Misfiring Rifle

[Water Hazard]

I have a Marlin lever action rifle in a .35 Remington that my father in-law gave me three seasons ago for deer hunting. At the time, it wasn't brand new, but it had never been fired. I shot it about 60 times each of the past two years without a problem.

This year, I went through 40 rounds at the range without a problem. Then, at the land I hunt, I was sighting in and had two misfires out of the 20 rounds. Saturday, I was back at the range and had another misfire out of those 20 rounds.

Both boxes were the Remington Core-lokts in 200 grain. One box was from Fleet Farm and the other from Cabela's. Each was purchased within the past 3 months.

The rounds that I shot out of the gun earlier this fall(the ones at the range when I did not have any issues) were from last year so they were older (at least I had owned them longer...I don't know how long they say at the store).

When I say misfire, I mean that I pull the trigger, the hammer goes forward, strikes the back of the round, and the bullet does not fire. When I eject the round, there is a mark where the firing pin struck the round.

What could have caused this problem? Is it the bullets? The gun?

I clean the gun after each use (unless it is the last sight in before deer season and then I wait until hunting is done for the fall before cleaning). The misfire hasn't been the first shot of the day or the last shot. It appears to be random.

I want to make sure this doesn't happen when I am on stand with a deer in the crosshairs!

Thanks for any help you can provide.

[VMS]

I'd say probably some bad primers in the shells. I had some remington .308 shells do that to me as well. Definitely not fun, and can be potentially dangerous while ejecting. Don't want that thing to go off somehow when it's next to you...

I doubt it is the gun...

Steve

[Gissert]

I have an old '03 Springfield rechambered to 338/06. It had a very similar problem. Most of the time, it would fire just fine. After 20 rounds or so, it would not fire. If I put the misfired round back in the chamber and tried again, it would fire.

It was driving me crazy, I was blaming my handloads, thinking I had not seated the primers firmly enough. After one of the misfires, I took a good look at the primer, and it was not dented nearly as much as the fired rounds.

I had an extra firing pin spring, and changed it out. End of problem!

I suggest taking it to a gunsmith, and having the rifle gone through. You state that you have been cleaning the gun, which is good. Perhaps the firing pin/spring assembly needs to be degreased? Good luck!

[mille lacs muskie bum]

Its the core lok's.

[minniwinni91]

I shoot 308 150 core locks never had a problem I shot two deer this weekend both through the heart. I would say it's the gun not the ammo

[96trigger]

Tough call, I'm not ripping on anyones ammo, but I's say its the shells. Especially if you are seeing that primer is dented where the firing pin is hitting it. Try a different new box of shells and see if the problem persists, if so, its probably the gun, not the shells. You might be able to take out the bolt and spray some gun scrubber, brake cleaner, where the spring and firing pin are, then lube it up, that might also help if its gummy or full of grease.

[Deitz Dittrich]

I with an above poster.. .you may need a new fire pin spring.... Although, if its marking the primer they should have probably gone off... Did you ever try to re-fire some of the dud ammo?

[Water Hazard]

Thank you all for the replies.

To answer Dietz's question, I have tried refiring two of the three misfires. I've been wearing hearing protection when sighting in, so the first and third time this happened, I thought that I forgot to pull the hammer on my rifle back (after I pulled the trigger and nothing happened, I looked and the hammer was forward but the bullet hadn't shot). I recocked and pulled the trigger again with the same results (a misfire).

That couldn't have been the case though because this rifle cocks the hammer for me when I jack a round in. I just didn't think of that at the time. I suppose I didn't hear the hammer strike because of the hearing protection.

The dent that is made in the shell is the same as when a round has been fired. It isn't smaller or less deep (at least to my eye anyway...I haven't brought out a depth gauge and checked).