I have a Kimber of Oregon, Model 82 custom classic in 22 Hornet. I am experiencing misfires due to the primer not igniting the powder. This happens about once every 8 shots. Federal GM205M primers seem to work the best but I still get occasional misfires. I tried Remington and CCI primers and I experienced misfires about 1 out of 4 shots. Sometimes the cartridge will fire if I try it a second time. The number of misfires increases if the temperature is below 55 degrees. I have cleaned the bolt and firing pin spring throughly and everything seems to be in good shape.

Does anyone have a suggestion to resolve this problem? I am thinking of replacing the firing pin spring but don't know where I can get one.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks.

You shouldn't have to in a rifle, but have you tried using small pistol primers? They have a softer cup. I'd get a hold of Kimber and see if they might be able to help.

http://www.kimberamerica.com

How does it shoot factory ammo? Have you tried running a box of that though it and see if you have misfires there too?

Perhaps it's a headspace issue.. In which case the barrel would have to be set back and rechambered.

Have you mentioned the situation to Kimber?

I have an 82C built in the mid '90s in .22LR and it would misfire about every fourth or fith round. I took it to a 'smith and it was very slightly excessive in headspace and the firing spring was weak as well. A new spring fixed that and now it works perfectly.

I would have just dumped it, as gorgeous as it is, but, it shoots cheap Federal ammo in the .2's and thus I wanted to keep it. I had a Mod. 84 Super America in .223 about 12 years back that had feeding issues, but, was just beautiful, so, a bit of smithing there and it was fine.

I would do as HC, etc. mentions and call Kimber.

fwiw,
You might try factory Winchester or small pistol primers. The GM205 is a bit hot, and hard, for a Hornet. I've owned two Kimber of Oregon 82 Hornets through the years. A standard rifle and an S series Hornet. They can be finicky...

Regards, Matt.

Btw, Kimber of America will be of NO help with this issue. Your best bet would a trip to a good riflesmith...

Up front, I do not KNOW what your rifle's problem is. But, before I let anyone monkey with setting the barrel back, that kind of thing, I'd contact Wolff (SP?) Springs and see if they have a replacement mainspring for your rifle. If they do, I'd order the strongest they have for the M82 and install it in your bolt. If you can't find what you need at Wolff's, take the spring you have now and go visit your local automartic transmission rebuild shop and look around through their springs. Often you can find just what you need there...if you're willing to a little shortening of something they have on hand.

You might also examine the tip of your firing pin with a glass, just to make sure there is no problem there...and try disassembling the bolt, then running the firing pin tip in and out from the outside (front), just to make sure there is no hang up (from peening or some such) in the passage of the pin tip through the bolt face. A check of the inside of the bolt with a flashlight, or better yet a bore-scope, might also be in order to detect any burr possibly formed on the nside of the firing pin hole through the bolt face.

I have a kimber 82 Custom Classic in (factory built) .17 Ackley K-Hornet which shoots 1/2" groups at 100 and has never given a lick of trouble. I suspect whatever your rifle's problem is, is relatively minor and will be easy to fix, IF you can identify the cause.

What you are almost surely going to find out here is that the main spring is the culprit. A true quality smith will remove this problem forever, and the results should be better accuracy with more consistant ignition. Once owned Kimber of Oregon # KH60, loved it, and left because of the main spring issue. Ditto for a M84 Super America cal. .223. But I still have my original Custom Match .22LR. Like the ladies, expensive but worth it!

I tend to think it's a mainspring weakness problem also. I'd get on the net and do a search and see if I could find parts for the old Kimbers.

I've had a few of the 82's in .22LR and they're fine rifles indeed. I've, quite frankly, heard all manner of bad press on the older 82 centerfire guns, from no less than a fellow who used to work for the old Kimber of Oregon. Parts are, SOMETIMES, out there, but hard to find. You might also try Brownell's, I imagine they have a spring to match in a bulk spring kit. You'd have to cut it and fit it, but not a big deal.
Also, the Winchester 325, I believe, is nearlyl the same gun as the Kimber 82, in rimfire. I don't know how closely the connection between rimfire to centerfire would be, in some guns it's quite close, others are totally different, but it would be worth a try if you can't find one any other way.

I would like to thank everyone for their suggestions.

I have emails in to Wolff Gun Springs and Kimber to see if either has a mainspring for it. I will also try Brownells. Also appreciate the suggestion to try a transmission repair shop as I had never considered that before.

I will let you know how it turns out in case anyone else has this problem.

The gun has a beautiful piece of walnut on it and is quite accurate even now so if I can resolve this problem I will be very happy.

Thanks again.

Gary

Had the same problem with a Kimber of Oregon 84 in 17 Rem. Three trips to two different gunsmiths and all sorts of new firing pin springs and $85 incantations. Still had occasional misfires. I earlier sent boxes of Rem 17 factory stuff to Remington ammo in Lonoke, AR and they found nothing wrong. I found out what was wrong...headspace was at the long limit; remington ammo ran out enough form base to shoulder that short rounds...would not fire even though there was a nice indentation from pin strike.

Moved it down the line with a warning to the new happy owner. The rounds that fired could be re-loaded; the unfired rounds could be easily sorted into the ones that would fire and the ones that probably would not fire...in that rifle by simple measurement from shoulder datum to base.

Sorry for the long winded answer. I really liked the rifle, looked for a 17 Rem Kimber of Oregon for years...

Your symptoms sound exactly like the ones I experienced. Needless to say I'm not going back to those two 'smiths...I had even provided them with 8 boxes of unfired rounds...just in case...

First clue...runout of the remington factory loads from shoulder datum point to base was over 0.080"...so I compared fired brass measurement to the unfired rounds...bingo...plain as the nose on your face. Sure, a shorter chamber would make everything easier and all rounds fire, but I had no interest in setting the barrel back and re-chambering.

Be certain that you are not setting the shoulder back too far when you re-size...

Good luck...

Since the Hornet headspaces on the rim, sizing techniques should not affect primer hits. The mainspring suggestions may be the cure.
Hope you find the fix!

Kimber of Oregon has been out of business for a long time and there is no way to contact them. Kimber of America is a different company and they have nothing to do with Kimber of Oregon, other than the name Kimber.

Kimber of Oregon built beautiful rifles on a pre-64 style action, unfortunately they were the worst rifle manufacturer ever despite their good looking rifles. That was one of the reasons they went out of business. The firing pin issues with their rifles is quite common, especially in the 22 Hornet. The Kimbers I have worked on, firing pin protusion and sloppy machining were the culprits. The firing pin on one particular rifle would not strike with enough force because it was binding from the excessive space machined for it. The fix for that was to weld up the firing pin to reduce the slop and polish out the machining marks.

I would start with measuring the firing pin protusion and then see if it could be binding on anything. Also, polishing the tool marks out always seems to help with problems like these.

Kimber of Oregon rifles are great rifles if they shoot. It is unfortunate the QC department did not exist.