Thanks. Now my husband tried this and broke my gun with a pencil...

perhaps your pencil eraser is to soft, try new pencil

1911 and LC9 cause pencil to jump out of the barrel and i got no movement out of the SR9c. I don't know what that means, however the SR9c works so I say don't worry

ponzer04, this eases my mind a little bit, especially since my gun does actually work fine as of right now.

holly, i am very sorry, i'll try not to mention any more tests :-(

Originally Posted by bengewarmer

So I've read online and seen a couple of videos of the "pencil test" as a way to test the firing pin without firing rounds. However, from what I see/read, whenever people do this test and it is successful, the pencil flies several feet out of the gun. I tried this in my P2000 and found that the pencil only jumped about an inch or so, not even coming all the way out of the barrel. Is this indicative of a faulty/weak firing pin? I have fired this gun before and it is a new gun. Been to the range three times with a total of about 400 rounds through. There have thus far only been two failures but they were jamming issues, not misfires. Am I looking at any problems down the road? Or should I just go to sleep and stop being a hypochondriac on behalf of my baby.

stop penciling your gun and forget about it, its fine.... besides, repeating this test too often causes barrel leading

Hahaha! Thanks. Since ponzer04 is my husband, I'll assume my gun is in fact not broken. So, it's ok.

Originally Posted by Holly

Hahaha! Thanks. Since ponzer04 is my husband, I'll assume my gun is in fact not broken. So, it's ok.

haha..you guys. my chain hath been successfully yanked.

ted: yes sir.

Question to TedDeBearFrmHell, what is barrel leading?

Since it goes bang with actual ammo, I wouldn't sweat it.

Originally Posted by ponzer04

Question to TedDeBearFrmHell, what is barrel leading?

a build up of lead in the barrel, most often associated with the use of non jacketed, soft lead bullets and/or excessive pencil testing

...And you remove it with—I kid you not—a piece of brass window screen!

Or an eraser...


(I thought that "pencil test" referred only to a method of discerning whether or not a given young lady should eschew her brassiere.)

When I saw the subject of this thread I thought maybe it was going to be about the pencil test to see if a gal needs to wear a bra!

Originally Posted by TedDeBearFrmHell

stop penciling your gun and forget about it, its fine.... besides, repeating this test too often causes barrel leading

Yes, but that generally only happens with soft #2 pencils. Use #4 or higher. The lead is much harder and doesn't foul the barrel as much.

Originally Posted by Blade

Yes, but that generally only happens with soft #2 pencils. Use #4 or higher. The lead is much harder and doesn't foul the barrel as much.

I find that using the metal cased mechanical pencils totally eliminate the bore leading problem completely (and they stick in the wall better too)

It means that the hammer or striker hits the firing pin lighter than others. My beretta 92G with its 12 pound trigger pull and relatively heavy hammer shoots a pencil across the room at warp speed. I have no doubts this pistol will ever suffer from light primer strikes.

why wouldn't you just put the pencil into the barrel eraser first, and why not make it one that hasn't been sharpened yet?

So, what your saying is that he still has some lead in his pencil.......

Originally Posted by ponzer04

why wouldn't you just put the pencil into the barrel eraser first, and why not make it one that hasn't been sharpened yet?

Because then it wouldn't stick into the wall.
Why have man-toys, if you don't use them to get your wife mad at you?