Who had a misfire this year?

[AlaskaHunter]

I had one on my old 1980s citori after duck hunting for 22 straight days...primer had a light dent.
Took the receiver off the stock and the firing pins had some mud, cleaned both firing pins and good to go.

 

[LuketheDog]

That means said elk got away?

It stood there for what seemed like eternity at 50 yds as he misfired on his follow-up, the misfire 'click' seemed louder to my ears than when the rifle actually fired! Another guide spotted the carcass 3 days later, took it at least 2 days to die as far as we could tell. I'd been assured twice that their rifles were in top form...sure

 

[Dinkshooter]

Found it dead 3 days later, took it at least 2 days to die as far as we could tell...

Ugh

 

[BuzzH]

Not a misfire, but a hang fire with my muzzleloader on a nice whitetail buck. I've had one misfire on a centerfire about 30 years ago, remington green box PSP in a 30/06...cost me a pronghorn buck that time.

 

[MTLabrador]

I’ve only ever seen one misfire in a centerfire rifle. It was a Remington Model 7, .243 with factory loaded partitions. Cost my girlfriend a 300 plus bull elk.

 

[OntarioHunter]

Here's a wierd one. This past fall at the clays range I had a Winchester primer explode BACKWARDS in a reloaded shotgun shell. It blew the primer out of the copper cup and caved in the back of the shell. The powder did not detonate and the porthole to it behind the primer cup was clear. Presumably the Winchester primer was defective with a sealed back end. A piece of the primer hidden in the trigger assembly later emerged the following week and mangled one of the rail tracks for breech bolt. The old A5 was still operational but debris could fall through a gap into the trigger mechanism when hunting. So I bought another Magnum Twelve off the net for $450, swapped receivers, and resold the old one for $550. Made money on the deal.

 

[timmy]

Anyone? I'm I the only half wit? Still not sure how/why it happened and in the heat of the moment I left the entire cartridge there.

7mm Mag(The most powerful rifle cartridge known to man).

Mid life old brass, rifle was in some very crappy conditions up to 2 weeks prior. I'm for sure not a reloading expert by any means.

Next shot went bang.

I had the exact same thing happen to me with a tikka 7mm several years ago. Hunted in wet weather the week before. I picked the round up and ended up finishing the deer off with it. It turned a chip shot into a goat rodeo. Never happened before and hasn’t since.

 

[wyoboypt]

2 in a row on a coyote stand. First coyote killed with first shot. 2nd coyote standing 80 yards out. Click. Jack another in. Click. Jack another in. Bang! But was flustered and missed. I could only see his head and neck. Super irritating.

 

[grizzly63]

I hand load most of what I shoot anymore. You know the deal about paying attention while reloading right? Sometimes things don't always go as planned. Had my first squib load this year, no powder and jammed the nosler partition into the rifling when the primer went off. Thankfully i noticed it and removed the bullet before continuing. I also had some problems with the primer seater flipping the primers over when installing. Never went off but you can really tell if you are flinching when nothing happens when the hammer drops. Had a 700 freeze up on me in a blizzard a couple of years ago. I had installed a Timney trigger and different stock. Didn't pay enough attention to the large gap by the bolt handle. Snow filled the trigger mechanism and froze. Noticed when I couldn't get the gun to go off when that nice buck came running by.

 

[KG406]

For the first time I experienced it this year. After a 2+ mile stalk on a big bachelor herd of elk I got my girlfriend set up with a solid rest and short shot on the biggest bull in the herd, he turned broadside, told her to take him, and just heard a click. She racked another one in but was now flustered and hit him further back than ideal. He just stood there and the the next three rounds did not fire either. She had ejected them into the deep snow with each click and the extra ammo was in her pack, which she had dropped about a half mile back when we started to belly crawl (I have learned my lesson on this way too many times now) so we just sat there helpless as he slowly walked out of sight. It finally struck me that the firing pin was freezing up, it was well below zero and we had been hiking around in a blizzards the last two days. Was also a new rifle we just bought earlier in the summer. I stuffed the bolt in my pocket to warm it up while I ran back to get her pack... when we slipped up on him bedded the next shot fired and her first bull was dead.
Learned a big lesson on this one, after that trip I stripped down the bolts on all our rifles and thoroughly degreased them then used a quality dry lube rated for -60*F. Would have ate at me forever if she had lost this opportunity on a 330 bull because of such a simple oversight. I later heard from 2 other friends that had this happen on elk that same weekend, both of them said they had cleaned their rifles recently with likely way too much oil.

 

[tjones]

I read on the interweb tape on the muzzle will cause this.

 

[OntarioHunter]

Several years ago I had a frozen firing pin experience. Last day of the season (always 15th of Dec) and minus 25 C. I heard them coming through the tag alders for fifteen minutes. Finally the cow moose steps into the old logging road and then the calf. My bull tag was also good for a calf (I know, doesn't make sense) so I took him (it was the last day). Or tried to. Click. I ducked down, ejected the shell, closed the bolt on an empty chamber and quietly released the firing pin several times (with Springfield it is possible to recock firing pin without working the bolt). Then loaded a live round and dropped the calf with a neck shot.

 

[Hunting Wife]

I had one a few years ago while deer hunting. Factory ammo .270 Win, Remington Core-Lokts. It was a nice day, I had set up to intercept a couple of bucks on their way to bed. As they came out in front of me, I lined one up and squeezed the trigger. Nothing but a click. Racked another one and tried again. That one worked fine, the deer was dead right there. The dent on the primers for both shells looked identical. I have no idea what the problem was.

 

[AZBridger]

Several years ago i got a call from a friend that was trying to shoot a big coues and had a misfire. His explanation was too many cocktails while he was reloading and forgot to put powder in the case. the bullet stuck in the barrel and the buck was laying there still bedded within range. he didn't have a rod so i had him pull a bullet out of the brass on another round, dump the majority of powder out of the case then load it and fire it to get the bullet out of the barrel. it worked and the buck never ran off. 3rd bang was the charm and he ended getting the buck. i left some brass in the tumbler for too long once and it wallowed out the primer pockets enough to where driving down a rough road shook most of them out, i also bought 1k winchester primers 15 or so years ago and about 5 per 100 would not go off. ended up giving away the rest of them.

 

[Bambistew]

Not this year, but have had misfires with a pistol and a rifle in the last few years. Years ago I had and a couple other rifles in really cold weather fail to fire, Remington and Ruger. The most recent were firing pin protrusion issues on a Kimber and S&W. The others were too much lube and sub zero conditions the viscosity of the oil will slow down the firing pin.

The Kimber miss fired 3x on a caribou hunt, and did it once 4-5 years before (my first in a really long time) figured it was primer depth on old brass, after noticing some variation in primer depth. I bought new brass and changed out the spring. I set protrusion to match previous depth, as it was within spec, but upper end of range

With the new spring it would misfire 1 in 10 times. Moved it forward... 1:5. Moved it back to minim. Zero issues since and even shot up all the old brass loads. Would have never guessed you could have too much protrusion, but its how you use it I guess.

The pistol was a recall for a short pin.

I did have a miss fire on another rifle (remington) on an antelope hunt a really long time ago, now that I think about it. I never figured that one out, as the rifle had 100s of round through it before and after with no issues. Figired it was a dud load, but looking back it was probably dirty because it had a light strike.

The light hit, says to me mechanical, probably lube or corrosion on the spring, assuming it wasn't cleaned. I always work the bolt and firing pin before hunting, and don't use much lube, and always inspect firing pin springs. Some rifles are very east to inspect, others are a PITA to get apart in the field.

 

[Brian in Montana]

I've never had a misfire my entire life. Except a couple times with a muzzleloader when the power got damp.

 

[brockel]

Only when I had Tubbs speedlock firing pins installed.

 

[noharleyyet]

You sure it's not one of those newfangled 700 EtronX....

 

[Hem]

Not a misfire, but a hang fire with my muzzleloader on a nice whitetail buck. I've had one misfire on a centerfire about 30 years ago, remington green box PSP in a 30/06...cost me a pronghorn buck that time.

I've had a few hang fires over the years with BP. Most of them practicing. I did have a misfire years ago on a 330 bull that my buddy quickly shot with his .06, and then mounted as a reminder to me to keep my shit wired tight.
Nowadays if there is any doubt on my loaded powder I back the nipple out and sprinkle a little powder in the threaded hole. Goes bang everytime with no delay.

 

[Don Fischer]

In the quick second I looked at it, it was for sure not a normal indent, very light.

That could indicate the problem right there, Maybe either a weak firing pin spring or dirty inside the bolt not letting the firing pin forward enough. I never seen either problem myself but have heard from enough guy's that claim it to believe it could be. No early on in reloading it was taught to never touch the primer with any oil at all on your fingers and I did have a couple time's when everything looks alright and the round didn't fire. I always assumed I'd touched a primer with an oily finger. Seem's today that theory doesn't work. But I had it happen again several years ago. Had found a glass jar of something that I'd got from a friend and tried in in my 30-06. Click and the primer well dented. Got home and took it apart to save the case and the powder had only burned enough to create a sludge in the case I couldn't get out. That was very old jar of powder and in that glass jar may have been over exposed to sun light and maybe moisture. I've read that is not good for powder! I do have a very old 8# keg of Red Dot I do use in cast loads. Very old like the Red is disappearing from the powder. still seem's to work fine. Came from the same guy but stored in that light proof sealed can all these years.

Now I seldom ever touch Primer's with my finger's, haven't for many years and haven't had a problem with them misfiring for years either. Oil off the finger's, couldn't tell you other than to say I quit touching them and never had it happen again. Thinking back I did have a time when I got light primer strike's. Had read back then about a dirty bold and cleaned the inside and problem went away.