Still getting unfired primers

So the rifle is a Savage eh? If it has an accutrigger, that may in fact be the culprit. The trigger is designed so that pressure mst be applied straight on to the trigger. If you pull to the side slightly, the trigger will trip and the gun will act like its firing but the f/p is in fact blocked. Check out the manual as it explains the scenario there. You may have set the pull weight too light and are tripping the trigger in the safe mode, seemingly acting like a FTF but with no marks on the primer. I had this happen a few years ago and went nuts trying to determine the cause. It was untouched from the factory and all I needed to do was 1)be aware of how the trigger worked and 2) back off the pull weight slightly.
Your ammo is probably fine but give this a try anyways.
Cheers
dB
** disregard as I see you are getting primer strikes but no ignition..
 
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Next time this happens try shooting the round again and see if it goes off. Best guess would be rifle issue. Like the other guys have stated take things apart and clean.
 
Had a similar issue with my brand new 110 FCP HS-Precision. Certain rounds wouldn't fire. Turned out my firing pin was a couple thousands too short. I had to tear apart the bolt and adjust the firing pin. I ended up over adjusting it and smashed the next primer. Had to back it off a bit. Used a caliper to check how far the firing pin was protruding and fixed it on the next shot. Haven't had any issues yet with any type of ammo or primers.
 
I didn't notice what your primer handling process is, but I wonder if it's possible you've contaminated the primers with oil from your skin? It's a long shot but possible. Where did you get the primers from...please don't say "gunshow".

I've used Federal, CCI, Winchester and Remington primers in a multitude of rifle with no problems.

Curious.
 
THE COW said:
Just went through the very same issue with my 308. One in ten would be duds. Went over my entire reloading process several times. Finally tracked it down to me setting the shoulder back too far during the resizing stage. This was barely noticeable on my case gauge but quite obvious when I closed the bolt now that I had an idea what to look for. With the shoulder set back too far, the case is now too short and the firing pin won't get a solid enough hit to set off the primer. See you at the Precision match this weekend.
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See I was questioning this too. I had some advice previously in a reloading thread about too much pressure. I was advised to trim brass to 2.00" and it has fixed my pressure issues in 308. But duds continued. So I was having duds even prior to trimming and I had brass over 2.15".
 
Wrencher2008 said:
Sorry I can't help with problem but I believe I was sitting beside you at the range last Friday. Hello again.
Hope you can figure this out.
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Lol yup that was me.


So to answer everyone's questions. Sorry I have been really busy. I'm just loading now for tomorrow's shoot at Borden.

I use Winchester primers, but this happened before with cci as well.

Caliber is 308 and rifle is 10 FCP-sr.

I had this issue before when firing pin was factory and it was loaded plenty trust me. I actually cut my firing pin pin spring by a 1/3 and it fires no issues. I did it to relieve my bolt lift. Ya so spring pressure can't be issue.

I store primers in a wood dresser and are dry. I do lube brass but I do so before I through them in sonic cleaner.

It's really weird. If it happens this weekend I'm going to be forced to buy a new gun lol I hate when that happens haha and if it still happens I'll need a new gun and new caliber.
 
BigUglyMan said:
I didn't notice what your primer handling process is, but I wonder if it's possible you've contaminated the primers with oil from your skin? It's a long shot but possible. Where did you get the primers from...please don't say "gunshow".

I've used Federal, CCI, Winchester and Remington primers in a multitude of rifle with no problems.

Curious.
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As a test i actually put federal primers in water , let them dry out and put the primer in an empty case and 3 out of 4 actually went off . I bought fiocchi primers and had 5-6 duds in a sleeve of 100 . won't be buying those again .
 
CCI primers have a slightly thicker cup, which is good if your primer pockets begin to enlarge, but if your firing pin lacks energy, it can lead to misfires. If you compound the problems, CCI primers which have not bottomed out due to the extra seating force required due to the thicker primers, particularly with hand held primer seating tools, a full length resized case that bumps the shoulder enough to cause a bit too much headspace, and deep seating the bullet or a the choice of a short bullet which results in significant bullet jump to the lands; combined together, will result in misfires regardless of the energy imparted by the firing pin.
 
I had this issue before when firing pin was factory and it was loaded plenty trust me. I actually cut my firing pin pin spring by a 1/3 and it fires no issues. I did it to relieve my bolt lift. Ya so spring pressure can't be issue.
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Wait a minute. You cut a third of the striker spring off?
 
Dogleg said:
Wait a minute. You cut a third of the striker spring off?
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Tinman204 said:
Bingo!! That was my thought.

Inconsistent primer strikes is my guess. Only thing that would lead me to believe it's not the rifle is if the op mentioned that he's firing reduced charges.
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Ahhh, you might want to get a replacement for that.
 
"One possible cause of duds is a FL sized case and bullets seated long to engage the rifling. This cushions the firing pin strike since the case is not bearing on the chamber shoulder."


Chago said:
Sorry can you explain more?
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A primer is fired with the shock of the hit. The energy if the firing pin is only half the equation. The other half is "What is it hitting?"

Think of what happens if you hold up your hand, and what happens if someone punches it. Not much. Now put your hand flat on a tree and have someone punch it again. Ouch!

The cartridge has to be firmly supported in the chamber when it gets hit. If it it full length sized, it is a bit shorter than the chamber, so has some room to move when hit. That will soften the blow. If the bullet is engaging the rifling, the firing pin energy will be used to push the bullet harder into the rifling and this will use up a lot of energy and soften the hit.

If you over size the case, it is even worse.

Try neck sizing so you can feel a little brass compression as you close the bolt.
 
deemoney said:
Ive had problems with Winchester primers
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Last year I purchased 1,000 Winchester Small Pistol Primers. In that box I had over 15 misfires in 3 different firearms, all during competition. To say the least I was not happy with their quality control, now I've moved on to Remington with no problems.
 
Hey guys. I only cut the spring a couple weeks ago. The duds have been the case since I bought the rifle months ago. It's not from the trim at all. And I suggest it to everyone. My bolt lift is way way better. But I still average 3-4 duds for every 60-70 bullets, which was the case prior to trimming the spring.
 
If you were fighting bolt lift that badly it is possibly a mistimed bolt. Nobody should have to cut a third of the striker spring off to lift a bolt handle. There is nothing normal about that.
 
take your bolt apart, remove the firing pin spring, insert the pin back into the bolt and take a look to see if the firing pin gets full travel past the face of the bolt. you may have an obstruction inside the bolt, or the pin is out of spec, perhaps a bit short. google the specs on the firing pin for dimension.
 
Chago said:
Hey guys. I only cut the spring a couple weeks ago. The duds have been the case since I bought the rifle months ago. It's not from the trim at all. And I suggest it to everyone. My bolt lift is way way better. But I still average 3-4 duds for every 60-70 bullets, which was the case prior to trimming the spring.
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Go to http://www.savageshooters.com/forum.php and tell them your problem and why you shortened the firing pin spring, you have all these guesses here about primers and headspace and only two good answers concerning a Savage rifle.
The only time a firing pin spring has any influence on bolt lift is if the ends of the spring dig into there support surface and can not rotate under load or if the spring has weakened and the coils drag inside the bolt.
Get to Savage shooters and after they beat you over the head for cutting the spring they will solve your problem. Dogleg is 100% correct in his statement about a mistimed bolt and there are some very knowledgeable Savage rifle people at "SAVAGESHOOTERS" and they are not shade tree mechanics who go cutting and hacking at their bolts.

97% of all aircraft crashes are are caused by human errors and only 3% are caused by actual mechanical failure. Meaning there was a 3% chance that something was wrong with your firing pin spring and a 97% chance you don't know what you are doing on your rifle.

I spent half my life working on aircraft and the other half in quality control trying to get the mechanics to read the manual and understand what they were doing.

All the information in the world is written in books and all you have to do is read................................and when you guess there is a very good chance you will be wrong.
 
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