuesday: Why we machine our firing pins out of solid stainless steel
This week’s Technical Tuesday takes a deeper look into the materials we select for our Firing Pins. The Shadow Systems Firing Pins are different from others you’ll see in the market, because they are machined from solid 17-4 stainless steel.
17-4 stainless steel is considered to be the premium stainless steel in the gun industry, with a nice ability to take heat treat, long-wear resistance, corrosion resistance, and resistance to catastrophic failure.
For a part like a firing pin, the strength of solid stainless steel can prevent breakage and malfunction versus a firing pin that is MIM (metal injection molding), like other brand factory firing pins. This is not a rant against MIM in general, as we believe there are many applications for which MIM works well for parts, and some of our parts are in fact MIM, however, for a part like a firing pin, we believe the additional strength of billet steel makes for a stronger, longer lasting addition to your pistol.
Today, we are testing the Glock factory MIM Firing Pin against two Shadow Systems 17-4 Stainless Steel Billet Firing Pin to see which is more resistant to failure over time and use.
As always, drop a question in the comments or give us a call at 469.458.6808.
