Gentlemen

Lend me your experience and expertise.

I ordered a custom rifle from a well known outfit. It was $4200. Montana rifle action, very nice stock work. Took to range....4th round, click, nothing. I ejected, saw a primer mark, but not as deep as the first three.

The 12th round, click, no fire. Same, primer mark, but no discharge.

Howserious a problem is this ie does this happen often (I think not) or is it indicitive of poor workmanship?

I informed them of the problem, and they said send it back and they will remedy it. If you were in my shoes, would you ask for a refund? I don't want to be unreasonable, but I think if one spends this kind of money and waits 6 months, one should expect a working rifle.

I am really looking for experienced advice from you guys- some of you may say, well, this happens from time to time, or you may say you would not go near any rifle that was shipped out with this problem (what else will go wrong.

I was also quite surprised they did not float the barrel- the stock does touch the barrel.

Any advice is appreciated.

If they are willing to take it back and fix it, what’s the problem?

At this point you don’t even know if it is the rifle, the ammo, or even if you might have bumped the bolt handle and pulled the trigger when the bolt wasn’t fully closed and locked.

Send the rifle back and let them have a go at it, and if the problem still exists when you get it back THEN start worrying and asking for refunds.

Regardless of what the price tag is, things go wrong with guns... they are man-made - not divinely created.

100K guns end up with broken springs and pins... As Rick indicates - as long as the maker will fix it, there is no problem... other than being realistic with your expectations.

I have a customer who has ordered a rifle from me, he was having problems with his Heym SR20 left hand, same thing as you are having. missfires occasionaly. The rifle had been back to Heym twice and it still wasn't right.so he asked that i take a look at it, try and fix it and at the same time put an SSG style bolt knob on it. well i installed the knob, took it to he range, sure enough every 3rd round misfired and had what appeared to be a light strike. now unfortunately i only had his reloads to use as i forgot to take any factory ammo. another trip to the range with some factory ammo, the thing shot every time with the factory stuff, which is probably why Heym couldn't find the fault. upon close inspection, the quality of the hand loads left something to be desired, but id seen worse, every cartridge that didn't go bang had the primer sat a little to deep. it came down to a slightly weak firing pin spring, combined with deep set primers. in the absence of a new spring i made a collar that fits around the firing pin and compresses the spring tighter, effectively giving a sharper strike. the rifle now shoots every time, and the customer is looking at improving his hand loading skills and getting new cases.
check your ammo, and if your using hand loads perhaps send some in if you send the rifle. check if the firing pin is straight, that there is nothing fouling the pins travel, that the spring isn't binding, check firing pin protusion, head space length of fired brass compared to unfired brass,
give the guy who built the rifle a chance to fix it, you wouldn't demand the money back on your new jeep just cos it missfired due to a bad sparkplug would you. it could be that the firing pin spring is simply weak, this wouldn't nesseceraly have shown its self on testing.
best regards Pete

live4thestalk, i don't agree with the other posts. For the money you paid, that gun should be flawless.

Sounds to me like the firing pin is binding up. Probably something do with the trigger/sear.

If someone were to pay me $4200 for a custom rifle, the least of his worries would be whether or not it functions.

Rounds not going off can be a serious problem, examine your fired cases for stretching/swelling because as this is a CRF rifle, it is possible that the headspace is wrong and the gun will still fire sometimes on virtue that the case is being held up against the bolt face.

Raise all sorts of hell with them.

-Spencer

Most high grade custom rifles will have very tight inletting not only around the action but the barrel too. Usually with a light pressure point near the end of the fore end.

Contrary to public opinion if a quality barrel is used, accuracy is excellant. Look at the older pre 64 Winchester model 70's.

Let them fix it.

For a while, the MRC actions were issued with a firing pin/spring intended to make bolt opening easier. In some cases, misfires were the unfortunate side effect. I believe MRC has reversed that change.

Just from the sound of it, I don't believe your gun builder caused the misfire issue, although naturally I'm offering a long range diagnostic here...

Floating the barrel should be no big deal.

I know you think you waited a long time for the rifle, but in the custom rifle business, 6 month is practically immediate delivery - in particular if a stock was custom built for you?? Let the gunbuilder fix the problem. or at least have a chance to do so.

- mike

quote:

but I think if one spends this kind of money and waits 6 months, one should expect a working rifle.

Just on your timeline, I hae had on or two custom rifles built and a couple of full blown pistol jobs. That is a excellent turn around time. The stock I am having done currently, with blueing is 8 months, and I had months tied up in metal.

Under a year is almost light speed, in the custom rifle world.

Send it back, and let them fix it, with a clear discription of the problem, with a polite sidenote that this is certainly not what you were expecting in a custom rifle. I would also send some of the ammo your having issues with, you have a much better chance of it being fixed properly if they can diagnose the problem, and it will help getting it straightened out.

Thank you all for your time and interest. Yes, I needed to hear, from a strictly mechanical analysis, whether this was just something that happens, or if it is sloppy work. I pitched the unfired shells, but I should go dig them out and send them along, it seems.

I am about to leave for a hunt, and I cannot imagine a stalk, putting the crosshairs on it, then hearing only click.......

I picked up a steyr in 3006, the pro hunter, as a replacement for the custom, and it was sweet at the range today!