Model 25 .204 light primer strikes.

[JRodko]

Hello again,

I had my 25 out at the range shooting some hand loads and I had 2 failure to fires in 15 shots. The first one I re-cocked and fired two more times before assuming faulty primer (couldn't get it to go bang). The second one I re-cocked and it went off the second time. Both had dimples that looked normal to the naked eye. I was using brand new Remington Brass and shooting in -20 degrees after coming outside from a heated shack.

I've got three theories... any insight would be really appreciated.
1) Bolt is gummed up and cold weather is making the oil and grease prevent the firing pin from moving at full force, so I dumped in a whack of lighter fluid to clean it out and let it sit for a few hours then I had weird issues when dry-firing, it was **** near impossible to lift to bolt to re-cock and pull it out... so I sprayed in a small amt of oil and that seemed to clear things up, I just haven't had a chance to go out and test again but I'm not very hopeful. Also, I don't know how to take the bolt apart to clean it apart completely...

2)Maybe I didn't have the bolt closed all the way? But I've got lots of experience with bolt actions and I've never had one fail to fire because of an issue like that. Also on the 2nd tries I made sure it was closed as far as it would go.

3)Headspacing issue? If the brass was a little short before fire forming maybe it was moving just enough so that the firing pin couldn't punch deep enough? But this sounds kind of ridiculous.

Any help would be really appreciated... I'm coming up on gopher season and I don't want to have to send my new rig away. I clipped the trigger spring AFTER I did my first day of shooting so for those of you who have read that thread I suppose it's irrelevant.

Cheers,

J

[mcho]

What primers are you working with? My guess would be CCI BR 4. Am I right? Mark

[JRodko]

What primers are you working with? My guess would be CCI BR 4. Am I right? Mark

I believe you are correct. I've adjusted the protrusion on the bolt just a little bit so it hits just a touch more anyway. Hopefully I don't have any issues but I think I'll be switching to fed primers.

[mcho]

Rem. 7 1/2 work fine for me. I do not know why but the BR4's are the only ones I have had a problem with and then not all the time.

Mark