Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Ruger Misfire

I have a Ruger 77MkII in .35 Whelen that will misfire occasionally. I bought it used in January and had three misfires on the first box of shells that I bought. The issue was a light firing pin strike. I sent the gun back to Ruger where they adjusted the headspace and replaced the firing pin. The next box of shells resulted in one misfire for the same reason.

My guess is that it is a weak firing pin spring. I am thinking of purchasing a more powerful spring from Midway USA and having it installed. Would it be a better idea to send it back to Ruger?

This rifle shoots great and has all the features I want so am reluctant to get rid of it. Your thoughts would be very helpful in finding a remedy.

Thank.

Matt

I am just gonna guess that the cost of shipping is more than the cost of the spring. Just replace the spring and be done. IMO

Is this a project that could be undertaken at home or would you recomend a gunsmith?

That's about the fifth time I've heard this happen with that run of Rugers in 35 Wheelen. Mine was ok, but I sold it anyway. jorge

Mebbe headspace...................

Remove the firing pin and clean it and inside the bolt body with carb cleaner. After they dry spray them with Remington Drylube and reassemble. Ruger uses an oil that can cause problems, especially in cold weather.

I had the same issue with 2 older tang safety models. Out of the blue they wouldn't go off in cold weather. Replaced the firing pin spring with a Wolfe from Brownells (they list the factory weight and I used the next heavier one). Never happened again and that was 7-8 years ago.

I'm thinking headspace too, but it may not be the rifle. Assuming that the rifle's headspace dimension is within specs, you might want to get some kind of a cartridge headspace gauge and check out the ammo. I've never owned a 35 Whelen, but I know that it doesn't have much of a shoulder to it, and I wonder if that could contribute as well.

I've had the same issue with my custom Ruger MKII in .35 Whelen, both with factory and handload. After searching around I've found that several people had the same issue and often it was with Remington brass. Their suggestion was neck sizing only or necking up Winchester .30-06 brass. It was said that the Remington brass could be slightly under size and slide in the chamber a little further than they are supposed to and creating excesive headspace and light firing pin strike. Something to think about.

IIRC there was a special run of these made five or six years ago and there were a number of problems which were headspace related. Some guys had no problems, others never got them solved satisfactorily.

Good luck on yours.

I just read where a guy with a Handi rifle in 35 Whelen was having misfires with Remington 200's too........I have one, no misfires yet... <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" />

I have a Ruger SE Whelen that habitually misfired. I sent it back to Ruger�s hospital twice and they ultimately changed-out the barrel, firing pin and firing pin spring. I thought that Ruger had cured the problem and then one day it went click instead of bang again. Because every elk hunter needs a Whelen, I took this rifle to my gunsmith and told him to install a Lilja stainless barrel and work the trigger down to a crisp three pounds. I was assuming that Ruger did not know how to head space a Whelen properly. However, in the process of working on the trigger he discover that the trigger group retaining pin was bored at an angle that would cause the sear to drag on the bolt�s cocking piece from time to time. He rebored it and installed a new retaining pin. I have put well over 500 Remington, Federal and Norma factory rounds through this rifle without experiencing a misfire. Incidentally, he also told me that he heard from a gunsmith in the Puget Sound area that had discovered exactly the same problem on another Ruger SE Whelen. CP.

Bingo! Mine has always worked fine, but I had told a friend where to buy one and he has had the same problem. Strange.

This seems to be a problem that Ruger has from time to time. Like the other fellas here. I've heard of the 35 Whelen run having problems.

I also had a 1985ish 270 with tang safety with the occasional misfire. 3 'smiths looked at it and had various ideas as to the cause. After Ruger sent me a new firing spring & it STILL misfired I gave it away cheap & bought a Remington & all was right with the world. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/ooo.gif" alt="" />

Not a knock against ALL Rugers but you won't see me with another bolt rifle from them....

BCSteve pretty much summed it up. My 9.3 X 62 did the same thing when my die ring slipped resizing new brass.

Thank you for all of your help! I'm not sure where to start, but since all the misfires have been with factory ammunition I am hoping that reloading will solve the problem. I will probably go ahead and get another firing pin spring as well. If all else fails, time to trade.

Thanks again I really appreciate it.

Matt

I too have had a few misfires from a Ruger 77 in .35 Whelen, all with Remington factory ammo. What is worse, I have also hase one case head separation with that same factory ammo.
I seriously think there might be a headspace problem in my rifle. I have three rifles chambered to the .35 Whelen. Shells fired in the Remington 700 and my custom Oberndorf mauser with interchange with no problem. I can neck size cases from either of those two rifles and use them as is. However, brass that was fired in the Riger will not chamber in either of the other rifles, not even under force.
from what I understand, this is not the first time Ruger has had chamber problems. Apparently they got the chamber dimensions wrong on the #1H rifles in .404 Jeffery.
OH, and no misfires from the Mauser or the Remington.
My solution was to make up it's own special custom handloads using some Korean milsurp brass. I annealled the necks, ran them through the full length sizer, trimmed them all to the same length, loaded a charge of #2400 powder under a 280 gr, cast lead bullet jammed into the lands to fireform the brass. Then, I set up the resizing die to just barely touch the shoulder when resizing the cases. Works like a charm, no more misfires and definitely no case head separations.
One of these days, I'm going to have my gunsmith check the headspacing on that rifle. In the mean time, I can use it with the brass I made up for the rifle.
Paul B.