Browning Buck Mark early firing pin-Modify??

[gearchecker]

I have an early Buck Mark with the old style firing pin. Lately I've been getting light primer strikes and a great deal of mis-fires. I've looked just about everywhere and can't find a replacement firing pin.
So here's my question. . .
The firing pin has a slotted hole allowing the forward movement of the firing pin into the primer. Could I possibly lengthen the slot by a 1/2 milimeter or so, to give it more room to move forward into the primer?

 

[g.willikers]

Changing that hole might make the pistol more likely to suffer damage from a dry fire.
Mebbe.
The original shape might limit the travel of the firing pin to prevent it.
Just a guess, though.
But if that's what it takes to make the gun work.......

 

[Dixie Gunsmithing]

You can lengthen the slot by a small amount. Also, there is a possibility that it is a weak hammer spring. If some indentations look to be deeper than others, I'd look at the spring first.

 

[gearchecker]

I found that Jack First has the ones they make in stock. $30 with shipping. I've called my gunsmith to see if he might have one somewhere in his stockpile of spare parts. He said he doesn't, so I'm having him call Jack First and get the part ordered for me. It sure can't hurt having a spare in my box of parts.

I've also done a complete teardown and cleaning of every part in the fire control group. the firing pin and channel was pretty gunked up, so hopefully that might offer some improvement.

The pin indentations on the casings seemed pretty consistent, but I've learned that even a small difference can affect the results. I was shooting CCI mini-mags, so I know it's not an ammo issue. I'll just need to see if the cleanup worked or not.

For now I'm not going to alter the existing pin. But if I need to I will later.