The Firearms Forum banner

Advice Re: Handling (And Root Cause) Of Mis-Fire

1K views 16 replies 10 participants last post by  otisrush 
#1 · (Edited)
I'd very much value any insight as to what might have happened today, and also my handling of the situation......

Background: I'm new to reloading. I've fired approx 200 reloaded rnds through my AR. (Colt M&P 15 Sport. The rifle itself has probably 1,200 rounds through it. I've literally not had one round that did not perform perfectly.......until today.)

I was testing a variety of loads today when I had a mis-fire. The mis-fire that occurred was the 4th shot of a 5-shot series I was shooting. (Meaning I'd had successful firings of that load prior to the misfire happening.) I just heard a simple "click" when I pulled the trigger. I waited (in case it was a hang-fire) and when all seemed fine I ejected the round. I might have had to pull the charging handle slightly harder than normal to open the action - but I wasn't paying too much attention to that per se. The primer had a VERY slight dimple in the middle of the primer face. Everything else about the round looked completely normal. I specifically looked to see if the primer was seated extra deep but it didn't appear to be. (I have had some cases that seem to have what I think are pretty loose primer pockets. I use a hand primer and some seem to go in really easily.)

Since everything appeared fine with the round I put it back in the gun and it fired fine. I proceeded to shoot other reloads and they all worked fine.

My questions:
* With a mis-fire like that - would it have been wiser to not attempt to shoot it? Maybe bring it home, pull the bullet, check the case more closely, etc.?
* Having it not fire once and then fire would lead me to believe there is something going on with the gun. But I'm struggling to believe that's the case. I know I'm not an experienced reloader, and although I've been very cautious in what I do I would tend to figure I'm more likely to have done something wrong to have this happen than there being something wrong with the gun.

I'd appreciate any input people have.

Thanks.

OR

P.S.: Of course - typing the situation and asking the question made me think of something: If the primer pocket was particularly loose, and the recoil from the previous rounds in the series caused the primer to move in the primer pocket while the round was in the mag, maybe the misfire happened because the firing pin pushed the primer deeper into the pocket - and the second attempt then enabled a firm firing pin strike?
 
See less See more
#4 ·
What you describe is a primer not full seated (for whatever reason). If the primer pockets seem loose then discard the brass with loose primer pockets. Even if they fire they may allow gas to escape around the primer and gas erode the bolt face. If you got 3 to5 reloads out of them you got your money's worth. Throw the whole lot away. Buy a bag of at least 100 new cases from Remington, or Winchester as bulk brass. Make sure every primer seats below flush by a couple thousandths. You can feel that with your finger. Keep that lot of brass together and if this happens again throw out the entire lot.

LDBennett
 
#5 ·
It seems everyone is ignoring another cause of having a misfire.
How clean is your rifle?
I have had a few misfires in my live and most of them were with factory fresh ammo.
It really doesn't take much dirt or crude in the right place to cause erratic misfiring.
The old Savage 99 rifles were notorious for this along with the Remington 760.
Some systems demand that the firing pin and or the surrounding parts must be squeaky clean.
Two years ago I had a misfire with my Howa rifle. This is vertuly unheard of. Yet when I cleaned the bolt as best I could, the problem went away.
 
#6 ·
All guns must be clean. If you do not field strip your guns and thoroughly clean them after every use then gun malfunctions are a possibility. But in this case my money is on loose primer pockets and primers not fully seated (for any reason).

But reloading brass that is marginal is also a potential for errant firings and harm to you and others around you. The brass case is a gasket between you and the case gas pressures up to 60,000 psi. It makes no sense to re-use brass that is suspect. Loose primer pockets are the first signs that the brass must be replaced.

LDBennett
 
#12 ·
Very helpful info. Now this is raising another question.......

I've loaded about 150 rounds where some of the primers felt "loose"..... Or at least some were looser than others.

What do people recommend? Should I disassemble them and pop the primers so I can reprime and then pitch loose primer pockets?
 
#13 ·
I hand prime. if i get one that 'falls in' I won't use it. If I get one that feels less tension than the others, that one gets marked with a band and is recycled after that fireing... and it's usually use dup first like for qc testing.. a batch.. etc.
 
#14 ·
You're going to get mixed replies on this but what I would do is fire the ones you have made. If you have any that need a second trip through the chamber, seperate and scrap them.
 
#15 ·
In seating the primers, there have been times where it seemed like, whoa, that was really light. Like there was no side tension. It felt fine to the touch and depth and also fire ok on once fired brass. But I am using a rifle and not an ar platform. I'll have to separate those out and fire separately so I can measure later just for grins.
 
#16 ·
If you load mixed headstamp brass you will invariably get some that feel like Oh, that went in pretty easy, especially if you have a bunch of brass that originalyl had crimped in primers, as even if you swage them, they still can take a it more OOMPH to get seated completely, then when you get one that goes in smooth it makes you wonder...

Also, with everyone else on the primer not being seated all the way...
 
#17 · (Edited)
I'm definitely loading mixed brass. Some primers have gone in really tight. (I hand prime.) I don't know yet what, if any, force is too much to exert. But I've had a few times I've hit my limit as to what amount of force I was willing to exert. In one instance the primer was halfway in and I had a bit of a challenge getting it out so I could get it out of the shellholder. (I read - and now I understand in hindsight - I could put the shellholder/partially primed combo in the press and pop it out with a decapping pin). I guess my point is that I can relate to mogunner's point - in that maybe some feel "extra loose" when mixed in with some that are "extra tight".
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top