Bad Mark IV Firing Pins

[SGW Gunsmith]

From my understanding, the Ruger Mark IV "safety" recall is still in full force. Now, in the middle of this recall, we are seeing the Ruger Mark IV style firing pins breaking on a regular basis. See the picture enclosed:



The above picture is just one representation of a Mark IV broken firing pin, but breakage is in the very same area as depicted above on other pins I've seen. The only reason I can figure for the smaller hole is to make the firing pin a bit lighter? Unfortunately, from the samples I've seen, that hole was installed very close to where the radius on the bottom of the firing pin collides with the hardened firing pin stop pin, to the point where the "lightening hole" becomes elongated and then the firing pin breaks.
Reports have also come forth that after the breakage, the front piece of the firing pin will now travel farther forward and will put a ding in the chamber mouth of the breech face. As always, it's your choice whether to replace that firing pin with a better pin, or not.

[Spike]

These are the "new" style firing pins that are failing?

[SGW Gunsmith]

Yes sir. The above firing pin is from the new Ruger Mark IV. I replaced the firing pin in my Ruger Mark IV with a Ruger Mark II firing pin and it's working just fine and hasn't broken.