572 Rem. Misfires

[farmall]

Got an early 572 Remington that misfires regularly. Tried W-W, Rem and Federal ammo. Same problem....light indentation from the firing pin. The rifle is clean and the firing pin seems to have a good ammount of protrusion when pushed forward.
I do notice that the hammer seems to bind at the end of its travel as it activates the bolt release mechanism. I suspect that this is the problem, but dont see anything visibly wrong. It feeds and ejects cases with no problems., but misfires about 5-7 times per 15 round magazine.
Is it normal to have to move the slide fairly hard forward in order to get the blot to lock up? I dont have to slam it, but do find myself not always getting it locked up all the way, especially when shooting from a bench.
I really like this rifle, and am astounded with its accuracy, but really need to get this misfiring problem fixed. Any help would be appreciated.
Andy

 

[James K]

How about a guess? Remove the barrel, and get a good cleaning rod and a bronze brush and scrub the heck out of the chamber from the breech end. I suspect there is lead buildup and the cartridges are not seating fully. That would explain both the light hits, the difficulty in closing the gun and the stiff movement of the action slide lock.

If you can't or don't want to remove the barrel, use a .22 pistol brush and very carefully clean from the muzzle, using a plastic coated rod. DO NOT use a bore snake! Turn the brush in the chamber to clean out the lead.

Jim