Hunting rifle not firing all the time.

[UnklFungus]

Okay, I have a 35 Whelen built on a Remington 798 maybe just 98? platform, Mauser action and it is shooting reloads. Every once in a while, it will click but no boom. It appears that the firing pin may not be going forward enough. This is not a common occurrence, but today when I went to shoot a doe, it did it. She was gracious enough to wait for me to lift the bolt handle and drop it again to allow me to shoot her!


Could this be caused by the primers or pin? If it is the pin, could the spring be getting old? This was given to me and I don't know how old it is. I have had the bolt apart and it is CLEAN inside! One round took too hits to the primer and it didn't fire, today it fired on the second try! Any and all ideas welcome and thanks!

P.S. I got the doe through both eyes. She never knew she died!

[DefensiveCarry.com]

[dukalmighty]

Sounds like it's got a weak hammer spring causing light hits

[nedrgr21]

or try a different brand of primer

[UnklFungus]

Maybe I'll try both! This is the load data:
Speer 250 grain soft point bullets 53 g IMR 4046 with CCI 200 primers overall length 3.305" and they were loaded 10-23-07. Any other primer recommendations? Also, any recommendations on where is a good place to get a Burris scope? The one on there now is pretty hard to get a quick sight picture with. 'Course it is a cheap Bushnell. Also, I could use tips on setting the eye relief, this may help with getting the gun up more quickly!

My 30.06 has a fixed 4 power Burris scope and it is a QUICK scope! But the Bushnell even set to 3 power isn't anywhere that quick to acquire sight picture.

Thanks again for all of the help!

[mr surveyor]

take the bolt apart, carefully clean the firing pin tunnel, inspect the firing pin for damage, re-assemble and try again. It just may be some flakes of brass, carbon, etc. built up in the pin tunnel. Don't over lube the pin when you re-assemble...it just attracts more gunk


just my guess


surv

[UnklFungus]

take the bolt apart, carefully clean the firing pin tunnel, inspect the firing pin for damage, re-assemble and try again. It just may be some flakes of brass, carbon, etc. built up in the pin tunnel. Don't over lube the pin when you re-assemble...it just attracts more gunk


just my guess


surv

Thanks, those were my thoughts too, but I just cleaned it and it was the only round through it since then. I didn't re-oil it, but I did wipe it down and that left a very light film on it. I used Weapon Shield oil on it a month ago and when it misfired at the gun club Saturday I wiped it down after taking it apart.

I guess I'll check it again tomorrow.

[mr surveyor]

UnklFungus

yeah, I did go back and re-read your first post, and you did indicate that you had the bolt apart. I know that springs can fail, but with modern spring technology, and the limited number of rounds cycled through most hunting rifles, spring failure would be my last guess. But, I am far from being an expert.

Have you tried fresh factory ammunition, just as a benchmark test? Is it possible you may have some out of spec primers, or not 100% properly seated? Just grabbing at straws.

Man, I bet that 35 Whelen did a number on bambi's mom


surv

(by the way, I always tell my wife I have all the answers.... she just doesn't always ask the right questions... she has no sense of humor)

[ocadmirer]

I shoot a similar rifle for deer and had a problem similar. My problem was that I was wearing gloves at the time and the hammer...lol havent worn gloves hunting since!

[86thecat]

You said reloads- are the primers fully seated in clean primer pockets? Enough firing pin energy can be absorbed by primers being pushed to the bottom of the pocket to cause a mis fire. I use a carbide primer pocket uniformer to clean and square the pockets every loading.

Excessive headspace can also cause mis fires, make sure you aren't setting the shoulder too far back on the brass when resizing. 35 Whelens have some history of headspace issues with slightly non standard chambers, out of spec brass and shoulders pushed too far back during resizing.

[nedrgr21]

Eye relief - tighten the ring screws (or get some scope screwz if you're about to place an order with a gun shop) just enough to hold the scope, but you can still move it, so your adjustments hold when you take the rifle off your shoulder. Set it so you can see the max field of view - either too far forward or back and you'll lose the max view. Now move it about 1/4" forward so you have to stretch your neck just a bit for the perfect view. This will keep you from getting scope eye.

[stolivar]

CCI primers are very hard primers. change brands and then try.



steve

[atctimmy]

In addition to the other primer related advice I'll throw this in. If you seat your primers with the press you can crush them causing primers to fail. Lee and RCBS both make nifty priming tools that allow you to feel when the primers are fully seated and since you're just using hand power you won't crush them.

[Lewis128]

This may seem like a silly question. But do you get similar problems with factory loads?

[Jeff F]

Excessive headspace can also cause mis fires

That was my second thought after a dirty firing pin channel, which has already been addressed. Are you full length sizing when loading? If you are then I recommend not doing it on cases that have already been fired. Just neck size and see if that helps your problem. Full length sizing would take the brass back to SAAMI dimensions and your chamber may not be within those tolerances. Fire formed brass that is only neck sized for loading is exactly to the dimensions of your chamber and would pretty much counter any minor headspace variations.