My Stevens 200 has light primer stikes....all of a sudden!

I have a Stevens 200 (savage 110 copy) in .308 Win. I am using virgin R-P brass and a new box of Winchester brand large rifle primers.

I have had this rifle for a few years and I have never had any problems with it not firing. I have probably shot around 100-150 rounds until it started acting up. On my last batch of reloads, I had 2 or three out of twenty that wouldn't fire and I thought maybe they were bad primers, so I got rid of all those primers and started again. I have heard that it could be the headspacing on my reloads, but I have been using one of the case gauge things on the cases and they fall just where they are supposed to fall both after sizing and after loading. I also read that it could be "gunk" in the bolt, so I took the bolt completely apart and cleaned it out. It did have some brown gunk that i needed to scrub out of it and now it is all shinny clean; I lubed it up with a light coat of a "tactical" type gun oil. I put it all back together and took it to the range today, and now I couldn't get it to fire any of the 4 rounds i tried.

So, what is going on? Any idea what I need to do next? The gun is only about 6 years old and only about 100 rounds fired through it, so I don't think the fire pin could be weak yet!
Ideas?

Bump for the solution

Your virgin RP brass could be on the short side of SAMMI speck, which is not necessarily a QC issue. It has happened to me. The way I shoot and reload, a case is next to worthless until it is fire formed in my chamber. Although I never totally waste a shot and I try to gain all the info I can from it. I then neck size until the case will no longer chamber.

I suggest you load some of the cases that fired and go back to the range and give them a try. You may find it is not a rifle problem but case anomaly. When this happened to me, I ran the ones that didn't fire to the top of the stroke in an empty press, clamped a flaring tool to the bullet and backed it out far enough to jamb slightly into the lands. After that they all fired. Accept this advise at your own risk!

I think the huge demand for reloading components the last few years has caused QC issues. A while back I got a box of 260Rem cases that had off center flash holes in 18 of the 50 RP cases.

Hope this helps...please let us know...Jim:-)

Inspect bolt for firing pin protrusion in fired position, should be .035" to .055". Primers may not being fully seated, primers not fully seated cushion firing pin strike. I see where your checking your brass with gauge & things look good, but this may not be so. Take a fired un-sized case add piece of scotch tape to base & chamber & gently try to close bolt, bolt should not close. Now try a sized case, with tape, if bolt closes, brass is being over-sized.

Before you complete the bolt assembly you might verify that the crosspin is centered and indexed correctly by inserting the firing pin and with your thumb over the BAS hole, a finger in the bolt face and shake. The firing pin should move freely and you should feel it protrude through the bolt face and back and forth. Most if not all of the custom action manufactures call for .050 to .055 firing pin protrusion. Some lubes are like honey. Not a good trait for a firing pin as it needs to accelerate to top speed in .200" prior to striking the primer. Something thin and less tacky is best.


Next is to check your case head spacing. You might be over sizing your brass. Conch hit on a way to get the brass back into spec...use a light load to fire form.

New brass being a little short isn't uncommon. I always load my ammo on virgin brass to jamb into the lands 5-10 thousandths, this way if it is short the jamb will keep the firing pin from pushing the round forward in the chamber when trying to fire ensuring good ignition. After this the brass is fire-formed to my chamber and I reset my FL sizing die to make sure I'm only bumping the shoulder back 0.002".

If you have not already done this: check the firing pin cocking ramp on the bolt for burrs or rough spots and lube
A long shot I know but worth checking
Jack