??? strut, snapper or gun guru

[colorado bob]

OK, here's the deal. I've never had this happen to me before in my 40 years of hunting. I had a nice 4 point bull @ 50 yards on opening AM. I was ***** footing down the old logging trail headed to my buddy because I heard him shoot at first light. I round a bend & there was the bull elk.. I get down on my butt, elbows on knees, cross hairs between his front shoulders----front on shoot. I squeeze---CLICK. Jack that shell out & chamber another-----to late, he's gone.

I look at the cartridge, the firing pin has hit the primer. To me it looks like about 60% of a dent than other fired shells.

The rifle is a 6 year old Tikka. The ammo is new Remington factory loads-----180 grains.

The only thing I can think is either it's a bad shell. But it looks like a light hit to me. I start then playing with the gun. Hopefully, I can explain this so you can understand. When the gun is on safe, the bolt will have a little play. It can open just a little then it hits the spot where it go no more. But at that point, I can still get the safety off & the gun will dry fire. The bolt then drops back down as I dry fire. Will this drawn some energy from the firing spring causing a "light" hit on the primer?

This could of happened as I got the gun off my shoulder. Bolt got hung up on my day pack, jacket etc. Got the safety off & then CLICK.

The weather was in the 30's---so cold weather didn't gum up any old oil the the bolt. Bolt is the same it came from Finland. It never has given a hint of trouble before. I shot about 30 rounds thru the gun about 2 to 3 weeks before the season, siting in & practice.

Got any opinions? CB

[Strut10]

Geez, Bob..........ya got me.

Definitely sounds like a light hit. I would go to the range and try the scenario you mention about lifting the bolt & taking safety off with a live round (so long as the bolt is not coming up to the point of disengaging the lugs......we're only talking a few degrees of lift, right??). See if it will fire under thoase conditions. Otherwise I'd have the firing pin spring checked/replaced.

Maybe a call to Tikka would be the best, first way to go.

[Texan_Til_I_Die]

If you kept the round, try re-chambering it and see if it will fire. If it won't, you probably just had a dud.

BTW - It doesn't happen very often, but on the rare occasion when I've had a misfire, I've always immediately discarded the round, usually into a pond or stream. I never liked carrying a live round that had been struck.

[Ethan Givan]

Sounds like a light hit. I have never had a dud centerfire round, nor do I know anyone that has.The only time I get duds is with the bulk .22 ammo and even then if it was a dud in a rifle most of the time you can put that round in a .22 pistol and it will fire. I just think its very unlikely that it was a bad round.

[Goinghuntin]

BTW - It doesn't happen very often, but on the rare occasion when I've had a misfire, I've always immediately discarded the round, usually into a pond or stream. I never liked carrying a live round that had been struck.

Very good bit of advice there. I haven't had any misfires yet but that's exactly what I would do.

Nathan

[hunterbobb]

If the bolt was not down completly or fully engaged it is possible that when the sear was released it caused an increase in the lock time. Which means that the firing pin spring wound have been moving slower causing the light hit. Go to the range and see if you can recreate the situation by not having the bolt all the way down. Yoou must be extremely careful when doing this because if the rifle fires with out the bolt being fully engaged it could cause an unsafe condition. I would keep my face as far away from the action as possible when testing this. If the gun does not fire with the bolt up like you describe return the gun to the manufacturer as this is obviously a dangerous condition and will only get worse with time.

:gun2:

[hunterbobb]

If the bolt was not down completly or fully engaged it is possible that when the sear was released it caused an increase in the lock time. Which means that the firing pin spring wound have been moving slower causing the light hit. Go to the range and see if you can recreate the situation by not having the bolt all the way down.

You must be extremely careful when doing this because if the rifle fires with out the bolt being fully engaged it could cause an unsafe condition. I would keep my face as far away from the action as possible when testing this. Shot it from the hip or better yet would be to tye the gun down and fire it with a string on the trigger.

If the gun does not fire with the bolt up like you describe, return the gun to the manufacturer as this is obviously a dangerous condition and will only get worse with time.

[LETMGROW]

First of all! I wouldn't try that gun again until:

I would call Tikka and ask someone some questions. The first question I would ask is who am I speaking to. Is the other person on the line a Tikka employee or someone hired by a call center. I am not into generic answers when I have a problem with a gun.

You want technical advice! Be darn sure you get it.

There are several excuses for what happened to you, but you need to know what really took place. Tikka and Tikka alone should be able to tell you.

If you aren't sastified with the answer go to a competent gunsmith and tell him your story and get his opinion.

Don't play around! The risk to you and those around you are too great.

I am NOT knocking Tikka. They build a quality product. I am sorry you missed a good opportunity.

If you aren't sastified with the phone call ,E-Mail the company, or write them a letter. Better yet, do all three and compare the responses.

Lynn

[wtnhunt]

Maybe a call to Tikka would be the best, first way to go.

First of all! I wouldn't try that gun again until:

I would call Tikka and ask someone some questions. The first question I would ask is who am I speaking to. Is the other person on the line a Tikka employee or someone hired by a call center. I am not into generic answers when I have a problem with a gun.

You want technical advice! Be darn sure you get it.

There are several excuses for what happened to you, but you need to know what really took place. Tikka and Tikka alone should be able to tell you.

If you aren't sastified with the answer go to a competent gunsmith and tell him your story and get his opinion.

Don't play around! The risk to you and those around you are too great.

I am NOT knocking Tikka. They build a quality product. I am sorry you missed a good opportunity.

If you aren't sastified with the phone call ,E-Mail the company, or write them a letter. Better yet, do all three and compare the responses.

Lynn

Because I am admittedly NOT a gunsmith nor an expert on guns(guru), I think I would have to follow the advice given above if it were me in your shoes. Just not worth risking the what if's in this situation.

With whatever you find, let us know the outcome.

[PotashRLS]

I personally would have lifted the bolt to re-ingage the firing pin and shot again instead of rechambering a new round. Chances are it would have fired unless it was a dud or your gun was defective in some way. The bull may have stayed long enough for the second try.

Hind sight is always 2020 though. Too bad on the lost opportunity. The Bull was happy I'll bet.

[snapper]

I'm getting to this late...so did you try any of the advise here?

I've heard of "dud" factory rounds before...guess its posible. I personally would have went to the range with different ammo and see if it would fire. Sounds to me like the ammo...I've seen "light" hits on primers before...but only after they've fired. I'd think it would have to be really light not to fire it off. 60% hit seems like it should have went off.

Also, I would clean the bolt well and lube the firing pin. Just to rule that out.

[hunterbobb]

First of all! I wouldn't try that gun again until:

I would call Tikka and ask someone some questions. The first question I would ask is who am I speaking to. Is the other person on the line a Tikka employee or someone hired by a call center. I am not into generic answers when I have a problem with a gun.

You want technical advice! Be darn sure you get it.

There are several excuses for what happened to you, but you need to know what really took place. Tikka and Tikka alone should be able to tell you.

If you aren't sastified with the answer go to a competent gunsmith and tell him your story and get his opinion.

Don't play around! The risk to you and those around you are too great.

I am NOT knocking Tikka. They build a quality product. I am sorry you missed a good opportunity.

If you aren't sastified with the phone call ,E-Mail the company, or write them a letter. Better yet, do all three and compare the responses.

Lynn

You have obviously never tried talking with a gun company before. They will never admit to anything that might be a defect in their product over the phone or in an e-mail. If you want to spend months getting the problem looked at, they will have you send it in and they will fix the problem, if there is one. If you don't have time to wait a good gunsmith is the way to go. I personnaly know as much as most gunsmiths and thought someone on here might actually be interested in some helpful advice.

:gun2: