Just something that crossed my mind the other day since it has never happened to me... What to do when a misfire happens??? I imagine there is nothing quite like the feeling when you've just pulled the trigger on a boomer and nothing happens...

Your thoughts ???

Ken....

Heat I would suggest you continue to firmly hold the firearm and keep it pointed in a safe direction. Count slowly to 5 and if nothing has happened open the action and remove the round.I would then suggest you try figure out what caused the problem.Some rather common problems may include,contaminated primers on handloads, overworked brass creating excessive headspace on handloads, old poorly cared for ammo or a weak firing pin spring. Hope that helps

The previous post offers sound advice. As far as my thoughts on the subject. I've never had it happen on one of my handloads because I'm so anal on checking things as I go along to include looking at every primer befor it goes into the priming tool. I have it happen with factory ammo once or twice and I remember after waitihg a period of time in case of a hang fire being nervious as a cat opening the bolt.

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I would suggest you continue to firmly hold the firearm and keep it pointed in a safe direction. Count slowly to 5 and if nothing has happened open the action and remove the round

Don't remove the round please....let it fall to the ground.

This may seem excessive as hangfires are rarely more than tenths of a second and you've allowed for that in waiting five seconds.....just play it safe.

Would it be a good idea to (if it's a bolt gun) raise and lower the bolt and try to fire it again?? After waiting a few seconds of course.

I think that would at least eliminate a light strike...

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Originally posted by vapodog:

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I would suggest you continue to firmly hold the firearm and keep it pointed in a safe direction. Count slowly to 5 and if nothing has happened open the action and remove the round

Don't remove the round please....let it fall to the ground.

This may seem excessive as hangfires are rarely more than tenths of a second and you've allowed for that in waiting five seconds.....just play it safe.

My thinking says this is sound advice but in one of my rifles (338-378 Weatherby) a loaded round is a touch longer then the ejection port....

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Originally posted by CharlieHo:
Would it be a good idea to (if it's a bolt gun) raise and lower the bolt and try to fire it again?? After waiting a few seconds of course.

I think that would at least eliminate a light strike...

This is a good question....

Ken....

I got BIG groups before I got a misfire - on a CZ 550. The clip, which secured the nut, which held the FP spring under pressure, was useless, the nut had shifted.

Tightened the nut and loctited it. I left the clip where it was ( in "loose" position, so one look will tell me, if the nut is still tight ( = away from the clip ).

Second remark: a round, which is too long to be eject easily ( or an ejector on a Match 1911, which is too long to let a loaded round be removed easily ) is a No - No to me!

Fine for the range, but not for a gun to be used for self defense or hunting dangerous game ( what do you do with your 338/378??? )

just my .02 ...

H

quote:

Originally posted by Arminius:
I got BIG groups before I got a misfire - on a CZ 550. The clip, which secured the nut, which held the FP spring under pressure, was useless, the nut had shifted.

Tightened the nut and loctited it. I left the clip where it was ( in "loose" position, so one look will tell me, if the nut is still tight ( = away from the clip ).

Second remark: a round, which is too long to be eject easily ( or an ejector on a Match 1911, which is too long to let a loaded round be removed easily ) is a No - No to me!

Fine for the range, but not for a gun to be used for self defense or hunting dangerous game ( what do you do with your 338/378??? )

just my .02 ...

H

In all honesty I haven't moved the bolt back "quickly" to eject a loaded round so it's coming out before the bolt is all the way back... I guess I should give it a try at full speed.. Thanks for the comment as it made me think ...

By the way, it's my elk and larger rifle... Hopefully to go bear hunting in Alaska one of these years with a friend of mine... I think I'll MAKE SURE it WILL eject a loaded round before I use if for bear...

Thanks again for your comments....

Ken....

I once bought a box of 1,000 CCI primers that was so bad I was getting misfires every four to five rounds from the 100 primers in each box.
No, these were not light strikes as the rounds failed to fire in three separate rifles chambered to the same cartridge. Wasn't headspace and the roulds were fairly snug in all three rifles. All three rifles were standard Mauser actions with their normally heavy firing pin fall. I quit CCI primers and changed to Winchester's and haven't had any problems since.
FWIW, a friend and I bought our CCI primers on the same day and both boxes were from the same lot number. He too had numerous misfires.
Paul B.

I had a bunch of misfires with CCI primers as well in my .45.

I held the gun pointed down range, counted to 20, ejected the mag, then ejected the round and put them nose down in an empty plastic ammo box for later reuse.

I had issues with hang fires also with CCi primers, I wont use them at all anymore.

What is even scarier was when I either undercharged or failed to charge a round and the bullet stuck in the barrel but it was still able to cycle the action. Its the sort of thing that if I was doing rapid fire I could easily have shot another round down a blocked barrel.

I have also gotten away from CCI primers and only use Federal.
The strange thing is that CCI .22's are the most accurate.

sorry about the hijack, but i just have to ask this question now that you bring this subject up!

i have a 303 that is built on a p14 action, well its not actually my rifle it belongs to my older brother, anyway i used it alot before i bought my own rifle. i worked up a load for some 150gr sierra pro hunter bullets, 2208 powder and win LR primers, and just used the PMC brass i had. anyway he tried to shoot a deer with it and all it did was put a tiny little dent, and i mean a little dent! he said he reloaded the bolt 7 times or so before it went off! anyway the next day and the same story, except it didnt go off for about 3 attempts, and he fired about 5 rounds consecutively without a problem at a fleeting stag running down a gully.

do you think this problem of it putting little dents in the primer is due to a weak firing spring? we opened it up and there was no dirt or anything around the spring

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do you think this problem of it putting little dents in the primer is due to a weak firing spring? we opened it up and there was no dirt or anything around the spring

Weak spring will cause that symptom and maybe other stuff as I am not familiar with the action enough to know. Springs are cheap, it certainly can't hurt to replace it, especialy if the gun is stored cocked.

I've had similar problems with old Mausers. Turned out there was sufficient gunk build up on the back side of the bolt face; enough so that it cushioned the striker blow. Stripped the bolt and gave it a bath in carburetor cleaner -problem solved

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Originally posted by Heat:

In all honesty I haven't moved the bolt back "quickly" to eject a loaded round so it's coming out before the bolt is all the way back... I guess I should give it a try at full speed.. Thanks for the comment as it made me think ...

I did some test ejections last night at various speeds. The only one that doesn't fully (and easily) eject the round is when I'm pulling the bolt back very slowly with my other hand in the ready to capture the round before it is flung out...

Thanks for the answers guys, much appreciated...

Ken....

Paul from NZ most military rifles have rather large chambers and headspacing is often a little sloppy. I suspect your brothers P-14 is no different . You likely full length resized your cases before loading them. In doing that you likely moved the shoulder back so the case is headspacing solely on the rim. Yes I am aware the 303 was designed to headspace on the rim. With your excess headspace you likely do not have enough firing pin travel to push the casefully forward and ignite the primer. Try neck sizing a case that has been fired in that rifle. I bet your misfires disappear and your cases will last a whole lot longer. PS/ I acyually use a 308 win die backed out of the press a few turns to neck size my 303 cases. Hope that helps

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Originally posted by snowman:
Paul from NZ most military rifles have rather large chambers and headspacing is often a little sloppy. I suspect your brothers P-14 is no different . You likely full length resized your cases before loading them. In doing that you likely moved the shoulder back so the case is headspacing solely on the rim. Yes I am aware the 303 was designed to headspace on the rim. With your excess headspace you likely do not have enough firing pin travel to push the casefully forward and ignite the primer. Try neck sizing a case that has been fired in that rifle. I bet your misfires disappear and your cases will last a whole lot longer. PS/ I acyually use a 308 win die backed out of the press a few turns to neck size my 303 cases. Hope that helps

i think i did neck size them. not that im 100% sure now. the bolt isnt stored cocked but the spring will be stretched slightly.

it has a aftermarket barrel on it, its unbranded and dont know who the smith was as the rifle was bought like that

quote:

Originally posted by CharlieHo:
Would it be a good idea to (if it's a bolt gun) raise and lower the bolt and try to fire it again?? After waiting a few seconds of course.

I think that would at least eliminate a light strike...

NO
If you have a light strike, you want to see what is going on.

Trying to fire the round again is doable, but only after examination.