Bad shells?

[fishuhalik]

On Sunday I was out pheasant hunting and had 2 shells misfire out of my 870 Wingmaster. I've NEVER had this problem with em before. I've been shooting 870s my whole life and almost always use Federals, especially lead. The firing pin was striking the primer, leaving a dent, but not firing. Any idea what would cause this to happen? Both rounds came out of the same box. They were the red box, high base #5s.

[picksbigwagon]

I would contact Federal with the batch number on the back of your box. I doubt they would do anything about it, but they should know they had a bad bunch of primers in a run of ammo

[nsnutter]

It's possible, while unlikely, that your firing pin was light striking the primers. If there is a physical clog in the firing pin channel it is possible to have this happen. Too much oil on the bolt face can cause this to happen over time, gradually getting worse until it happens every time. This actually happened to me last weekend with an xd40. Every single round had a primer strike, but no bang ... All factory loads too. Pulled the striker out and cleaned the whole assembly. The striker spring looked like it was dipped in peanut butter. Without pulling it apart, however, it looked perfectly fine. Shoots like a dream now ...

Worth looking into perhaps, if nothing else maybe for future reference if you encounter something like this again.

[swamptiger]

Quote:

Pulled the Striker out and cleaned the whole assembly. The Striker spring looked like it was dipped in peanut butter. Without pulling it apart, however, it looked perfectly fine. Shoots like a dream now ...

I've seen that happen too with a dirty action.

[monstermoose78]

Primer issue more then likely, could be not enough primer mix in the cup. Because if the primer went off you would know it. Maybe the anvil got placed up side down they have a vision system for that stuff but sometimes they stop working. Or use to anyway. I made primers there for a while. I would call and tell them, more then likely you will get some free product. That is what i would do if i were you.

[bobbymalone]

new shells or old shells?

[fishuhalik]

New shells, just bought em on Thursday