Lite strike Failure to Fire O/U

T

TheKlawMan

Moderator
I had a FTF today on the under barrel of my Citori XS Skeet which has no more than 1,500 rounds through that barrel. The primer was struck but very litely. Same when I tried to fire it the second time.

The stock had never been off since I got it last November and I have read about lite strikes resulting from a build up of crud in the trigger mechanism. I pulled the stock and everything looks pretty clean to me. Is there anything specific I should look for?

The shell was a reloaded Gun Club with a Winchester 209 Primer. I really don't think the problem was the shotshell, which was in good concition and was only being reloaded for its second time.

Now I wish I had tried shooting that shell in the over barrel. If it failed to fire there I would say the problem is related to the shell.

Any suggestions? I am thinking to clean the trigger mechanism with CLP break free, blow it out with compressed air, lightly oil a few points, put the stock back on and see how it shoots next time out.
 
Is there anything specific I should look for?​
You're looking for gunk around the firing pins -- you can't see it unless you remove the pins. With the stock removed, use an extension tube on your spray cleaner and squirt it liberally into the firing pin holes.
 
Wise advice but I would also put a straight edge across the shell and primer to see seating depth of primer and check primer well on reloader to make sure nothing is in same.
 
Did the lower barrel fire other shells after this happened? I agree you should have tried the shell that didn't fire in the top barrel. I've had Winchester 209 primers show up without priming compound. Nothing wrong with cleaning your gun but when a shell fails to fire I first suspect the shell.
 
Brownings are known for that, happens to me frequently, especially with cheap primers in reloads. They tend to work in the top barrel just fine. Sometimes the lower barrel firing pin tends to get a little burned off as well.

My cheap primers sometimes tend to sit a little lower in the pocket causing light strikes. Since this ONLY happens once in a while and only with those reloads, I know my firing pins are fine and it is the primer
 
The firing pin erosion problems on Browning's...are pretty much old news these days on Browning Citori's...

....while it was pretty common 5 yrs or so ago...( the firing pin erosion seemed to be related to guns, where guys were shooting a lot of Chedite primers in reloads ...or maybe on a lot of cheaper shells ...like Estate...)...

but even in those days, I don't think it was showing up on guns with less than 20,000 shells thru them.

I think its debris in your firing pin holes....or a primer seating issue...or maybe a primer failure issue...( yes, stock off, squirt some solvent into the firing pin holes...then use compressed air to clean everything out ). Its a good practice to do this about every 6 months in my opinion / even if you don't have a problem.

I'd suggest you go home and cut that un-fired shell open and see what you find...
 
Concave Shell Head

I would put a straight edge across the shell and primer. Its possibe for the brass head to become concave from to much seating pressure.
 
I think you guys have the right idea. Only after getting home I thought to myself that I should have tried that FTF in the over barrel. Likewise, I should have shot some more rounds through the under barrel to see if it was just that one primer. I did think of putting a straight edge against the base and it looks to me as though the dome of the primer is recessed deeper than rim of the primer. Also, it doesn't appear that the under barrel firing pin hole is gunked up (but I am not really sure as I have yet to inspect it in day light).

Tomorrow I will hit it with some CPC Break Free and blast it with compressed air.

I like BigJimP's suggeston to cut the problem shot shell open. Destroying As BigJim suggests, I will sacrifice that shell to the autopsy gods but don't expect to learn antying. This wasn't a blooper as in when the powder fails to drop or ignite. The primer never fired.
 
Only after getting home I thought to myself that I should have tried that FTF in the over barrel

Ok, you do this and it will flatten the brass back out on the shell and then you will not have a clue to your problem. If you have a fail to fire, give the gun a couple of minutes and then eject the shell out and pocket same. Take it home to inspect. Have you checked your primer well on your reloader?
 
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Mea culpa. I hadn't thought of it but I didn't wait more than a few seconds to opening the action and trying to shoot that shell a second time. I always kept the barrel pointed down range but I imagine not waiting longer to open the breach was a safety violation.

What is the proper procedure shooting in a squad even if it is only practice? I don't think it polite to hold everyone else up for a couple of minutes while I give the FTF time to cook off.

I should explain that after that shotshell failed to fire twice I shot the rest of the day from the over barrrel. I have never had the problem with the o/u before and I think but am not certain that the second time I tried to shoot that shell it failed to fire out of the over barrel. If so, it was simply a bad primer.
 
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With my FTF's, I KNOW what it is, so i just open the action, put it in the top barrel and call pull again. For others, like with factory ammo, prudence dictates a good 10 seconds or so. In 35 years of shooting, I have only seen once where a factory shell did a slow cook off while still chambered
 
I removed the lower firing pin and it had a ring of rather lite residue that I don't believe was causing the problem. Still I cleaned it with some CLP, squirted the same in the firing pin hole and blew it all dry. I don't thing this was the problem but now I know how to do it if needed.

This is the first time I had the stock off since I bought the gun in November and it wasn't at all gunky with cosmoline but was litely oiled. I ownder if Browning has them cleaned up upon arrival stateside and before shipment.
 
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No Browning dealers don't unbox the guns they receive and clean them / most dealers don't unbox them at all ...until a customer wants to look at them.

I measured the amount the firing pins extend thru the breech face on my Citori XS Skeet models....after the trigger is pulled with a digital micrometer...this morning ( a pair of 12ga's, a 20ga, 28ga and a .410).

and they varied from 0.034 ...0.034 on a gun I have at least 250,000 shells thru in a 12ga ....to a high of 0.037 ...0.037 on a XS Skeet model in .410 that I have less than 5,000 shells thru ... ( 3 of my 5 guns in that model - had pins that extended .036 --0.037 ( all of my XS Skeet models are 8 - 10 yrs old - and I have no light strike issues with any of my guns in that model) ....but I don't know what the factory spec on the pins extending is either...

...but I'd suggest you measure the pins, and see what yours are. If they are shallower than 0.034 ...then spray some more solvent in the holes ..and see if you can get them to extend a little more.

If the pins extend 0.034 at least thru the breech ...then I think you have an ammo problem. But let us know what you find ...
 
Thanks Jim. I notice that a sticky on the SGW "Gunsmithing and Restoration" forum gives protusion of pins through the face of the receiver, if the pins are in perfect condition, as .049" upper and .067" lower. I am pretty certain it was just a bad primer with the struck surface recessed to much below the survface of the base.
 
Thanks Zippy. Will do. I assume you mean stock off but with firing pins left in.​
Yes, sorry I missed your question earlier. Since then, I've learned that the Citori (I don't have one) firing pins come out as they do in P-guns. The only difference being access to the stock bolt. My guns have a little hole in the butt pad for stock wrench access.
 
.049 upper vs .067 lower is a big range...

Based on the measurements I took on my XS Skeet models...I'm a little suspicious of that big a range...

but with a brand new gun ....I agree, I think you have a problem on the shells.
 
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