Axis does not fire consistently

I recently purchased a new axis in .243 caliber. I worked up some reloads without any misfires. Took it out for whitetail a couple of weeks ago, rattled in a buck, aimed and "click". Tried again as he was leaving and this time it fired but I missed. I found the shell that did not fire and noticed that the firing pin had made a very small dent in the middle of the primer but certainly not enough for it to fire. I continued on and about an hour later, came upon two bucks looking at me at about 60 yards. I lined up and again "click" and they ran away. I was so disgusted I did not look for the shell in the snow.

Any suggestions on what might be going on here?

I live in Saskatchewan so it does get cold but on this day it was not all that cold but was below freezing which I was thinking may be a problem. I have certainly hunted in much colder weather and have not had these problems. In searching the internet it seems there have been some problems with the spring in the bolt which is causing issues engaging the bolt but I could not come up with others with my problem.

I plan to take it back to the gun shop I purchased it at but wanted to see if any of you have ideas on might be going on so I could advise him.

Thanks.

My guess is the lube is sticking the firing pin. Take the bolt out and clean it with some solvent and lube it with something that can handle the "extreme temperature".

Also check your reloads. It is possible you may have pushed the shoulder back and have too much headspace. In addition to an Axis .243 I have a Rossi single shot .243 for a "loaner". The chamber is a little oversize and causes a lot of misfires with just a dimple on the primer. Same difference - too much head space.

The Axis/Edge has a problem with the firing pin spring, it has a sharp edge that can get cought up, and twist the spring up. You may want to polish off the sharp edge and place a bit of grease on the bolt back screw.
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