Posted: Apr 11th 2010, 11:39 PM
One of the lessons in my gunsmith training focused on Charter Arms revolvers. During that lesson, they issued a strong warning for anyone who might service one these guns. I thought it was rather interesting, and at the same time alarming, so I thought I'd pass it on, even though I haven't seen anyone here mention owning one.
A common cause of problems on many guns is the firing pin. Gunsmiths frequently find themselves repairing firing pins, or fitting new ones. But it seems that the firing pin on Charter Arms revolvers are made from a beryllium/copper alloy. This is a very light, yet strong metal. Unfortunately it is highly toxic. This isn't a problem just handling the metal. But if you grind, file, sand or otherwise remove metal from it, very fine particles of the metal are released into the air. It seems that once inhaled, the particles lodge in the lungs. The lungs react to it by surrounding it with a calcium deposit to effectively seal it off. Unfortunately, this also renders that portion of the lung non functional. Permanently. While the affect of one particle is minuscule, grinding or filing can release thousands of such particles into the air. So basically, any significant amount of work done on a Charter Arms firing pin can be fatal, or at the very least, render you wheel chair bound permanently attached to an oxygen bottle. Talk about a liability issue. How stupid can it be to put something like that in a product, just to save a fraction of an ounce in weight. Makes me wonder how many other such 'gotchas' are lurking out there.
