I have seen quite a few brand new pumps come in to the shop with fuel pressure issues that had broken pintles when I pulled the pump. (humblemechanic.com)
As a side note, there are injector manufacturers that claim to provide the ability to vary fuel flow rate through use of multiple pintles (Injector Dynamics springs to mind). (mechanics.stackexchange.com)
Big pintles and nozzle orifices mean bigger flow, but also add mass and latency to the operation. (mechanics.stackexchange.com)