# Light strikes with Taurus Tracker 990 (22LR)



## Texas Yankee (Nov 25, 2020)

Sorry for the long post. I have one of the earlier Taurus Trackers, in 22LR only - model 2-990069, serial number ES434xxx. I tried some lighter springs from Wolff to improve the trigger pull and I started getting light strikes - so, I put the original springs back in, but I'm still getting some light strikes. With the original springs back in, the rounds all fire, eventually, usually with an extra turn or two around on the cylinder, and then the rounds fire - its a range gun only, but it's annoying.

While I had the side plate off to put back in the original springs, and do some cleaning and inspection, I read many posts about light strikes with 22LR revolvers - there were a few suggestions about removing a coil from the firing pin spring to reduce the resistance when it moves forward to fire a round (I didn't do that) - when I looked at how much the firing pin protruded through the frame with and without the spring (with the cylinder out), I didn't see any difference in how far it protrudes. The firing pin and the other action parts all seem to move smoothly.

I also read about the transfer bar - when I pull the trigger and the hammer drops, the transfer bar comes up enough so that it fully covers the back of the firing pin and moves the firing pin through the cylinder wall.

I tried several different type of 22LR ammo yesterday at the range and they all had failures to fire \ light strikes - Federal, Remington, Winchester, CCI Stinger. So, I'm guessing that it's NOT an ammo problem. Pushing in the bolt and opening the cylinder, I can see the firing pin protruding when I pull and hold the trigger in DA. I took out the firing pin - it's clean and it seems to move back and forth as it should when I push it and release it from inside the frame. I can see the transfer bar coming up between the firing pin and the hammer as I think it should. While I tried one of the lighter Wolff hammer springs, I took that out and re-installed the original Taurus spring - it's a 2011 gun, so I'm wondering if the hammer spring has "gone bad".

i checked again and the firing pin definitely protrudes through the cylinder wall. Holding the trigger, the firing pin protrudes enough so that the cylinder won't close because the firing pin is protruding.

Something else i just noticed shown in the attached picture - the extractor doesn't seem to be lined up perfectly with the chambers in the cylinder - not sure if what's shown in the picture is normal or not. 22LR rounds load and extract OK, but the extractor looks a bit "offset" from the cylinder chambers.

Took the gun to the range and the light strikes continued - so it's gonna go off to Taurus for repair - they estimated that it's be a 12 week turn around. I didn't see any pattern about if the light strikes were happening on a specific chamber - the rounds all fired after a turn or two around on the cylinder, so it doesn't look like an ammo problem. I am wondering if the firing pin has become damaged (chipped, deformed, etc.), and maybe now it's shorter than it needs to be? Can anyone measure the length of the thin part of the firing pin that should be protruding through the chamber wall in their Tracker 22LR? And maybe a picture of the business end of the firing pin, so I can tell if mine is as it's supposed to be, or not?

I'm going to send the gun to Taurus, but before I do, does anyone have a suggestion as to what might be going on with this revolver?


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