I'd seen it somewhere before…you know how the Internet is. So when this thread came up it seemed like a good time to give it another play. It's a good reminder. My guess is that it was the first hang he'd seen. Almost the last one.Dang. I wonder where Wallrat got that disturbing video.
I had an issue with occasional misfires recently with a rifle chambered in 9.3 X 62 I was handloading for. Here are some things to consider:
Check your firing pin protrusion. I believe it should be in the ballpark around .035" to .055" but there's lots of data on the Internet which can confirm that. It's easy to check with a dial caliper or take it to a proper gunsmith if you're not comfortable checking it yourself. As folks have mentioned previously, gunk can get inside the firing pin channel and a little brass chip or old solidified grease can cause inadequate protrusion through the bolt face. If the rifle has been firing without a hitch until just recently, it's more likely an ammo problem, not a gun problem. I sure wouldn't change out any springs or get a new firing pin until you've cleaned the bolt, and especially the firing pin channel, thoroughly.
In my case I was over-doing it with the sizing die. The 9.3 X 62 shoulder is not very substantial and it's sloped gently. The .366" diameter bullet is not much smaller than the case body. It took me a while to sort it out but I found I was creating too much headspace by sizing my cases too much. Once I backed the sizer die out a few thousandths (the exact amount I don't recall) I still had no problem closing the bolt and my problem went away. Minimum headspacing is the way to go for a number of good reasons. It seems the firing pin was striking the primer with adequate protrusion and energy, but the impact forced the under-sized case deeper into the chamber instead of detonating the primer. It seems the short gradually-sloped shoulder was not in firm contact with the chamber and the extractor had enough slop and flex in it . . . so the cartridge periodically slid forward enough to rob the primer of the energy it needed to ignite. Sometimes a cartridge would "go off" on a second attempt and sometimes it wouldn't. This was obviously a matter of setting the shoulder back only a few thousandths of an inch too much. This phenomenon is rare and with cases which have a more significant bearing surface on the shoulder I don't believe it's as likely to occur.
The last thing to consider, from my perspective, is the primer itself. Some are definitely harder to ignite than others. If you have a clogged firing pin channel, or a weak spring, or a firing pin on the low side of adequate protrusion, a hard primer can certainly be difficult to detonate. My experience seems to indicate CCI primers are the hardest, with Winchester and Remington primers softer and Federal the easiest to set off. I have no scientific way of measuring this, but those are my observations after loading a LOT of rounds since 1977. Again, there may be some data available on the Internet to support or debunk what I'm saying. Your mileage may vary, right?
Good luck sorting out your problem and happy hunting Sir.
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