Marlin .22 occasionally misfires... what are the likely culprits?

G

Guyon

New member
Instead of an air rifle, I bought a bunch of Colibri ammo for pest control in my yard. Stuff shoots great. Silent with plenty of power. But that's another thread...

It didn't feed well in my two Marlin model 60s. Because it's so short, it would sometimes pop out of the rifle instead of into the chamber. Also, if you put more than one round in the tubular mag, it caused a jam every time. Nothing would feed. Kind of a pain to pull out the mag tube's spring, load the round, replace the spring, and work the action each time you want to load a round. Especially with no guarantee the load would chamber every time.

So I went off to the gun show today in search of a cheap solution. For $65 flat cash, I wound up picking up a used Glenfield, Marlin model 15 bolt action .22--still in nice shape.

It is a single shot that loads one cartridge at a time. Once home, I almost completely disassembled it and then cleaned everything with CLP. However, I will add that while I took out the bolt and cleaned it (sprayed it out with GunScrubber and then added Breakfree), I didn't break down the bolt. I'm not quite sure yet how I would go about disassembling the bolt.

The Colibri ammo chambers smoothly in this rifle, and it extracts nicely too. The problem is that the rifle occasionally misfires. About every fifth shot, the hammer falls, but nothing fires. A couple of times, it misfired twice in a row befire finally firing the cartridge. When I eject the cartridge after a misfire, the rim is dented, but apparently, the firing pin isn't hitting it quite hard enough. I don't believe it's the ammo because it fires just fine in the other rifles--just doesn't feed too well in them.

I see that Numrich Gun Parts still carries most of the necessary parts for the model 15. In fact, they have the whole striker assembly for only $17. Still, if it's likely just a $4 pin or a $3 spring, I'd rather just order what I need.

So, anyway, I'd like to know what folks think the likeliest culprit might be. If anyone else has had this problem with a .22, what was the fix? Striking spring, firing pin, something else?
How would I best go about diagnosing and/or fixing the problem?
 
I'm not a 'smith, but it sounds to me like you've identified the likeliest culprits--firing pin or spring. You can replace 'em both and see if that fixes it, or take it to a gunsmith.
 
Could be it just doesn't like that ammo. I've had guns that would NOT work properly with ammo that worked in EVERYTHING else.

Also could be just dirty. Try soaking the bolt in solvent and see if you can get any crud out of the bolt or firing mechanism. Sometimes junk gets really impacted and will soften the firing pin blow enough to cause misfires. It may LOOK clean, but still be gummed up.

Get an online look at Gun Parts Corps exploded view of the rifle. This will give you an idea of how it comes apart.

I've also seen a number of gun show "problems". Defective to start with, or somebody altered/damaged it and just got rid of it.

Before I started ordering parts blind, I'd try to diagnose the problem.
 
My suspicion would be first, dirt inside the bolt. Second, weak firing pin spring--maybe. Last, the firing pin is just marginal for extension through the bolt when fired--which maybe goes back to dirt.

Any nearby gunsmiths to whom you could just take the bolt for disassembly, a quick clean, and then re-try?

Art
 
My opinion is a worn firing pin

Could be the firing pin is worn down. I've seen some older .22s that wouldn't fire consistently because the firing pin was a little worn...
 
Most likely cleaning....

First off: Make sure the face of the chamber is clean. Where the rim of the case sits. Check and make sure the rim of the chamber isn't dished out from excessive dry firing.

Second. Make sure the firing pin and channel and spring are all clean and freely moving. Like Art said. This is a common (perhaps commonest) problem in all firearms. While you're doing that, check the amount of penetration or extrusion of the firing pin.

Third. Try some other ammo. You might as well eliminate that possibility of "this gun and that ammo."

Fourth: Replace the firing pin spring and perhaps the pin.

It's gotta work now. He said.
 
Dfariswheel might be on to something. I know of serveral individual guns that will misfire regularly with Remington ammo. One was a Browning Buckmark and the other was a S&W 41. Both were excellent guns, just didn't like Remington fed through them. Try some different ammo and see if it's isolated to the Colibri ammo or the gun.
 
Thanks for the replies. I shot about 25 rounds of Super Colibri through one of my Marlin semi-autos. A pain to load one at a time, but I just wanted to see how it shot in a different gun.

Out of 25 rounds, I had two misfires in this rifle, so maybe it is the ammo. Still, the firing pin in my model 60 must be striking harder than the model 15.

I'll try the bolt action with some .22 cartridges and see if the misfires disappear.

I'm going to send the bolt to Marlin in any case. I called this morning and found out they still have parts for the older model 15 (even though there was a design change some time in the early 90s). The rep said three problems are possible: firing pin, striking spring, headspace.

Headspace problems would be a big headache, so I'm hoping the pin/spring replacement will do the trick. The Marlin rep did say that headspace concerns are less likely than a worn pin or spring.

Even if the rifle fires other ammo just fine, I DID buy it to shoot the Colibri stuff. Maybe a stiffer spring and new pin will correct the misfires with this ammo. The Marlin rep said they'd replace both pin and spring for just the cost of parts...about $7. Even with shipping, this beats having to pay a smith for labor, and I know Marlin will use the right parts.

I'll update after I get the parts replaced...
 
Besides my agreement that the gun maybe dirty, (I have one and it likes to stay clean!!), there's one other thing you might consider!

You mentioned that the ammo you prefer is "quiet". Could it be that it doesn't produce enough force to operate the bolt properly thus causing the misfeeds? I know that sub-sonic ammo has to be loaded one at a time because it won't work the bolt on my model 60.

Something to ponder.
 
Danny45,

The ammo in question is Aguila's Super Colibri. It is powderless and relies only on the primer to push the bullet. That said, the bullets were penetrating a weathered piece of 3/8" plywood at 20 yards, so there's enough oomph for deterring pests.

The rifle in question is a manual bolt action, and it only loads one cartridge at a time.
 
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