Remington 700 Misfire!!

[furtaker]

My dad bought a new 700 chambered in 243 Win. last year. As most of you know, Remington issued a recall on all rifles with the X-Mark Pro trigger, so he installed a Timney on it a while back.

He has had zero problems with the rifle, other than trying to get it to shoot a tight group. It is pretty finicky with accuracy. Anyway, today he bought a box of the Hornady American Whitetail 100gr factory loads and went to the range.

We shot 5 or 6 times I suppose, and 2 of the rounds misfired. As you can see from the photo, the primer barely struck the 2 rounds...certainly not hard enough to make it fire. The case on the bottom is one of the rounds that fired.

It appears to me that the primers may be seated a bit deeper on the 2 that misfired...it is hard to tell by looking at them. I know it wouldn't take but a tiny bit affect it.

Never seen a 700 misfire. Looking at spent cases, they usually smack the primer harder than any other action I've seen.

Anybody heard of this problem with the American Whitetail loads?

Not sure if it's a crappy gun (or Timney trigger), or if Hornady has some ammo that needs to be recalled.

Thoughts?

 

[Bill Mc]

I had this problem with a CZ527. CZ sent me a stronger spring but later I found that I had resized the cases a little short which caused that problem. Don't mix Lee and RCBS stuff.

With the stronger spring, they would fire.

The undersized fired OK in my SKS but then they are made to shoot anything.

So it could be undersized cases, a weak spring or an oversized chamber.

Try some different ammo.

 

[Flaustin1]

Dirty firing pin assembly.

 

[furtaker]

Dirty firing pin assembly.

Nope...he recently took the bolt apart and cleaned it thoroughly. He has shot the rifle with several different kinds of ammo and it just started doing this today out of the blue with the Hornadys.

 

[Stroker]

I think it's the ammo. Purchased 2 boxes of American Whitetail in .243 last year right before the beginning of deer season and had the same misfire problem. Think I had either 3 or 4 misfires out of one box. The Ruger I was shooting has had a Timney in it for probably 25 years+ and I have never had an issue with any ammo in this gun until last year. The gun loves the Hornady Custom 95 grain SST's and I have never had a problem with them. Never checked primer depth but all other factory loads and my hand loads went bang in the same gun. I'll save the remaining box for checking zero after new scope installations.

 

[Flaustin1]

Nope...he recently took the bolt apart and cleaned it thoroughly. He has shot the rifle with several different kinds of ammo and it just started doing this today out of the blue with the Hornadys.

Don't mean something didn't get in the firing pin channel. I doubt its the ammo.

 

[Ajohnson0587]

Evely blue moon I get a this problem with Remmington cor-lok's in my savage. Pretty sure it's ammo related

 

[jmoser]

Check firing pin protrusion; could be a combination of chamber dimensions / headspace plus case dimensions plus firing pin protrusion.

There are instances where the firing pin has to actually push the cartridge forward until the shoulder seats against the chamber walls; this robs the pin of needed inertia to strike the primer hard enough.

You may be able to find a reduced power firing pin rebound spring; this might help.

 

[Buzz]

From the picture it looks like a primer seated too deeply in the case. The M700 has a pretty stout spring.

If it doesn't do this with other ammo, then there is your answer.

 

[deermaster13]

My sister had some of that ammo last year. I had several out of the box with same issue. She has a TC in .243.

 

[Flaustin1]

You cant seat a primer to deep in the case. Even in a gun that is functioning properly, the firing pin will always push the primer all the way in to the seat before it crushes the anvil.

 

[trckdrvr]

I guess im the only one but,those dang cases looked like they got tapped pretty good!!
Surprised they didn't fire?

 

[cmshoot]

Sounds like primers seated too deep/primer pockets too deep. I've seen a bunch of this over the years, even in "match grade" ammo.

 

[furtaker]

Here's a quick update about our latest experience with the American Whitetail Ammo...

My dad cleaned his Remmy 700 270 and decided to shoot a couple rounds to "foul" the barrel. He had a box of the 130gr American Whitetail rounds he bought a while back (that neither of our rifles would group - big surprise) and decided to shoot a couple of those since he wasn't going to use them for anything else.

Well, the first shot was a hang fire...he said he distinctly heard the firing pin hit the primer a split second before the round went off. The second round fired normal.

Now, he has been shooting a long time and knows whereof he speaks. That rifle has been his primary hunting rifle for many years and he has never had any issues with it whatsoever.

Two different problems with this ammo in 2 different CLEAN Remmy 700s in a week's time? I am convinced that this stuff is pure junk.

As a side note, I know a lot of people love the Interlocks and Hornady ammo in general...but I can't get this Whitetail stuff to group in any rifle I've tried them in.

Attached is a photo of those 2 rounds. The one on the left was the hang fire. Notice how the primers look totally different. The one on the right looks larger and flatter. You can actually see it better in person than in the photo.

 

[The Longhunter]

Post a picture of an unfired round. We went through a few years ago (a lot of us across the country) and it turned out the problem was the opposite of what you have been suggesting.

The primer wasn't seated deeply enough. The first strike of the firing pin seated it all the way (misfire) and usually the second strike would fire it. Sometimes there was a hangfire.

The difference in appearance in the two primers in your last picture is from the pressure of being fired.

I'd at least send that picture to Hornady and see what they have to say.

 

[Bama B]

I have never had a problem with the Hornady 130 whitetails. 270. I shoot a browning ABolt with a boss and consistantly have tight groups. But all gun are different. my 2 cents

 

[Flaustin1]

Post a picture of an unfired round. We went through a few years ago (a lot of us across the country) and it turned out the problem was the opposite of what you have been suggesting.

The primer wasn't seated deeply enough. The first strike of the firing pin seated it all the way (misfire) and usually the second strike would fire it. Sometimes there was a hangfire.

The difference in appearance in the two primers in your last picture is from the pressure of being fired.

I'd at least send that picture to Hornady and see what they have to say.

If its done it in two different rifles, id put my money on this.

 

[jmoser]

Easy to test - firmly re-seat the primers in several rounds with a handloader tool [perfectly safe even with loaded ammo] and see if this solves the issue.

 

[Castandcall]

No offense but if your dad is takeing both guns apart and cleaning maybe he is doing something wrong to them.

 

[hobbs27]

In the past I pulled my hair out over two rifles doing the same thing. In one rifle it was an oil I had used to clean it with and later gummed up, the other was a new bolt gun and the factory grease was causing the issue.
The only way the problem was solved was by soaking the bolts in Shooter’s Choice Quickscrub and from now on I use only Rem oil.
I can almost gaurantee you have a sludge of grease or bad oil on that firing pin.