I get occasional light strikes with my T/C Venture rifle. I can take those lightly struck cartridges and load them into my m70 Winchester and they fire. I get more failures when using CCI and Winchester primers. Would Federal primers be any better? I use large rifle magnum primers. I would appreciate any suggestions.
Light strikes with T/C venture .270 rifle.
- Thread starter merrill
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hoghunting
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Are you sure you're not pushing the case shoulder back too far when resizing?
Would pushing the case shoulder back too far cause the FTF? The Winchester shoots them with no problem. Most of my cartridges are neck sized only; however, I do have some that I've full length resized and will compare the two. Thanks for the suggestion.
CarJunkieLS1
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Maybe the firing pin hole has some "trash" in it causing the pin to drag a little resulting in the light strikes. Also I've seen primers that look to be seated far enough down, not be because of primer pockets that are too deep.
Try to disassemble the bolt and clean the firing pin hole and on the rounds that FTF in your TC have you tried to fire them again right after they FTF. If you do and they fire my bet would be on the primer not being fully seated.
Try to disassemble the bolt and clean the firing pin hole and on the rounds that FTF in your TC have you tried to fire them again right after they FTF. If you do and they fire my bet would be on the primer not being fully seated.
Carjunkie, I can dissemble cameras, but when it comes to bolts I am at a loss. The suggestion about primers is interesting. I'll try that. Would loose primer pockets cause the problem? Some of the brass I use has been fired 10+ times. I can spray clean the bolt without any disassembly with brake cleaner. I appreciate the help.
CarJunkieLS1
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If you had loose enough primer pockets to cause light strike issues I'd imagine you'd be getting powder coming out around the primer and damaging your bolt face. Loose primer pockets and deep primer pockets aren't the same thing. And yes I'd assume brake cleaner would be fine to clean a firing pin hole.
hoghunting
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Yes, the firing pin will push the case forward until the shoulder contacts the chamber. If the shoulder is too far back the firing pin is not long enough to push the case forward and strike the primer hard enough to ignite.
Is this happening on factory ammo or just your reloads?
The Venture has never had factory ammunition shot in it. All are my reloads. I will go to the range soon and since I have both neck sized and full length resized cartridges I can test the hypothesis, or I can just cut the case in half, insert the 1/2 with the primer and see if it fires. The Winchester has a more generous chamber than the Venture and it eats anything. Cases fired from the Winchester will not fit into the Venture, but cases from the Venture will fit into the Winchester. Anyhow, I'll post the results.
Woolecox
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Look at your manual. I think the TC bolt can be disassembled by hand like a Winchester. Cleaning and lubing the firing pin and it's track would be my first step.
Ahh.. Here you go....
https://youtu.be/nGyDxBZ0t0A
As promised, I took the Venture to the range today and tried some full length resized cartridges and some neck sized only cartridges. Hoghunting gets the cigar. The full length resized ones failed to fire, but the neck sized ones fired without problem. I reckon it is time to work on the full length die. I really appreciate all of you all's suggestions.
Woolecox
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That truly is a new one on me. In 25 years of reloading and 45 years of shooting, I have never had or even heard of a sizing die that would not allow the firing pin to make enough contact to fire a round. Something else is not right here.
Woolecox
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Yeah, exactly. My guess is the Venture has a headspace issue or a firing pin that is out of spec. I would take it to a knowledgeable smith, if you can find one. Or just send it back to the factory.
However, I have never had any factory that would honor an “issue” if you are shooting handholds.
Follow up: I took hoghunting's suggestion and adjusted my full length resizing die and it worked. Woolecox, the primer dents are not as deep as those made by my Winchester, but if I can make it work by adjusting the die, that is a lot cheaper than taking it to a smith or sending it back to the company. I even tried chambering a case that I cut in half and the bolt would not even eject it. It was being pushed too far into the chamber. I wasn't aware that was even possible.
hoghunting
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I've seen it more than once, that's why I suggested it. Nothing else is wrong with the chamber or firing pin, that's why it fires properly sized cartridges. Factory ammo should fire with no problems too. Glad it was a simple fix Merrill.
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