Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Most common hunting rifle failures

Operator error, would likely be the leading factor! memtb

"Safeties"???? Why I carry hot chamber only when quite necessary. And yeah - operator error.

My first year in Alaska, hunting, I had 3 Redfields go south on me in a month or 6 weeks. Have never used Redfields since. I suspect QC has improved since, but fugem.

Switched to Leupold, Burris, the better Tascos, and a Weaver, and have had no problems with any scope in the 50+ years since.

As to the actual rifle failures, my .338WM left it's bolt home alone once. And the Senaca forgot it's powder back in Fairbanks on a sheep hunt and got left in the truck in favor of a .270. Sly bastids!

I acquired a 725 found in a busted up sled out of Anaktuvik Pass, and it failed to go off on a cold weather shot at caribou after I cleaned it up. The replacement fp spring was a good 3/4 inch longer than the one I found in the gun. The pitting on the striker shaft probably didn't help any either.

The extractor broke a year or two later while sighting it in at the Cody range, on my way to my 2nd CO elk hunt. It was my son's permit, so I didn't really need to carry a back-up anyway. I used it the next fall that way on a caribou hunt. Extraction was a little slow, but effective. After the shot, tip the muzzle to the sky, open the bolt and bang the side of the rifle with my hand- empty case fell right out. A 700 extractor, contrary to some peoples' expertise here, works perfectly, 725 extractors being nearly unobtainium.

I had my Savage-Fox SXS double on a mallard coming off a farm pond in Montana. No idea why, has never done it since, but that bird came down dead! And no, I didn't have fingers on both triggers, only on the rear one.

I would guess that the most common failures are due to crud, or hunting in freezing weather and icing/gumming up. Mechanically, probably striker, sear, trigger interactions, after "safeties". (OK- that was easy, what else is there?! )

Aside from the obvious operator errors and scope failures, I've seen triggers fail when dusty/dirty as well as firing pin causing light strikes because they were lubed/greased up and carbon turns it into sludge.

Clicked on a primer I seated too proudly.

Clicked on a factory round with primer pocket cut too deeply.

Ejector button spring rusted up once and wouldn’t let an M77 Tanger chamber a round.

Several episodes of rings not being snugged tightly over the years. Zero wandered.

That’s about it.

I was expecting 700 bolts falling off was going to be #1.

That actually happened to me a few years ago while checking zero on an older model 700 factory stainless barrel. I took the bolt apart and mig welded it and it’s still holding!!!

Most to least likely: operator error, scope failure, bad judgment concerning lubricant selection and/or application, loose ring/base, reloaded ammo failure.

And yes, I (or another family member) have done each.

Had to make a new firing pin once for a ‘92 Winchester SRC. I recall making another once also, but can’t recall what for. Brother had the bolt handle come off a 788. My other brother has had a couple of shotguns spontaneously disassemble, one an Ithaca sxs the other a Browning Double Automatic. (He can only use one arm and shooting a shotgun without the recoil restraint of a hand on the fore end creates issues, apparently.)

I had a Ruger tanger discharge when the bolt was closed energetically.

I have had to disassemble completely and thoroughly clean and relube a couple of BLR’s for friends and relatives. They just got crudded up/neglected to the point where they wouldn’t work.

I had a Marlin GG brought to me once that “just jammed up.” When I got it apart the inside of the action had slivers of what looked like yellow pine in it, pallet or packing crate material. Another GG I could always count on having to disassemble and clean at least once a year when my buddy would do a face plant in the mud with it.

I have seen a few scopes go tits up, but not many. I have seen several fog up but that can sometimes be chalked up to user error and may or may not be an actual failure.

Ammo failure? I don’t think I have ever seen an issue there that couldn’t be traced back to user error—-normally either a step missing in the reloading process or using a new lot of a component and not test firing the new combo out.

Rifle malfunction? I have seen quite a few. Triggers suddenly not catching on the sear despite never being messed with and extractors breaking. I have seen several trigger/actions freeze up despite being degreased and dry graphite lubed. I have seen a few stocks break in half. They can again mostly be attributed to user error, especially the cleaning and lubing of them for the conditions as well as being rolled over by horses/four wheelers.

Equipment breaking due to normal use is rare IME, other than the really cheaply made junk of course. The non messed with trigger issues are about the only exception.

I've seen very few actual rifle problems. I had a Rem 700 trigger freeze up once, and I've seen factory ammo that was over pressure lock up a bolt once although that was at the range. But as others have said, any problems were almost always user error.

I've fallen with my rifle a couple of times while hunting in the mountains and felt I had to recheck zero, but the scopes (in these cases Leupold Vari X-III's) did not change zero.

The only hunting failure I recall was Dad's Vanguard failing to fire.
Light primer strikes, on a full elk. He never got a bang.

The gunsmith said it was insufficient firing pin length. The pin looked ground off.


He bought it new, never touched it. Used it for 4-5 years, always factory ammo.
He discarded the empties, so may have missed a blown primer.(unlikely)
On a previous various hunt he had one misfire, a light strike. He pitched the round and killed a couple animals. It worked fine at home checking zero.

I've had a scope go wonky on shipping to Africa. Easy to see there was a problem at practice, and changed out (but after burning half my hunting rounds).

Almost more disturbing was a nice whitetail buck I flat missed at 75 yards with a 257 Rbts., and with him still standing there I went to chamber another round in a bolt gun and it wouldn't. Turns out the neck of the first handload had entirely split off and lodged in the chamber.

Really glad I took a couple deep breaths and walked back to the cabin to diagnose the problem! I tend to hunt with fresher brass these days!

Gunsmith's answers:

Broken stocks are #1. Probably by about 6 to 7 times. Falls from loosing their footing as well as horse wrecks and rolling 4 wheelers all combine to make this the #1 thing I am asked to do repairs to, during every hunting season.

Broken extractors are #2.
Broken trigger parts or pins are #3

A "weapon's system failures" would be broken scopes but I don't classify them as gun failures. But seeing that come into my shop is about as common as #2 and #3 combined.

Others I have seen several times but not enough to give them a "rank" are broken firing pins, linkages and bulged or blown barrels.

I would imagine many end-users can recognize and replace a broken scope without the help of a gunsmith, so that may skew the data to a large degree.

I've seen a number of people shooting at the rifle range somewhat bewildered that there gun had lost all its accuracy. In several of those instances I tightened the action screws and fixed the problem. Not exactly a failure but a failure on the part of the owner to periodically check the torque of both the action and scope bases and rings. I've seen more loose action screws that I have scope screws

Took a brand new CZ 20 ga Woodcock O/U out of the box and it doubled every time. It got boxed up and sent back to CZ in KC. They called me a couple weeks later and told me someone (accusing me ) of messing with the trigger sear. That led to a very interesting phone call. They finally told me no replacement parts were available and they would have to try and manufacture a new one. That’s when I lost it and the end result was a new shotgun shipped to me at their expense. The replacement has worked fine for 15-20 years.

Three scope failures, two at the range and one on the hunt. I got a shot at a nice fat cow elk at about 350 yards I held for a lung shot and she went down. My guide said good shot and when we got to the elk, there was no bullet hole in the chest. WTF? The bullet had hit her in the neck at the base of the skull. My buddy who had already shot his elk was along for the ride and thought I was a great shot. Never did tell him it was a scope failure and one hell of a lot of luck. The .35 Whelen Mauser has always been a very lucky elk rifle for me.

Many years back, I'm thinking around 1974 I acquired a JC Higgins M50 chambered to the .270 Win. in a trade. Seemed to shoot OK when I checked the sights and took it hunting. Jumped a deer and after the shot the bolt would not open, this a factory round no less. Winchester 150 gr. load. I'd missed the deer o and thanks to the now locked up bolt had to go back to the truck and home to get another rifle. Back then I could hunt a few miles from the house. Seems the guy I got the rifle from must have shot a few way too hot handloads in that rifle. The bold apparently doesn't always lock up, just when you least expect it I guess.. I stuck that rifle in the back of a closet and forgot about it. A few years back I commissioned my gunsmith to build be a light 7x57 sporter in the prewar European fashion. I'd always wanted one. So what gun did I grab for the build? You guessed it, that long forgotten .270. I didn't even remember why I'd put it away. So, with the trading od more than a few Benjamins I got the finished rifle. Gunsmith test fired it with Federal factory ammo without a problem. He gave me the fired case. So now I'm at the range doing my load work ups to find a good hunting load I might try on elk and bingo, locked up tighter that a tick on a hound dog. WTF? Now I remember why I stuck that rifle way in the back of the closet. Big question now is which if my nice Higgins 50s in my small collection will I sacrifice to fix the custom? My handloads are fairly warm but have proven safe in an M70 Featherweight and Ruger#1A. The rifle in question was originally a .270 Win. Just have to find the time to take it to my gunsmith and have him check it out.

The only other problem I've run into is the extractor on a Remington 660 apparently wore out and had to be replaced. Gunsmith couldn't get on and Remington had made a change for the ones used on the M700. Gunsmith had to use one and cobble up a workable solution. All I can say is it's still working.
PJ

The most common hunting rifle failure is----------------THE NUT BEHIND THE STOCK IS LOOSE!!!

Hip

Likely

I'll add the things I've seen. I've seen a wood stock rifle fail twice. One broke at the pistol grip after being dropped. The other had a sling stud pulled out. Neither of them mine. Not a fan of wood stocks for serious hunting rifles for this reason.

Trigger issues - 3. I had a M70 trigger sear fail to engage meaning the gun would not cock the firing pin. This was my gun and apparently the sear engagement screw moved. A 1/4" wrench and a couple of mins fixed the issue but had to go to the truck to retrieve my backup rifle - which is why I always carry a backup. I had a trigger freeze on a Ruger Super Bkackhawk after I dropped the warm gun in the snow. It spent half an hour under my coat to thaw out. I also had a buddy do the same with his M700 and the trigger froze.

Scope - I've had zero scope issues - in the field - but have had wandering zero at the range. A Leupold caused me to shoot about $30 in components before I finally sleuthed the scope issue. That was the beginning of the end for Leupold scopes for me. Won't turn this into a Leupold bashing thread but trying to zero a Leupold scope is an exercise in frustration.

I've seen handloads fail to fit in the mag box and/or chamber. Prolly 30 years ago, I loaded some 257 Robts for a guy using one of his shells as a guide. Seems he'd never actually tried the shell in his mag box. He had a single shot for the day...... I also know a guy whose "custom" handloads wouldn't chamber without alot of force. Claimed they were "crush fit" and custom to his chamber. No way in hades was he getting a second shot in under 10 secs.