Firing pin, springs, FTF.

[South Prairie jim]

Yep, perfectly valid theory.

I've fired a bunch of cases that never had the shoulder set back (neck size only) and they work perfectly well after more than 20 reloads. These were with moderate to low charges. As you said, full powder charges tend to start 'sticking' after 4 or 5 reloads when a FL size is 'needed'.

FWIW, the times I had shoulder set back from a FP hit were with my cast loads. Those are bullets seated to a jam fit in the throat so there is no gap at the bolt head.

Yep, perfectly valid theory...

go figure..lol

[KMW1954]

You don't seem to realize that you answered the question.
Since you stopped using Hornady brass, you've had no issue's with shrinking brass or FTF's.
One could come to the conclusion that the sub par Hornady brass being reloaded one too many times was the cause of the issue.
Brass fatigue will eventually happen to quality brass after too many reloads.
That's why match shooters will dump their brass after reloading them a certain amount of times, even if the brass looks good.
At least you didn't learn this lesson while shooting a match.

SJC

Seems I might have had a clue but not the answer that I could trust. Also able to admit that I am still learning which again was the reason for bringing this here. My original thinking was that there were two issues taking place and could they be inter-related. Could one be causing the other. That I did not know nor had any experience with.

Yes the brass was a first impression as I have never used Hornady previously and also I had never had an issue with FTF while using Norma or PMC brass. So that stood out. As I stated, I was reluctant to post this here as I had a very good idea what it would lead to. My intuition was also correct.

When I started this post I was primarily looking for advice and guidance on the firing pin assembly as I figured who would know the Savage system better than the members here. It took a little bit but was finally provided the explanation I was looking for, very precise and clear. I still wish that would have been post #2. It would have ended much of this discussion.

Dave Hoback in post #8 reiterated a number of things he and I discussed previously when I was trying to use CCI #41 primers because that was all I could find at the time. That was my first learning experience with Savage pins. Then in post #61 sharpshooter provided a beautiful detailed explanation that fit and described what I was seeing. For which I am grateful.

It may be true, "fliers are a sign of inconsistent ignition" but I still also truly believe that they are also a sign of an inconsistent shooter. I thought about this earlier tonight and conclude I could shoot some of the rifles that my buddies shoot or ones just like them and at this point I still would not out shoot them. Skill and ability still play a roll in this.