I purchase a beautiful new Kimber Classic. The wood is outstanding as is the fit and finish, a true piece of workmanship. I love the rifle.

Only one frustrating problem that I cannot find an answer to........

From the very first time at the range the rifle frequently misfires. When it misfires the cartridge rim is only slightly less indented than when it fires, but it is obviously less indented. I can raise the bolt handle to re-cock the rifle and it will then fire the misfired cartridge.

Please tolerate me while I take you through what I have tried step by step so far....I'm searching for those out there that have experience with this and can offer help. I am over 55 years old and have a fair amount of rimfire experience; however this has me stumped......!!!

The recess in the end of the bolt is .033". The firing pin after my modification protrudes beyond the bolt .006". (No barrel contact during dry firing.) A local gunsmith in Spokane Washington checked the head space and the bolt will not close on a .049 headspace gauge. A .046 headspace gauge was not available to use.

The end of the firing pin is normal width. I have not tried to make it narrower. The barrel has sufficient chamfer.

I have polished the inside of the bolt and the firing pin where the spring contacts. I have polished the inside of the cocking piece and the piece that slides inside that.

Of course everything is lubricated. (FP-10)

Everything functions beautifully except it will sometimes misfire for no apparent reason.

I have sorted cartridges by rim thickness and selected the 50 thickest and still get misfires. Then I shoot the thinnest 50 and get about the same amount of misfires...!

I should mention that I have tried many brands and types of ammo.

Several types of federal, Lapua, PMC Scoremaster, Power Point, Winchester Target, CCI Mini Mag, CCI Green Tag, Wolf MT, Wolf M Xtra, Wolf M Gold, Aguila and several type of Eley. I experience misfires in all of these. Brand of ammo seems to make no difference.

Rarely do I experience more than 2 misfires in a row; usually it is a single misfire within each 20 rounds. Sometimes it can be 3 misfires in 20 rounds. Occasionally I have fired 30 rounds without a misfire.

The thing that really has me bugged here is the fact that I have never owned a .22 rifle in any price range that misfires this much.

The firing pin movement is only slightly over 1/4 inch. Of course this provides the short lock time.

Almost forgot, Kimber, USA in New York provided another firing pin and firing pin spring......... absolutely no help.

I hope I have explained everything in detail and that someone can see the trees for the forest surrounding this problem. If I think of anything else I will add it.

Thanks in advance for any help, Wally...

I was going to suggest Rimfirecental but I see you are already there. I have no answer.

Just guessing here since I haven't been inside a Kimber. Is the striker dragging on something, like the trigger is adjusted with to little over travel so it is offering some resistance to the sear? I have seen photos of the original bolt assembly but can't recall the trigger setup. You might try disassembling the bolt, removing the spring and reassemble + slide striker back and forth with fingers to see if you can feel any resistance. Anyway, just a thought.
C.G.B.

I think that the suggestion about the striker dragging is the best place to start looking. If the indent is visibly shallower, it means that somewhere the striker assembly is dragging. I'm not saying why, just that it occasionally drags. You have polished the firing pin and as much inside the bolt, you say, as you can, so that is likely not it.

Try looking at something like the trigger sear rebounding and dragging. It might be loose, it might be too high, or it might have a missing stop. The stop could be a pin, or the underside of the action, that allows it to rebound too far

Wally_B Do you mind if i ask you some question's
Is the rifle a Kimber of Oregon.Or a Kimber of America.
Is it a K 22 or a M 82 .
Just would like to know is all

Pottsy

Wally B, sorry about that, but, you have two choices. Send it back to Kimber to get right, or box it up and trade it for a Cooper. In the words of that gundog guru James Lamb Free, "it's just as easy to love a good one."

Thank's Wally_B
I hate to say this to you though but JoeR is right
on the money here .
Kimber of Oregon would have fixed it no question's asked .
I do fear though that any modifation's you have made may void any chance to get it fixed for free but you never know
Some years ago i blew my M77 up i just put it aside and
thought it was done for then about 3 years ago.
Abuddy ( so called ) asked if he could have it just to look at mind you .He in turn took it down to the local gun store and told them it was his and that it had just blown up on him .
The gun store not knowing he was full of BS sent it back to Ruger Who inturn sent him a brand new Ruger M 77 for free
.Needless to say some componys dont care how it happend just so long as your happy.. thay may fix it any way

By the way the X FRIEND Of mine really likes his new gun
I guess i was the fool

Pottsy