Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Gunsmithing firing pin frozen on pump?

Was hunting this am, had a nice buck in my sights and pulled trigger. Seemed to hesitate then clicked. Had to eject that shell and load new shell. Needless to say that buck and the doe with it took off before I could get a shot. It was cold and snowed about an inch while I was sitting. Is it common to have a firing pin freeze and stick enough to keep the shell from firing? The shell had an indentation that looked like it should have fired or just a hair light.

I'm shooting an Ithaca Deerslayer, 2002. Pump. I have not taken that assembly apart before. I sprayed some CLP breakfree in pin area and excercised it a number of times. Seems fine and I have not had any issues with it shooting before. I had just sighted it in a week before. Owned this gun 2 years.

I also had kept the gun in my truck overnight and it was really cold. Less than 20 overnight. Any advice? Shooting winchester extreme sabot slugs.

I'm no expert with the Ithaca but it does sound like the firing pin and spring lube has gotten gummy and the cold weather was the last straw.
The Breakfree was a good idea and a good clean and blow out with a compressor followed by a lite lube should have you fixed.

I'd hate to hunt it and not be sure though. You may want to freeze the gun and then hand load a few hulls with primers only, one at a time to be sure the primers pop perfectly each time.
Good luck!

Just take the gun apart completely and dejunk everything. You had some kind of gummed up lube in there that slowed the firing pin in the cold weather. Don't put it back together with enough lube to attract dirt or gum up.

Thanks guys. Still bumming. Was a mounter.

I would suggest switching to a dry lube, such as Hornady's One-shot Cleaner and Dry Lube. Use it on your bolt, firing pin and trigger mechanism. I have been using it for several years now on my rifles and shotguns and have never had a problem with slow ignition despite hunting in some pretty bad weather.

I clean them well and lube with lock de-icer,

Be sure you know how before trying to take an Ithaca apart. For one thing, remove the stock before cranking on the receiver screws. They hold the hanger that the stock draw bolt screws into. Without removing the stock, those screws are under a lot of tension and could be damaged with too much screw driver force. Get a schematic.

DF

Awesome, thanks.