Remington 700 VLS question

[steve_dune]

I have a pretty new Remington 700 vls that has less then 150 rounds out of it. Maybe one out of every 3-5 shots, I get one that won't fire. When I pull the unfired round out there is a nice dent in the primer. I tried a few different brands of ammo.. Winchester, Remington and some of my hand loads. It happened with all of them. Does anyone have an idea of what could be wrong? Thanks

 

[hoghunting]

Steve,
There could be grit or a burr in the firing pin hole or inside the bolt, slowing the movement of the firing pin. It could also be a bent or kinked firing pin spring, just because it is pretty new doesn't mean the spring can't be kinked.

 

[steve_dune]

I pulled the bolt apart tonight. The spring doesnt seem to be straight on the firing pin. I can't keep the spring from resting on the firing pin at a few places. When you put it back in the bolt the spring drags on the threads. Should the spring be straight or is this normal? Thanks

 

[dakotasin]

its normal - the factory remington firing pin assembly looks like a nightcrawler in rut.

i think your problem is something aside from the spring. you must have a burr somewhere, or maybe a hole that is far enough off-center to force the pin to rub excessively.

does the pin have any wear marks?

 

[steve_dune]

The pin does seem to have a few spots that look like rub marks. What could I do to fix it? Thanks

 

[Picher]

I had a Savage many years ago that I shot handloads in. It was before I started handloading myself and used my friend's press that was set for his Model 70 Winchester. I had numerous misfires, dispite having a dent in the primer that looked normal. Worse than that, primers were very flat and sometimes fell out. The rifle was sent back to the factory and they replaced the bolt and reset the headspace, but to no avail.

Then, I got my own reloading press and set the dies to neck size only and the problem went away. The other press was sizing the cases too much for my chamber.

In your case, it seems that the headspace could really be the culprit. You should have it checked, or at least try to chamber a fired case in someone else's rifle that doesn't have the problem. If it goes in, the problem is something else, probably related to the firing pin or firing pin spring. If the case doesn't go in, have the headspace checked immediately!!

Picher

 

[steve_dune]

What would some signs be if it was a headspace problem? I don't know anyone else that has a .308.

 

[steve_dune]

Well I thought I update this post incase anyone else has the same problem. I bought a new Remington 700 Firing Pin Assembly, pulled the old one out so I could compare them. On the new one the spring is straight, the old one that was in the gun looked like a worm. The old assembly looks like it is missing the piece that holds the spring straight. You can push the spring around until it hits the firing pin. I think it was rubbing inside the bolt slowing it down enough sometimes that it would dent the firing pin but not enough to ignite it. I replaced it with the new one that was straight, never had a problem since. My gun works great now. It’s nice to know that it will go off when you pull the trigger. Thanks for the help.

 

[Anthony T.]

Glad you got her figured out and it was'nt a worse problem.