Freezing Firing Pin

Basher81

Basher81

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Hey Guys,

I have a Mossberg 30.06. I have had the rifle for about ten years, this last weekend I shot at a doe and then again about an hour later. The first time the rifle went bang and the deer dropped in its tracks, the second the rifle went click, I reloaded and it went click again. After swearing and cursing my luck I inspected my cartridges. The primers were dented but not nearly as deep as they usually are. I believe that my firing pin was frozen. I am wondering if anyone has had this happen to them and if so what can be done to correct it. We are going for our bucks this weekend and I definately do not want to suffer this misfortune a second time.

Basher
 
Since you probably could not clean immediately, remove the bolt and carry it in an inside pocket, warm it up and reinsert.

It can be cleaned later. When cleaning, it may not require degreasing but wipe off the excess and blow out the bolt with compressed air.
 
It doesn't take much to take most bolts apart, and once you have one apart, I use brake cleaner to remove all grease and deposits. I use a very sparing amount of low temp synthetic lube on the parts that will be exposed to friction.
 
As far as I am concerned the absolute best lubrication to use on firing pin assemblies is G96 Gun Treatment. It is silicone based and good to minus 50 degree temperatures. It does not get gummy with age. You can use it on any part of your firearm, I have for about 50 years now...
 
stubblejumper said:
It doesn't take much to take most bolts apart, and once you have one apart, I use brake cleaner to remove all grease and deposits. I use a very sparing amount of low temp synthetic lube on the parts that will be exposed to friction.
Click to expand...

X2!! I run all my bolts with only a bit of Motor Mica for lube in the cold weather.
Never had a FTF, even at -45ºF.
Eagleye.
 
guntech said:
As far as I am concerned the absolute best lubrication to use on firing pin assemblies is G96 Gun Treatment. It is silicone based and good to minus 50 degree temperatures. It does not get gummy with age. You can use it on any part of your firearm, I have for about 50 years now...
Click to expand...

X2
I use dry silicone spray lube, it can be bought at any hardware store. When sprayed on it drys instantly but leaves a slick finish for the pin to slide on, there is no oily residue for grime to stick to.
 
guntech said:
As far as I am concerned the absolute best lubrication to use on firing pin assemblies is G96 Gun Treatment. It is silicone based and good to minus 50 degree temperatures. It does not get gummy with age. You can use it on any part of your firearm, I have for about 50 years now...
Click to expand...

X2 on this, great stuff.

Also the idea if running metal against metal without lube gives me nails on a chalkboard shudders.
I have read a thin amount of ATF works as well.
 
Lots of great advice here, but I wish I could have been there to see for myself. The primer indent from a misfire will not be as deep as when the same primer with the same load fires. The reason is that the primer moves rearward out of the pocket towards the firing pin, then the pressure of firing re-seats it as the cartridge is pushed against the bolt face. It might be possible that you've run into a primer problem rather than a rifle problem, particularly if your rifle is well maintained. I bought a large number of primers in a single purchase and single lot number some years ago, and I'm only down to my last thousand now. The first few hundred of these primers had a failure rate of two or three per hundred, then after that they straightened out and none of the subsequent ones have been a problem at all. Guess how I felt getting frequent misfires with a 20,000 primer purchase! Another reason for primer failure can be the cup thickness. CCI's for example are just a bit thicker, which can be detected when you seat them, and the mil-spec primers are just a bit thicker yet. I had an early 95 Marlin that wouldn't fire the CCIs reliably until I shimmed the hammer spring. Now none of this might be what you've experienced, and your bolt might just be gummy and need a good cleaning, but if this seems unlikely, then look at your primers and the strength of your firing pin spring.
 
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