I reload for a M-100 in 284Win, a JC Higgins 51-L in 30-06, a Rem 722 in 222, a Stevens 325 bolt action 30-30 and an S&W 66-2 in 357Mag.

The 06, 284 and 222 have never given me any problems at all, like not going BANG when I pull the trigger. That's what I'm refering to when I say "misfire", just so we are clear. The 30-30 and the 357 sometimes dont go bang , very depressing.

I follow all the same care and procedure on all of my reloading, regardless of which caliber I'm loading at the moment. Untill Elmer Kieth got me thinking a bit. He was saying in "Gun Notes, Vol. 1" that in a six-gun the cartridges had to fit very loose in the cylinder so that the firing pin blow to the primer didn't get dampened by trying to push a tight fitting case all the way home before the firing pin could whack the primer hard enough to fire. Solution: full-length resize so the cases fit loose enough to rattle in the cylinder.

I noticed on the 357 rounds that I have loaded that the fmj bullet seemed to bulge the brass case on one side, like it wasn't centered properly in the case during seating. So maybe the 30-30 is doing something similar, like a tight fitting case. The only two calibers I'm having misfires from are the two with rimmed cases. Hmmmmm.

The 30-30 seems to do fine with factory ammo so its gotta be something I'm not doing correctly.

So here's what I've done, without much succes I might add, in regards to solving the 30-30 misfire mystery: I seated the bullet so it was up against the lands to try and force the case all the way to the rear, tight on the bolt face for maximum firing pin blow. Full-length resized to fit as loose as possibe. I also made sure I wasn't crushing the primer during the primer seating portion of the process. I am using an RCBS Jr. press with the priming arm, not a hand primer. But it still misfires occasionly.

Any ideas or comments would be greatly apprieciated.

Happy shooting,
Redrider

[ 10-20-2003, 08:38: Message edited by: redrider ]

Its difficult from your discription to say exactly what kind of problem your are experencing. It may not be a reload issue but a mechinical issue with the gun(s) itself.

How do they do with factory loads? Any misfires?

When they don't go bang do you have a firing pin indent in the preimer? light, deep, none?

Examin the fired cases, are the firing pin hits on the primers uniform?

Are the misfires related to one type / brand of brass? Have you changed primer brands?

have you checked your primer depth - uniform?

Have you tried cleaning the action with some thing like Gun Scrubber or a degreaser to remove old grease, lube? Grease & Oil build up will cushion the firing pin blow.

Some of the old 30/30's have a bit of a head spacing issue with age. And some S&W's in order to reduce trigger pull they back off on the hammer spring, too much some times and ignition becomes erratic.

Scout Master 54

You are having trouble with both calibers that you load for?

Either you are a very unlucky person, or you had better review your reloading technique and storage conditions.

I have been loading for over 40 years, for several hundred calibers, for several hundred firearms and I have never had one of my reloads fail to fire.

Redrider, With any S&W revolver, the most usual cause of misfires is because someone has lightened the strength of the hammer spring. The model 66 is a K-frame Smith, and has a leaf spring inside the gripframe area that drives the hammer. There is a strain screw near the bottom of the front grip strap that governs the power of the hammer spring. Check that it is screwed all the way in. If it is all the way in and you are still getting misfires, check the length of the strain screw, sometimes people will grind the end down to shorten the screw. Also, look at the leaf spring itself, it should be a fairly dull finish, not polished. Sometimes some enlightend gunsmiths try to polish this spring to get a softer pull, and go just a bit too far. Should be an easy fix.

Regards from duke.

I dont have the same trouble with the '06 using the same components. I'm not saying I'm doing everything perfect, by all means, that's why I'm here looking for help.

I've been using CCI 200 primers, they fire just fine in my other rifles. I appear to have the primers consistently the same depth in the case, not too deep or overflush. There is a good size dent on the primer after firing, sometimes after a couple tries it will go off. Mostly R-P brass, fired not more than a couple of times. Just had the extactor replaced by a gunsmith (it broke) so I believe the bolt to be fairly clean, I hope so anyhow. I will spray it out with Gun Scrubber though just to be sure. Seems to fire factory loads O.K., but I hope to learn what is wrong, with me or the gun, instead of just buying factory rounds. I reload so I don't have to buy those.

There are a couple of unknowns though. I have a question about the Savage 325 and the 30-30 rimmed case. I bought the Savage used at a pawn shop for $100 bucks just for a back-up truck gun. I like the gun but I'm not sure if it's worn out or what.

How do you check for headspace on a rimmed case gun like the 325???

And if the headspace is loose on the gun to begin with, then could the rim get "smashed" thinner from firing also making headspace looser, basicly making a bad situation worse????

I will check the screw on the 357 also. Thanks for the tips.

Happy shooting,
Redrider.

I had the same problem with a Stevens 325. We came to the conclusion that the firing pin was just a tad weak. The Winchester primers I was using would miss fire 1 in 5 or 10. I loaded some with Remington primers and it worked much better. We had a new firing pin and spring installed, and now it works just fine, my son in law loves it. My wife also has a Stevens 325 that she uses all the time. We neck size and use Winchester 150g pointed power points in it to get 1" groups at 100 yards.

Well, I took the Stevens 325 out shooting and here is what I found. I shot about 20 rounds, 10 reloads and 10 factory. All went off OK, but the primer gets backed out after firing. Before the factory primers are about .005 underflush and after firing they are raised up overflush noticeably. Headspace is loose right????? How can this problem be fixed if that is what the problem is?????

I have a Savage 340 that has the same problem with the primers extending out. I took it to a gunsmith to be checked. He used the go and no go gauges, and said it was within specs. He sugested neck sizing, so the brass fills the chamber. I am going to do this, but have lots of rounds loaded for this rifle to use up first.
This was my fathers rifle, my first deer was shot with it and my wifes first buck fell to it too. It is a fine rifle.

[ 10-24-2003, 19:32: Message edited by: hawky ]