Need Safety Advice on Misfire
- Thread starter SCDeac82
- Start date
When I get the V E R Y rare misfire, after 15 seconds or so, I re-cock the hammer and squeeze the trigger. The vast majority of the time, the round goes off.
I had some late 1940s 8mm Mauser ammo that would fail to fire 50% of the time. After four out of eight misfires, I put the ammo away and never shot it again. Of the four misfires, not one would fire with a second trigger pull.
I had some late 1940s 8mm Mauser ammo that would fail to fire 50% of the time. After four out of eight misfires, I put the ammo away and never shot it again. Of the four misfires, not one would fire with a second trigger pull.
You handled the problem just fine. Usually, I just "tap & rack" when any autoloader has this problem. The culprit is almost always the ammo.
However, I think in your case the problem could be a MAJOR problem the GUN. (FWIW my own XD has been excellent.) I think you need to send your gun to Springfield Armory and have them figure out why your XD pistol has a HAMMER instead of a STRIKER.
(Just teasing a bit.)
However, I think in your case the problem could be a MAJOR problem the GUN. (FWIW my own XD has been excellent.) I think you need to send your gun to Springfield Armory and have them figure out why your XD pistol has a HAMMER instead of a STRIKER.
(Just teasing a bit.)That's what I said! Not in the trash, "or find some other "proper way" to get rid of it." Most of us think of the "trash" as the stuff they pick up weekly from the curb. I even supplied the link so YOU could finish the research. Just FYI you can drop it off at most LEO offices, I've never done it myself but that is my understanding from my research.
Maybe the garbage can was not the best place but it’s a lot better than what some people do.
Several months ago there was a person at our range shooting an AR and had a couple of no fires. Pulled them out of the gun and chucked them down range in the grass.
Luckily there was a range master and saw what he did. I was about 30 feet from them and heard most of the conversation, mostly after the yelling started.
Any one in their right mind would know how stupid throwing live rounds down range is, except for this nit wit, who had his membership card pulled that day.
Personally I think you did ok unless they have a squib bucket, I would ask some of the staff. We have one and several of the indoor ranges where I shoot also have them.
Several months ago there was a person at our range shooting an AR and had a couple of no fires. Pulled them out of the gun and chucked them down range in the grass.
Luckily there was a range master and saw what he did. I was about 30 feet from them and heard most of the conversation, mostly after the yelling started.
Any one in their right mind would know how stupid throwing live rounds down range is, except for this nit wit, who had his membership card pulled that day.
Personally I think you did ok unless they have a squib bucket, I would ask some of the staff. We have one and several of the indoor ranges where I shoot also have them.
Well, I am not a demigod, or even hemi-demi-semi-god, but extracting the round immediately is not good practice. I have seen a rifle round go off in the breech after it was extracted, bulging the receiver and destroying the magazine. In a bolt gun, that round would have gone off in the air, spraying brass and burning powder.
As for examining the dud round to determine the problem, that should be done under controlled conditions and in most cases is futile anyway; it is not usually possible to find out why priming compound did not ignite. Something like lack of a flashhole can be seen, but finding that kind of a problem involves work that could cause the dud to go off and take pieces of fingers or eyes along.
Jim
As for examining the dud round to determine the problem, that should be done under controlled conditions and in most cases is futile anyway; it is not usually possible to find out why priming compound did not ignite. Something like lack of a flashhole can be seen, but finding that kind of a problem involves work that could cause the dud to go off and take pieces of fingers or eyes along.
Jim
My last trip to the range I had a factory 45 colt cartridge miss fire. I was shooting my new Freedom Arms revolver and I will have to admit that I didn't even realize I had a miss fire until I extracted the brass, I had been puzzled by my count being off though
But it wasn't off, it was the 5th round that miss fired
That one is still in my shooting bag. I intend to pull the bullet just to reuse the brass, maybe.
"I just pulled this cartridge apart 30 sec. ago and the primer did go off, but no powder in this case. All i have is a bullet with a blackened base.
This is a "ULTRAMAX" 45 COLT 250GR Round Nose Flat Point CB45CN2
I had bought a couple boxes of these to tide me over until my 454 Casull dies arrived.
Then just yesterday I had a miss fire with a 20ga field load while hunting with my 6 year old grandson. 870 express using as a single shot. This gun just went "CLICK", and I did hold this one in a safe direction for 30-40 sec and then ejected it out on the ground. There was no strike mark on the primer at allI reloaded it into the gun and it shot just fine with a nicely dented primer. I am confused on that one!
Have had dozens of miss fire .22's in bulk boxes. Rem's are for me the worst with as many as 7 per box of 550 or whatever they put in those boxes. Most of them fire on the second try, however some do not even after 3-4 reattempts with a repositioning each time.
And I have a bulged barrel from a 1911 of mine that my son in law was shooting and Squibb'ed during a match and re-racked the slide thinking a miss feed. That one was sure locked up tight.
But it wasn't off, it was the 5th round that miss firedThat one is still in my shooting bag. I intend to pull the bullet just to reuse the brass, maybe.
"I just pulled this cartridge apart 30 sec. ago and the primer did go off, but no powder in this case. All i have is a bullet with a blackened base.
This is a "ULTRAMAX" 45 COLT 250GR Round Nose Flat Point CB45CN2
I had bought a couple boxes of these to tide me over until my 454 Casull dies arrived.
Then just yesterday I had a miss fire with a 20ga field load while hunting with my 6 year old grandson. 870 express using as a single shot. This gun just went "CLICK", and I did hold this one in a safe direction for 30-40 sec and then ejected it out on the ground. There was no strike mark on the primer at all
I reloaded it into the gun and it shot just fine with a nicely dented primer. I am confused on that one!Have had dozens of miss fire .22's in bulk boxes. Rem's are for me the worst with as many as 7 per box of 550 or whatever they put in those boxes. Most of them fire on the second try, however some do not even after 3-4 reattempts with a repositioning each time.
And I have a bulged barrel from a 1911 of mine that my son in law was shooting and Squibb'ed during a match and re-racked the slide thinking a miss feed. That one was sure locked up tight.
With respect to the disposal of FTF rounds, my club's outdoor pistol range has four receptacles: A one-way secured can for duds; an open bucket for brass only (scrounge if you wish), you're expected to sweep-up after you're finished; a barrel for recyclable beverage cans and bottles; and a conventional plastic trash can. It may seem like overkill, but it helps keeps the rage tidy and there's no doubt about how to dispose of live rounds.
Speaking of cooking off rounds, sitting around a very hot fire burning paper from garage junk I found a full box or .22 shells, curiousity got the best of me and I took a half sheet of 3/4" hardwood plywood to hide behind and I angled it at about 45 degrees to help deflect any bullets. They started popping off within a few seconds as the fire was very hot. The farthest any were going was 40 or 50 feet and they weren't even putting marks on anything they hit. Several hit the plywood I was behing but none even dented the wood.
I found it interesting to know that a cooked off round wasn't the extreme danger I had always thought it was up to the point of seeing firsthand.
I was 20 years old at the time, my grandfather thought that was the height of stupidity but had to admit after he was very surprised to see how little danger those shells going off actually posed.
I found it interesting to know that a cooked off round wasn't the extreme danger I had always thought it was up to the point of seeing firsthand.
I was 20 years old at the time, my grandfather thought that was the height of stupidity but had to admit after he was very surprised to see how little danger those shells going off actually posed.
I recommend that you wait several long seconds, whether pistol or rifle. There is a chance of a hangfire, which becomes a big chance of injury if it fires while not fulling locked into the chamber.
I have had hang-fires only with old Pakistani .303 MK7 ammo. Sometimes it is just a barely noticable fraction of a second. But sometimes I can hear a hissing after the click, then a bang. Sorta like a flintlock, but with a longer lag before the bang
If I had worked the bolt fast after a click-but-no-bang, the bang would have happened after the bolt was unlocked. That is a very very bad thing.
Bart Noir
Hi, woodguru, I am glad your experiment worked safely and the results are what I would have expected. But a round going off on the bench could still be a danger. The bullet would not go far, but you say 40-50 feet, and anything that can fly that distance could do serious damage to an eye. Also, at close range, if the case bursts, pieces of brass or burning powder can cause damage, peppering the face and/or hands.
The greatest danger with a hangfire is a cartridge that goes off partially out of the chamber, with the breech unlocked. The case will burst, and because it is partially confined by the chamber, the pressure will be high. The result, depending on the firearm involved, can be a rapidly expelled case and/or bullet (swing cylinder revolver), a ruined frame and magazine (auto pistol), a blown back bolt, ruined magazine, bulged receiver and split stock (most rifles). In a rifle like the AR-15, which confines pressure even more, the receiver will be bulged and the magazine blown out or bulged.
Fortunately, true hangfires are rare, though I fired a bunch of WWII ammo that gave a hangfire every shot, some with delays as long as 5 seconds. In almost all cases, a dud is a dud, and won't go off on its own. And in most cases, a dud is not due to a bad primer but to a firearm failure. Still, I like to play it safe when a gun goes "click" instead of "bang."
Jim
The greatest danger with a hangfire is a cartridge that goes off partially out of the chamber, with the breech unlocked. The case will burst, and because it is partially confined by the chamber, the pressure will be high. The result, depending on the firearm involved, can be a rapidly expelled case and/or bullet (swing cylinder revolver), a ruined frame and magazine (auto pistol), a blown back bolt, ruined magazine, bulged receiver and split stock (most rifles). In a rifle like the AR-15, which confines pressure even more, the receiver will be bulged and the magazine blown out or bulged.
Fortunately, true hangfires are rare, though I fired a bunch of WWII ammo that gave a hangfire every shot, some with delays as long as 5 seconds. In almost all cases, a dud is a dud, and won't go off on its own. And in most cases, a dud is not due to a bad primer but to a firearm failure. Still, I like to play it safe when a gun goes "click" instead of "bang."
Jim