RED_beard92
New member
We have all been there, your gun chambers a round, you pull the trigger but no BOOM. How do you get the round out and then what do you do with the dead round? ( Just curious to see what others do? )
How do you clear a Fail to Fire
- Thread starter RED_beard92
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allaroundhunter
New member
Tap, rack (or otherwise get a fresh round I the chamber) and continue. If I can find the round after that I try to distinguish whether it was caused by a bad primer or a light strike.
If it is my bolt gun then I just get the round out and look at it.
If it is my bolt gun then I just get the round out and look at it.
FIRST! I wait at least 30 seconds or more to rule out a hangfire.
The the offending round is extracted & inspected for a reason for failure.
If nothing is obvious, the round will be taken back to my shop, disassembled & inspected.
Most failure to fire are caused by light firing pin strikes due to a gummed up firing pin channel, weak striker / hammer springs or the bolt not fully into battery.
Roger
The the offending round is extracted & inspected for a reason for failure.
If nothing is obvious, the round will be taken back to my shop, disassembled & inspected.
Most failure to fire are caused by light firing pin strikes due to a gummed up firing pin channel, weak striker / hammer springs or the bolt not fully into battery.
Roger
Glance at the gun for any obvious signs of something wrong like the bolt not being all the way forward because of a double feed or failure to eject or something like that. After that, if I'm just on the range, I'll wait 30 seconds, tap, rack, bang. If I'm outside or practicing things that require speed, I skip over the first two steps as nearly all failures can be remedied by racking. If I can find the round, I'll look at it to see what happened.
reynolds357
New member
In a bolt rifle, I give it a couple of seconds and recock the bolt. It usually fires the second time. TC Contender, keep cocking and pulling the trigger, it will go off.
Had what I thought was FTF in my Lee-Enfield the other day.
Waited thirty seconds, pulled the cocking handle back, had another go, lather rinse repeat.
Waited a final thirty seconds after the final strike, took it out - took the CARTRIDGE CASE out. Primer clearly struck. No bullet in the case. No spilled powder down the action.
Pulled the bolt, looked down the bore. No sunlight. Squib load, no powder. In went the cleaning rod, muzzle end first. Tap, tap, tap, out came the bullet, started into the rifling hard enough to bend the lead tip when I drove it out.
DO NOT, unless the situation is desperate, simply load another round and continue shooting.
Waited thirty seconds, pulled the cocking handle back, had another go, lather rinse repeat.
Waited a final thirty seconds after the final strike, took it out - took the CARTRIDGE CASE out. Primer clearly struck. No bullet in the case. No spilled powder down the action.
Pulled the bolt, looked down the bore. No sunlight. Squib load, no powder. In went the cleaning rod, muzzle end first. Tap, tap, tap, out came the bullet, started into the rifling hard enough to bend the lead tip when I drove it out.
DO NOT, unless the situation is desperate, simply load another round and continue shooting.
semi_problomatic
New member
Am I sitting at a bench with paper targets or is this a two-way range? Cause that makes a difference...
Art Eatman
Staff in Memoriam
I poked my previously-reliable 10/22 out the window to shoot a squirrel. Click. Hmm. Leaned back to begin the check-out procedure, muzzle up--and Bang! Hole in ceiling.
Beware the Dreaded Hangfire.
Beware the Dreaded Hangfire.
I have bad reloading juju and I've seen the impossible...
A 90 second hangfire.
In 5 years of reloading, I had two batches of .30-06 with hangfires out of several thousand rounds. One years ago with ball powder and regular primers (5-15 seconds on maybe 3/10 rounds), and the other a month ago with IMR 4895, standard loads, and no good reason for issues except maybe powder grains stuck in the flash hole after tumbling loaded rounds to get the sizing lube off (I found one like that in the remaining rounds).
In my rifle, I now wait a good 2 minutes if I have a hangfire/misfire.
I've never had a hangfire or misfire in a pistol after maybe 10,000 rounds of handloads and commercial ammo. I look at the action and the mode of failure is obvious. With a closed action, I check for squibs.
-J.
A 90 second hangfire.
In 5 years of reloading, I had two batches of .30-06 with hangfires out of several thousand rounds. One years ago with ball powder and regular primers (5-15 seconds on maybe 3/10 rounds), and the other a month ago with IMR 4895, standard loads, and no good reason for issues except maybe powder grains stuck in the flash hole after tumbling loaded rounds to get the sizing lube off (I found one like that in the remaining rounds).
In my rifle, I now wait a good 2 minutes if I have a hangfire/misfire.
I've never had a hangfire or misfire in a pistol after maybe 10,000 rounds of handloads and commercial ammo. I look at the action and the mode of failure is obvious. With a closed action, I check for squibs.
-J.
I've seen misfires happen with reloads, when there are several rifles using the same reloads. Some chambers are sloppy and some especially tight, probably due to the age of the chambering reamer, or tolerances in the reaming process. (I wonder whether every rifle, shotgun, or handgun is really checked with gauges and test-fired.
Like most good reloaders, I minimally resize my bottle-necked cases by firing the first couple of loadings with the dies backed-out, sizing about 2/3rds of the case neck. Then, when chambering a resized empty case (that's a bit work-hardened) seems a bit tight, turn in the die until they fit well. Sometimes cases that way, used in one, rifle don't work well in another. If possible, I keep cases separate, but if they're hunting rifles and differences are minimal, I'll size for the tightest chamber.
Like most good reloaders, I minimally resize my bottle-necked cases by firing the first couple of loadings with the dies backed-out, sizing about 2/3rds of the case neck. Then, when chambering a resized empty case (that's a bit work-hardened) seems a bit tight, turn in the die until they fit well. Sometimes cases that way, used in one, rifle don't work well in another. If possible, I keep cases separate, but if they're hunting rifles and differences are minimal, I'll size for the tightest chamber.
The 30 second-at least-rule for me. A story I heard when I was in the NY National Guard in the 1980s. There was an FTF with a .50 caliber. As 2 troops were loading it onto a truck it fired-one was standing in front of the barrel.
Those few FTFs I have had make me appreciate cocking pieces on rilfles a lot more.
Those few FTFs I have had make me appreciate cocking pieces on rilfles a lot more.
or is this a two-way range? Cause that makes a difference...
Heh. That's why I said "Unless the situation is desperate..." Cause the two-way range is about as desperate as it gets. But even then, if the situation lets you hide and take the time... (If it doesn't, of course, then risking a gun explosion is the lesser of the two evils by far.)
Heh. That's why I said "Unless the situation is desperate..." Cause the two-way range is about as desperate as it gets. But even then, if the situation lets you hide and take the time... (If it doesn't, of course, then risking a gun explosion is the lesser of the two evils by far.)