Gentleman,

I had something happen to me at the range yesterday that has never happened to me that I can recall with a centerfire rifle. I had 2 misfires from two rifles yesterday. The primers were hit indented but didn’t go off. One was Hornady SST ammo and on other rifle it was Remington Premier Ballistic Tip ammo. Was this just a freak incident or have y’all had misfire from factory ammo?

Definitely odd. Did the primers appear to have sufficient dents?

I had a round of Federal American Eagle 30-06 not go off. When I took it apart it had no powder in it.

Yes. I looked quickly and tossed them in the woods. I’ve never had this happen. I’ve had these rifles for a few years and neither one have many rounds thru them. I would consider them quality rifles.


I have racked my brain on why/how this would happen twice.

I'd at least disassemble the bolts to check.

I'd also carefully verify ammo as properly labeled. Being a curious sort, I'd disassemble the dud cartridges and inspect the remaining ones in each package. Might all wind up being inconclusive, but I'd still do it.

I would have tried to shoot them again if it was a lite strike . If it didn’t go boom then take it apart and see if there is gun powder in there.

That’s the primers that they developed during Slick Willie’s term that were supposed to go dead after some length of time. 😁

I've seen quite a few POS factory loads this year and would chalk it up to the ramped up production and schidty work force.

I had a Ruger M77 Hawkeye .308go click on a coyote the other day. Then a 22mag shotshell clicked on a cottonmouth. I put the guns away for the rest of the day and tried to shake off the bad juju.

The shotshell later went bang on another hit. The M77 .308 rifle appeared to have a weakened firing pin spring, as hits were light and ignition was spotty. I’d stored it nearly a year with the bolt handle up. Put in a 25% stronger Wolff spring and it seems to be cured.

This ammo was older. I’d just rescoped a couple rifles and was using access factory Ammo to get on paper.


I may consider the firing pins. I tossed the bad Ammo. I did try twice to make the 280 round “go off”. May be it was just a very rare 2 misfires in a session.

The rifles don’t get shot a lot. One was built about 4 years ago and the other is a 700 KS in 280. It’s never failed.

Two duds, two different factory loadings in two different rifles about six months apart three years ago.

First was a Hornady American Whitetail 7mm-08 round when my son was filling a doe tag. He ejected the bad shell and killed the deer with the next one.

Second was sighting in with Barnes VorTeX .270 loads. Wasn’t exactly confidence inspiring for an up coming elk hunt.

Both rifles are Rem 700’s, one late 80’s and the other early 90’s manufacture. Never an issue with either otherwise. Pulled the bullets from both bad rounds, each looked fine. Wrote it off as coincidence of two bad primers.

I have had a couple of misfires in the last couple of weeks using my handloads and Federal Magnum primers that I have had a few years. Recent handloads. Both had what looked to me like sufficient dents on the primers. One did fire on the second try, and the other I did not try again. Primers were kept in a chest of drawers in my shop, that is air conditioned in the summer. This from a .264 Win. Mag. using once fired casings, and neck sized only, so head space should not be an issue. I need to try other primers and see what happens. miles

Out of the couple thousand rounds of centerfire I've shot, the only two misfires I'd ever had occurred with two different rifles and on game. The first was a Ruger Mk 2 30-06 on the largest antelope buck I've ever seen. He didn't stick around for me to cycle the bolt. The second was a Winchester 70 338 WM on a cow elk on my first ever elk hunt. I'd tracked a herd through the snow and had them dead to rights at about 75 yards. They ran off when I cycled the bolt but I caught up with them a couple of hours later and it went bang that time, dropping a very large cow.

Specs on the rifles???

Cleaning regimen on the bolts?

How old is the ammo?

How was the ammo stored?

Did you search the interwebs for misfires or light primer strikes for those rifles and ammo?

Don't know if this will reveal a definitive answer, but maybe we can eliminate some possibilities.

What rifle? Is it possible to measure firing pin protrusion?

Valid questions. One is an 7-08 I had built about 3 years ago by Accurate Ordnance on a 700 action. The other is a 700 KS SS in 280. The bolts are cleaned, but not disassembled. They’ve been shot less than 100 rounds. The ammo is 5-7 years old maybe and stored in a safe with 2 dehumidifiers.

If they are older Remingtons, and I mean 90's or earlier, the firing pin spring could be weak or obstructed. There are ways you can disassemble the bolt your self to inspect inside the bolt body. Or you can find a gunsmith... they should have the tool to disassemble the bolt.

I know AO is no more, but I heard one of the AO dudes started his own pretty close by.

Where in GA are ya?

I may reach out to Jason. He is the one that started back at his house. He could inspect/repair either one. He doesn’t live too far from me!

Throw the guns away, keep the ammo...