110 30-06 Misfire at moment of truth !

[big honkin jeep]

The difference you're seeing between the fired rounds and unfired rounds are from being fired. When fired the brass expands some to reduce rearward movement but the case still comes rearward under a lot of pressure with quite some force against the bolt face. This is most likely the cause of the difference in appearance of a deeper firing pin strike and some appearance of flattening.
Buy a box of fresh ammo and take a trip to the range. I'm fairly certain you'll be pleasantly surprised.
Heck you're gonna need it sooner or later anyway.

[ABL1111]

Just got the spring and firing pin - the pin is not the right one. It looks very similar but the overall length of the pin is shorter than mine ( not adjustable ) and although the fire pin 'head' itself looks similar ( I did not mic it ) the diameter of the rest of the pin, near the bolt head retaining pin, is much narrower than mine - MUCH - so it would be sloppy through my wider bolt head retaining pin. This one has to go back.

One thing I did notice ( I'm getting way to familiar and knowledgeable than I want ! ) is that my firing pin is scratched a bit where it would ride through my bolt head retaining pin. That could cause some loss of 'spring'.

If I can locate the parts, I think a new firing pin/spring and a bolt head retaining pin would be a smart maintenance R/R.

My firing pin, where it goes through the Bolt Head retaining pin ( if I type that part one more time !?!?!? ) is .1410. I'll be looking for that diameter firing pin shaft and BHRP...

[Robinhood]

Brother, I think you are barking up the wrong tree. If when you assemble your bolt and prior to putting the coking piece pin in, you put your thumb over the tail end and shack it and it moves freely in both directions and bottoms out you are good to go. Check your firing pin protrusion and if it is good you have 2 options. Make the ammo longer or the chamber shorter.


Verify headspace.

[ABL1111]

RH - I can shake it back and forth and the pin protrudes to spec. I don't want to bark or p*ss up the wrong tree - so thanks for the input. I hate troubleshooting anything by blind part replacement - that always wastes $ ( sometimes you get lucky, but I don't subscribe to that !)

Are you able to provide, or send me to where I can find excellent, descriptive directions as to how to check headspace. I have read a bit and know there are 'go and no go gauges' and a barrel wrench needed. Or, it can be done with scotch tape and used fired brass "FL " sized . What is FL sized ?

I think its smart to check the headspace anyway, especially if I don't have to change my current set up to do so ( would hate for it to be the ammo all along ). If the headspace is off, I can then make the necessary adjustments. If HS is OK, then I'm back to my firing pin/ spring and, or ammo.

Thoughts ?

[J.Baker]

FL sized = full length sized (as opposed to just neck sized).

[RustyShackle]

Not ideal, but.....you can use a piece of masking tape across the head of the cartridge. Add a piece and close bolt. Keep adding layers of tape until bolt doesn’t close. Report back with findings.

1 layer roughly equals GO
2 layers roughly equals FIELD
3 layers roughly NO GO

with anything there are lots of variances on products, masking tape isn’t a real precision product. But this should give you an idea of things are way out or close.

[ABL1111]

I think I did it right. I used a fired cartridge. I put one layer of 3M blue masking tape on firing pin side of casing and used razor blade to trim so the tape was perfectly covering the end of the casing. I put this cartridge in barrel and tried to close the bolt and it would not close - only when I pushed a little harder, would it close.

[RustyShackle]

Use a full length resized case, or unfired case. Unless the fired case came from a known good headsapced firearm.

[J.Baker]

I think I did it right. I used a fired cartridge. I put one layer of 3M blue masking tape on firing pin side of casing and used razor blade to trim so the tape was perfectly covering the end of the casing. I put this cartridge in barrel and tried to close the bolt and it would not close - only when I pushed a little harder, would it close.

And that's why you use a RESIZED case. A fired case is expanded so naturally it's not going to fit back into the chamber without some force. That's why rifles have primary extraction to help break the case free from the chamber. Also, do you have a set of calipers? If so, what's the thickness of the tape you're using? The difference between a go and no-go gauge is 0.0035". Most clear "Scotch"-type tape measures right at 0.002" thickness. I just checked three different types of painters tape I have here and they range from 0.003" to 0.006" in thickness depending on brand. If you don't know the thickness of your tape you're just chasing your tail.

[ABL1111]

Tape is .0050.

I used a live round ( hate doing that in the house ! )

Same results - will not close.

[Robinhood]

Try it with the round that failed to fire.

Do you understand what we are trying to determine with this test?

Where is Big ed. He's got pretty pictures and the energy to splain.

[1953greg]

my munny sez its the old ammo

[ABL1111]

I thought I understood until you ask if I understood :)

This test I just did was with the misfired bullet - which would be considered new, no ?

I thought the .0050 shows the space, or lack of, between a new bullet and the face of the bolt. It seems that my space is less than .0050, otherwise the bolt would have closed.

A spent round did the same thing as the misfired round - with the .0050 tape, the bolt would not close without some exertion

[ABL1111]

Any input gents ? Does my headspace sound OK based on the fact that a new bullet with .0050 of masking tape would not let the action close ?

[RustyShackle]

It sounds like your headspace is not an issue.

[ABL1111]

OK - That's what I was thinking. Thank you for your help so far. As soon as I can get to the range, I'll try some new ammo. I'll check the new firing pin and spring that I ordered - might not be a bad thing to replace the original anyway.

I have killed a slew of deer with my Marlin 336 in .35, but had a scope mounting issue so I started using my Dad's Savage 110 in 30-06, it has been my 'new' hunting rifle. I have killed, with precision, several nice deer with this gun (2) despite misfires... It feels good in my hand, carry's well, the recoil is nonexistent when I have a deer in my sites, and is quite deadly.

So far, I have adjusted nothing - just have done a lot of measuring.

One last question - is there a way to 'de-cock' the action without pressing the trigger and activating the firing pin ? I hate dry firing a gun but can't seem to figure out another option.

[JW]

OK -


One last question - is there a way to 'de-cock' the action without pressing the trigger and activating the firing pin ? I hate dry firing a gun but can't seem to figure out another option.

Raise the bolt up, depress trigger and hold, close bolt slowly.
I do not recommend doing this with ammo in the magazine or chamber as the firing pin will be in the protruded/fired position

[Smokey262]

Wouldn't it be easier/faster/cheaper to just go buy a new box of ammo and see what happens?

[ABL1111]

JW Thx.

Smokey - yes - you're right ! I have the ammo. But, getting to a range is tough for me with (2) young, active kids, a demanding wife - my weekends are sort of shot. When I need to go hunt or fish I make the time - trust me... Time in front of the computer and making quick and easy measurements was the fastest, easiest for me. I'm a little pissed at myself that I bought the firing pin and spring without going to the range first - but, it is an OLD gun and I figured the spring had to be a little tired.

Hopefully, I can get to the range, there's a town range 2 miles away but its 50 yards only and I want to shoot at 100 yards with another gun to site it in. I'll post my findings.