Does anyone else have this problem? When shooting reloads with older style browning O/U’s(1980’s) in .410 and .28, one out of five shells won’t fire in the bottom barrel and only leave a small dent in the primer. If you take that same shell that didn’t fire in the bottoms barrel and put it in the top barrel it will fire 100%of the time. I tried welding a small piece of metal to the end of the firing pin but only helped a little with the problem. I have never had this problem with my newer xs and 525 models.
Thank

Have you replaced the hammer springs? Most of my experience is with 12 gauge. The bottom barrel spring usually fails first because it's used more.

I’ve had issues with crud building up in an older citori in the lower barrel. I’d get a good gunsmith to clean that area and inspect/replace anything too worn like springs or firing pins.

Springs and firing pins have been replaced. This never happens with factory loads, only reloads. My guess is primers have sunk a little too deep in pocket but the misfires never have a problem firing in the top barrel.

It's painful when this happens. A early 1940's A.H. Fox I have and used throughout the late 50's-60's and 70's bird shooting, presented with this same problem, at a trap range, around 1985. Sent it to a gunsmith for through cleaning and examination and no mechanical condition or part defect was found. The condition persisted on an intermittent basis and eventually, I retired that shotgun and attributed it to the manufacture of 'harder' primers in use. I never reloaded for that shotgun, I used manufactured rounds only. It did well and I avoided the problem, for awhile, with paper cased ammo from Italy, but after being discontinued, using the new plastic cases was unavoidable. Originally ordered and made for the president of Savage Arms, that particular shotgun remains in a safe as a family piece. I figure it's earned it's retirement.

I hope you're able to find a solution. Alot of memories made with that old Fox and I'd love to be able to shoot quail and pheasant with it again. These older shotguns are treasures.

Good luck!

Two responsible things that we see in the shop are firing pin protrusion and wallowed out firing pin mortises. You may have to have a longer firing pin machined. If the mortise is worn the pin loses energy and gives light strikes. Again may have to machine one that fits tighter. If you have a caliper measure the case head protrusion on the bottom barrel with factory and reloads to see if your equipment is responsible.

Wallowed out firing pin holes, worn firing pins, springs, but these problems you have addressed it seems..With handloads its possible if a primer does not seat to the mortise, it will move forward on contact and not fire in shotguns,rifles, and pistols,

A compentent gunsmith can fix these problem every time, a butcher cannot..It might be advisable to return the gun to Browning for repair.

Something to look at: Some loaders can slightly 'dish' the bottom of the shell if not set up correctly. Take some of your reloads and set a straight edge across the base and look for any cupping. On some guns it doesn't take much to cause problems.
C.G.B.

Some primers are harder/softer than others.
Reloading a particulary 'hard' primer may give problems in the lower bbl on the Superposed but not the top bbl as the lower.
The lower bbl firing pin strikes at a more acute angle and has a rebounding spring (however light weight) to over come as well.
No spring around the top firing pin.

It could be just enough to cause some misfires & light strikes.

The Beretta BL series in the 70's showed that problem sometimes, especially in 20ga.

As long as it's the reloads that are causing the problem, and it's the primers that won't go bang,,I'd reload some more shells but just change the primers to another mfg.
Or try a test lot of several mfg'rs to see if any of them make a difference.

If none do and all still get the same misfire problems, then start looking for a problem with primer seating depth, indented case base and things like that.

quote:

Originally posted by 2152hq:
Some primers are harder/softer than others.
Reloading a particulary 'hard' primer may give problems in the lower bbl on the Superposed but not the top bbl as the lower.
The lower bbl firing pin strikes at a more acute angle and has a rebounding spring (however light weight) to over come as well.
No spring around the top firing pin.


It could be just enough to cause some misfires & light strikes.

The Beretta BL series in the 70's showed that problem sometimes, especially in 20ga.

As long as it's the reloads that are causing the problem, and it's the primers that won't go bang,,I'd reload some more shells but just change the primers to another mfg.
Or try a test lot of several mfg'rs to see if any of them make a difference.

If none do and all still get the same misfire problems, then start looking for a problem with primer seating depth, indented case base and things like that.

Very good possibility my problem is related to the information in your post. It’s the only thing that would make sense since the same reloads fire in the top barrel and not the bottom. This problem ONLY happens on my 3 older Browning’s and not the newer ones.

Thanks for the info.
Sam

I shoot a lightning 20-. If I use Fiocci's, the bottom barrel fails occasionally I firmly believe it is a headspace problem; the rim thickness affects ignition. I switch to a different brand and, no problem.

I've had problems with hard primers in the past with a shotgun which (from whatever cause) has a weak strike -- and this has been with factory loads as well as reloads.

As I recall, I believe it was Federal primers which were "hard" and giving a problem and the Winchester 209 that I found to have a fairly soft cup, so when I used it I had no problems with misfires. This was several years ago and I could have misremembered the brands or the companies could have changed the nature of their primers in the meantime.

Anyway, try a primer different to the one you've been using and check to make sure that the base of your shell isn't concaved.

Some of the Browning and Miroku O/U shotguns (both made by Miroku in Japan) suffered from misfires on occasion, lower barrels mostly as I understand and thus replacement firing pins were made with 20 thou extra protrusion. They are available here in NZ for about NZ$70 a pair and are called Stickyrib, not sure if this is the manufacturer or what.
I have a Miroku O/U SP 7000 that I purchased new in the early 80's and have a complete set of spare firing pins, hammer, top lever and ejector springs but have never had to replace anything to date.