Rem. 700 light primer strike

[ricebasher302]

I went hunting Saturday with my brother-in-law. He's got one of the Wal-Mart Remington 700's in .30-06. He lined up for a quick shot on a mule deer buck and squeezed. Click!:banghead: The deer heads over the hill. We dump the shell. Primer has a very small impression from the firing pin. Clearly not enough to ignite it. We continued to hunt and never tried to fire the shell or the gun. At home, we dissasembled the bolt. It was very clean inside and out and showed no obstructions anywhere. The ammo was basic Remington Express factory ammo. He will have to shoot the rifle next, but I was wondering if anyone has had this happen. If the bolt handle was slightly lifted, could this cause the misfire?

 

[TonyAngel]

Did you know the rifle to be a working rifle before this incident? If so, how many rounds does it have through it? My brand new Remington 700 was less than perfect. Aside from turning out to be an absolute tack driver, the mounting holes are way off center and the extractor had to changed on my first range trip.

 

[Uncle Mike]

Remington has had some bad firing pin springs in the past, the springs do not work correctly when the temperature drops. Call Remington, they should send you a new spring, although, we have been hearing that Remington has been wanting folks to return the bolt for repair. Probably due to the spring bore needing to be widened.

In any event, call Remington. 1-800-243-9700

 

[ricebasher302]

He has had this gun for several years. Probably fired roughly 100 rounds or so without trouble. Either way, it sounds like a call to Remington may be in order.

 

[ricebasher302]

Any other feedback?

 

[Uncle Mike]

He didn't leave it 'cocked' all the time did he? Is the firing pin bore clean?

There are those who say leaving a spring under pressure will not degrade its strength, and I do agree, but just for certain type springs...we change a lot of firing pin springs because they have gone weak, and most of them have been left under pressure for extended amounts of time, most have been in rifles that were left in the 'cocked' position for who knows how long.

 

[Picher]

Some things to check:

1. If he ever used WD-40 in the bolt, it's probably gummed up;
2. Take the bolt apart and see if there are any obstructions in the firing pin raceway, check for relatively small metal shards;
3. Check the headspace by adding a couple of layers of Magic Tape to the head of an unfired round. If the bolt closes easily, add another, then another. More than three layers and I'd be concerned about either the ammo or the rifle. Take it to a gunsmith or check it with a no-go gage.
4. If the ammo is reloaded by the owner, back off the sizer and neck-size only for a few firings. Then, when they start going in hard, turn the die in a bit at a time until they fit in perfectly and lock the die at that setting. Too much headspace caused by over-resized ammo will cause misfires, backed-out, pierced, and/or flattened primers.

The last thing I'd expect is a weak firing pin spring, but sh-t happens.