I think you're on to something. Upon disassembley, this is what I found. The pin securing the firing pin extension fell right out and is obviously deformed. Where do I go with it from here? Is there a commonly accepted effective remedy? RPD gunsmithing is very uncharted territory for me. Despite the pin clearly being separated from the bolt carrier, the firing pin extension is remaining in place. It moves forward and backward enough that it can be flush on either end, but does not come out. Is this normal, or is it mushroomed in the channel enough that it's no longer removable?
I'm looking at it like an AR15 firing pin, which comes out after the pin is removed. In this RPD case, the pin has been removed, but the firing pin extension remains in the bolt carrier. Shouldn't it have fallen with the cross pin removed?