7-30 Waters I built about 18yrs ago. New owner:

Hanloaded at 2.79OAL. fired one round, 2nd and third went "click: started opening ation and..."bang"

No issues wiwth old owner


Any shared wisdom?

Hello Wayne,

I collect Martini rifles and have about 30 of them. BSA, WR, Parker Hale, etc. The parts inside are pretty crude in some of them.

I would look at the firing pin / spring assembly inside the breech block. Sounds like the sear / trigger engagement let go when the trigger was pulled, but the spring around the firing pin was binding until the breach block started to move.

Could be that a coil of the spring is broken that causes erratic binding.

The sear has a fin-shaped lever which acts in a slot in the striker. This cocks the spring and effectively powers the whole action. But importantly in this context, it is supposed to start withdrawing the striker long before the block actually starts moving.

My guess is that something in there is binding.

Thanks...just can't make it do anything abnormal dry firing. Awaiting some factory ammo and his handloads to see if I can dope it out.

Appears the issue suddenly occured with the handloads..and I thought maybe OAL had something to do with it.

Could be the recoil from firing shifted a piece of broken firing pin spring into an interference position that caused subsequent issues. ? ? ?

Couple of thoughts/questions:
1) Is this really a Cadet action? I have a few, and calibers like .22 Hornet and .357 Magnum are about at the limit of what the loading ramp can accommodate. I suspect a caliber as long and large at the base as 7-30 would need a large frame action?

2) Is it one of those actions on which the entire working parts "kit" is mounted on the trigger guard frame and removable as a unit, or are the components individually mounted in the receiver (this was done on both action sizes but is scarce on the large frames). The first type makes it easy to see how all the bits function together.

3) Is there any possibility that there may be a pierced primer disc floating around in the firing pin hole?

4) These actions don't really care about cartridge OAL, except that they don't have a lot of camming force. So if the bullet is seated way out into the lands, or the cases are not sized correctly, it may be quite difficult to close the action. The only effect I can think of on the action would be that the breech-block might be under downward pressure. This can be imitated by clamping it down with a G-clamp and a leather strip, or perhaps even thumb pressure, but I can't see how it can cause the problem your customer is experiencing.

Duane,

I have a couple of those actions in .22lr and one in .310 Cadet. I've never experienced any issues like you describe.

Visualizing the action parts (assuming you're talking about a BSA, which is the only one I understand, I'd make certain that the internals are clean and lubed (you've probably already done this), check to make sure the firing pin isn't broken (although I'm not sure how lowering the lever could have caused a jammed piece to come loose and set off the cartridge), check the mainspring for anything that would cause it to hold up, and check the cocking arm for damage that would cause it to hold up the firing pin. As long as the lever extensions that raise the block aren't worn, I can't think of anything else that could cause the symptom you described.

I'll be interested to learn what you find.

I had a similar problem with an early .303 Martini.
First round fired as I started to open the action.
Next one was click.....bang.
Tried the ammo in a LE, got misfires and hangfires.

I haven't handloaded for over 35 years, so I'm looking gor an opinion here

Client's info: Federal LP primer
41 gr IMR 4064
Sierra 120 Spitzer #1900
OAL 2.812"

NO:TE: The handloads when FORCED ito the chamber exhibit engraving about 1/4" ahead of case mouth
(encountering the cone/throat)...no land engraing

Once the block is closed, round will not extract.

Factory..no issues at all, ,,,soliciting opinion before I fire his loads

quote:

Originally posted by Duane Wiebe (CG&R):
I haven't handloaded for over 35 years, so I'm looking gor an opinion here

Client's info: Federal LP primer
41 gr IMR 4064
Sierra 120 Spitzer #1900
OAL 2.812"

NO:TE: The handloads when FORCED ito the chamber exhibit engraving about 1/4" ahead of case mouth
(encountering the cone/throat)...no land engraing

Once the block is closed, round will not extract.

Factory..no issues at all, ,,,soliciting opinion before I fire his loads

I have no personal experience with 7-30 or the parent 30-30 Win, but this sounds like a huge overload to me.

Hogdon load data for both 110gr and 130gr bullets in .30-30 is 33.3 start and 35.5 max. Normally when you neck down you would reduce the charge as the dynamic volume reduces.

I am not worried about bullets seated into the lands as a concept, but this also increases pressure so with that load it seems dangerous.

With regard to the extraction, this action (and most falling and tilting blocks) don't have anywhere near the extraction power of most bolt actions. So the failure to extract a loaded round is probably just a function of the bullet being shoved into the lands. A bolt action would probably pull the case out and leave the bullet in the barrel. So that in itself doesn't bother me.

But I still wouldn't. In fact, if the customer insisted on shooting it himself, I would go stand in the next shooting bay.

Thank You... that confirms my concern.

BTW the bullet is off the lands, but the ogive of the bullet has significant interference at the cone. about 3/16" inch in front of the case mouth.

Hi Duane.

His load is about 20% over book max. The Hornady reloading manual lists 34.3 grains as a maximum load.

Dave