Remington 783 Light Primer Strikes???

cigar_man

cigar_man

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Good day

After searching for countless hours reading different threads all over the internet,,, has anyone figured out why some of these 783's have light primer strikes?

You will take a shot or two, then just,,,,,,,,,,, click!

I have read everything from dirty bolts to improper torque on the stock bolts!

Myself, I have a 783 varmint in .223 - laminated wood stock.

First shots and this happened to me.

I have completly stripped the bolt and checked for burrs or anything that was out of order,,,,, nothing that I could see.

I am not a newbie to firearms and I have worked on and built many rifles over the years.

Thanks for your help!
 
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Hey Cigar -

I had a Rem 783 short heavy barrel in 223 when they came out. It also had light primer strikes.
In my case, the firing pin spring was completely gooped up with lithium grease. I cleaned most of it off, and after that no problems.
It sounds as though you have had your bolt apart already, so not sure this little nugget will help.

Nice rifle though...I think the 783s are pretty underrated.

Cheers
 
Lever30

Thanks for the reply.

Yes, the bolt is as clean as anything inside and it was that way from the factory.

Nothing looks to be binding or hanging up on the bolt but it seems to act that way on a misfire?

Two piece firing pin is tight.

Trigger mech seems fine.

So far, I'm stumped,,, :bangHead:

The Rem 738 is underrated for sure, except for this d@m problem!

All manufacturers have problems at one time or another and no-one is immune from gremlins.

I have been a diehard Savage guy for 35 or more years, switching barrels, stocks and receivers before companies even began to make action wrenches for them.

We made our own.

The system works well and I like the Rem 738 as it almost seems like an improvement on the Savage system.

I even have an Ultimatum Deadline rifle which is based on a Savage style barrel system.

I have owned Rem 700 and others over the years, but keep coming back to the Savage style system.
 
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Get a wolf spring . The 783 are good rifles for the price but they are know to have weak firing pin springs.
Click to expand...

When you take the bolt apart, it sure does not seem weak, but I'm willing to give anything a try.

You may just be right.

Just went to Wolf's website and they don't even list a 783?

Thanks for the reply.

I also can't believe that no one has posted a remedy on the internet forums on this.
 
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Just measured firing pin protrusion,,,, way over,,,, at about .075"

Should be around .055" if I recall.

Hmmm

That will pop primers, but should definitely not cause a misfire unless all the crud blows back into the bolt-head.

I see some popped primers on my brass, but so far no crud buildup unless it was temporary at the time causing the misfire.

:confused:
 
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how pointy is the pin? A firing pin that is too rounded was called out as a potential issue when I had light primer strikes on an unrelated platform, I could see this being especially true for small rifle primers (my issues were with LRP).

Factory ammo or reloads? My rifle was flawless with factory ammo and reloads with federal primers, but it didn't like CCI primers.
 
I had the same issue. Mystic Precision has a thread I think where he talks about it. A Wolff 700 spring with 1/4-1/2" removed is the solution.
 
I had same issues, also a 223.
As mentioned above much 223 factory stuff have hard primers for semis. My reloads with Ginex and CCi primers function 100%

I have a Wolf Rem700 spring in mine now and it fires off cheap factory stuff but it is a heavier bolt lift so that is a trade off.
Maybe try a spacer to add preload to the spring before you source one.
 
Lever30 said:
Hey Cigar -

I had a Rem 783 short heavy barrel in 223 when they came out. It also had light primer strikes.
In my case, the firing pin spring was completely gooped up with lithium grease. I cleaned most of it off, and after that no problems.
It sounds as though you have had your bolt apart already, so not sure this little nugget will help.

Nice rifle though...I think the 783s are pretty underrated.

Cheers
Click to expand...

Friend had same issue with his 783 30-06 (misfire's and light strikes), did same as mentioned above. Bolt apart and good cleaning with light oil. Hasn't missed a beat since.
Same, Spring didn't feel weak getting the bolt apart and back together. Remember putting some weight into it.

My 783 308 worked great until it went down the road to fund another gun. Great guns and nice to shoot

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SHELL SHUCKER said:
Rem 700 long action spring with 2-3 coils trimmed off and flat polished at the cut. Start at 2 coils, then fit & check for any binding on the spring when cocking the bolt.
Click to expand...

I did exactly this on a 243 Win 783 that I had bought for our Grandson - had perhaps 100 rounds, at most, through it - two misfires out of a box of 50 rounds - my son and the boy attempted to fire the mis-fires several times - both rounds fired immediately in my Ruger 77. As above - I ordered Rem 700 Wolff springs - heated last couple coils red hot - cut off and bent / filed to be flat - not quite as neat as the factory had done theirs - I put my cut off and trimmed end at the rear of the firing pin.

My first attempt at a mechanical coil spring compression device did not work - that modified spring was last seen winging it's way into a junk pile in far corner of son's garage - is still "missing in action" - so I got to do the spring modification a second time, and then was a bit smarter about how we went about compressing it to get that bolt all back together. The third spring was left with them - will be their issue to deal with - but I doubt they will ever have to.
 
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Is everyone having issues with new rifles right out the box or is this issue creeping in with use? I have 2 783 rifles. 223 and 308 and have yet to have any issues. Wondering if I should have a wolf spring on hand?
 
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