Black Rifle Arms AR-15 7.62x39 Enhanced Firing Pin
By George Ross Jr. January 17, 2021
The occasional light primer strike issue I was having with my AR-47 was limiting my ammunition options by not being able to reliably fire steel cased ammunition. With brass cased ammunition being so hard to come by these days this just would not do. When I set out to fix my predicament I nearly erred and purchased a Velocity Steel-Cased AR Trigger to fix the light primer strike issue plaguing my rifle. This was because my initial experience with swapping out trigger springs had yielded positive results. That was a costly endeavor so before I went down that road I did a little more research into the matter and ran across the Black Rifle Arms AR-15 7.62x39 Enhanced Firing Pin. This was the solution I was looking for plus it cost less than $20 (Depending on shipping) and was much easier to install than putting in a new trigger. Before I purchased this pin I reach out to Bear Creek Arsenal the makers of my upper and asked if they would advise me in this matter. Not only did they respond with the good news that they would recommend using an enhanced firing pin they also gave me some suggestions on buffer weight and buffer springs to use with the upper. With the all clear from the folks that made my upper I pulled the trigger on buying this firing pin. I am more than happy that I did because I don’t have light primer strike issues anymore.
A Closer Look
As you can see in the picture above the Black Rifle Arms AR-15 7.62x39 Enhanced Firing Pin is longer than a mil-spec firing pin. I was surprised the difference in length was so much that I could capture it with a photo. I was expecting like a few microns difference in length not something that is plain to see. I was curious if this firing pin was to long for use with boxer primers, but even with the mil-spec trigger spring loaded up it never pierced a primer. The indents this firing pin leaves are nice an deep, but not to deep as can be seen in the images below.
From left to right. Mil-spec firing pin, enhanced firing pin + Timney trigger, enhanced firing pin + M*CARBO trigger spring and enhanced firing pin + mil-spec trigger.
Left mil-spec firing pin. Right enhanced firing pin + M*CARBO trigger spring.
Performance Across Different Trigger Setups
So before we move on here. The table below shows what the situation was before I got this new firing pin.
Not a pretty picture. Berdan primers had proven themselves to be quite the annoyance. After the Black Rifle Arms AR-15 7.62x39 Enhanced Firing Pin was installed in my upper the table now looks like I wanted it to from the start.
As you can see even when a lighter trigger is used with the Black Rifle Arms AR-15 7.62x39 Enhanced Firing Pin it has no problems firing Berdan primers. I have yet to have a single light primer strike since I have swapped out the firing pin. Amen!
Installation
The Black Rifle Arms AR-15 7.62x39 Enhanced Firing Pin does not come with any installation instructions and it doesn’t really need to. All you have to do to install install this firing pin is pull out the retaining pin from your bolt carrier group. Pull out the old firing pin. Grease up the enhanced firing pin and install it back where the old one was. Finish up by reinstalling the retaining pin back into the bolt carrier group. For those who have never taken apart their bolt carrier groups before it would be a good idea check out some You Tube videos on the subject and see if you feel comfortable installing this enhanced firing pin by yourself.
Conclusion
If your Bear Creek Arsenal 7.62x39 upper has been having light primer strike issues with steel cased ammunition. I highly recommend you give the Black Rifle Arms AR-15 7.62x39 Enhanced Firing Pin serious consideration as the solution to that. Black Rifle Arms even has an enhanced power hammer spring if you don’t feel the enhanced firing pin alone will do the job. In my experience however I see no need for a heavier spring as even the lighter triggers I tried out set off all the ammunition I ran just fine. The lighter triggers didn’t leave quite as deep an indent in the primers as the mil-spec trigger did, but I have yet to have a light primer strike with well over 100 rounds now through the rifle with the enhanced firing pin installed. I am back to using the M*CARBO trigger spring in the rifle. I am glad that the light primer strike issues I was having are gone with so little effort and expense. The next 7.62x39 rifle I build will have the Black Rifle Arms AR-15 7.62x39 Enhanced Firing Pin installed in the rifle before it ever fires a shot. You can get your very own Black Rifle Arms AR-15 7.62x39 Enhanced Firing Pin by clicking or tapping here.
