S&W Model 52 not firing reliably

One of the people I have been shooting with at my range for a year or two has an M-52 that he has been having problems with.  He recently got the gun back from the last people working on it, and as I was watching him shoot it, it was misfiring as much as it was firing.  

I brought back one of the shell casings to photograph and post here.  It looks to several of us like the firing pin is not striking the primer with enough force, but none of us know how to correct this, if it actually is the problem.  Here's my photo.  Any advice to pass on to him?

I'm not thinking the primer strike looks to be an issue. It looks like it ought to be deep enough to gain ignition.

Is the gun clean?

reloads or factory ammo?

Bad reloads that don't fully seat in the chamber?

Or the primer is not fully seated in the pocket. The pocket looks well used in that photo.

high primer is the first thing to check..

jglenn21, I asked him, and he said he has been using both reloads and factory ammo.  A month or two ago, I thought it was reloads, but today he said he was (also????) using factory ammo (but the two shells I picked off the ground behind him at random look like they've seen a lot of use.

Wobbley, he's been having this problem before and after the gun was returned to him for work, so at least at some point it should have been clean.

Bruce, I assume you mean he should remove the barrel, and see how well the round drops into the barrel?

Multiracer, he tells me this happens with new and reloaded ammo.  But, the two cases I picked up are different brands, and when I put them back to back, they "rock" back and forth meaning what you said is correct - at least one primer is not fully seated in the pocket.

The firing pin strike will only "seat" the primer but not cause ignition.
Just ask how I know of this issue...lol.

Multiracer wrote:The firing pin strike will only "seat" the primer but not cause ignition.
Just ask how I know of this issue...lol.

No, I'm not going to ask you, but that sounds so logical after I think about it.  
So the energy gets used up moving the primer forwards, and maybe there's not enough left to fire the round....

So, I need to look at some of his un-fired ammo.

......more likely, I'll print out this discussion and give it to him next Tuesday.  Thanks!

Lousy reloaders are the bane of good gunsmiths. Yes shells should plunk into the chamber, or use a shell gauge. Raw cast and liquid lubed bullets can be all over the place on size some chamber, others not. 52s bulge the shell from unsupported chambers so the sizer die may not reach low enough if the entrance radius is too generous. Shells should be clean. All I can think of right now.

When asked, he told me the same thing happens with factory ammo.

Maybe the reloads just make it worse, but from what he says, the gun still has a problem.  There was a group of people trying to sort this out yesterday.  

Question - when shops doing repairs finish the work on a gun, do most of them do test fires?  Curious....

call up last shop and tell them they didn't fix it.  Maybe it needs some new springs?

POSSIBLE CAUSES;
DIRTY CHAMBER
DIRTY FIRNG PIN CHANNEL
BROKEN FIRING PIN SPRING
BROKEN FIRING PIN
WEAK RECOIL SPRING (SAME EFFECT AS PRIMER NOT BEING SEATED FULLY, THE HAMMER FINISHES CLOSING THE SLIDE CAUSING A LIGHT HIT ON THE PRIMER)
FOR A MODEL 52 THE PRIMER SHOULD BE .004" BELOW FLUSH
HARD PRIMERS, SUCH AS CCI,TRY USING ONLY FEDERAL PRIMERS

I'm going with #4 Broken firing Pin

Thanks to all of you.  I'll print this out, and give it to him on Tuesday at the range.

Looks like high primers...

Oh yeah, May not apply here but +P brass is bad news for cast dewc because the extra thick brass gets bulged by the bullet base. You can see those by the way. 

Thanks