Light firing pin strikes, faliure to fire

[akuser47]

Still good info

[Tuco Ramirez]

I will have take a look at that. I think I know what your referring to but not 100% sure. What I was referring to was the cup on the face of the bolt. Getting the case rim to seat in that cup area just seemed like to much to ask for each and every time. Keep us posted, your doing a great job!!

[donhuff]

I seem to have fewer FTF since I installed a Marlin extractor. I know that its stronger and holds the case up tighter against the bolt face than the rossi part does.
Makes me wonder about the head space.

Have you tried neck sizing only, to see if leaving the cartridge aft to the point of being harder to close the lever would have any effect on firing.

[Ranch Dog]

Have you tried neck sizing only, to see if leaving the cartridge aft to the point of being harder to close the lever would have any effect on firing.

Good idea Don. I'm thinking about this from my perspective of a cast bullet shooter. Another thing you could do is insure your bullet ogive is contacting the groove. I suspect anything that creates the slightest resistance would help.

[Centaur 1]

I seem to have fewer FTF since I installed a Marlin extractor. I know that its stronger and holds the case up tighter against the bolt face than the rossi part does.
Makes me wonder about the head space.

Have you tried neck sizing only, to see if leaving the cartridge aft to the point of being harder to close the lever would have any effect on firing.

When the action closes the extractor rides up on a ramp cut into the barrel just in front of the ejection port, the case isn't held by the extractor while in the chamber. The breech bolt needs to fully close or headspace will be excessive.

Everyone who's having problems with light firing pin strikes should try this. The next time you take the gun apart, hold the breech bolt and the locking bolt in your hand. Slide the locking bolt into the horizontal slot in the breech bolt, just like it does when the lever is closed. Look to see if the locking bolt can be inserted fully, or does the rear firing pin keep the locking bolt from entering all the way into the slot? The front edge of the locking bolt has an angle on it which forces the breech bolt forward. If the locking bolt is kept from fully raising into the slot, the breech bolt won't move as far forward as it needs to be, creating headspace issues. Not to mention that the locking bolt is pinching the rear firing pin.

The neck sizing suggestion is a good one. If the headspacing in the chamber is set to the maximum, and the case rim is near the minimum, the firing pin loses momentum pushing the case further into the chamber instead of dimpling the primer. I have an easy way to check how deep Rossi cut the chamber in your rifle. I use an empty .38 special case, insert the mouth of the 30-30 case into the mouth of the .38 case. The front edge of the 38 will make contact with the shoulder on the 30-30. While both cases are held together, measure the overall length with a pair of calipers. It doesn't matter what this dimension is, you're just looking to compare a cartridge that has been fired in your chamber with one that has been sized in your press. As an example the chamber in my Rossi is cut .013" deeper than the chamber in my Marlin, which serves no purpose other than overworking my brass leading to early case failure. Using the .38 brass to come up with the position of the case shoulder, you can adjust the depth of your sizing die so that the shoulder is only moved back about .002" from it's fired size. By adjusting the sizing die this way, the cases will now headspace on the shoulder instead of the rim. This method doesn't work on a case without a shoulder, so if you're having this problem in a .45-70 you could take Ranch Dogs suggestion and seat the bullet out further. The bullet will make contact with the rifling which will help hold the case head against the bolt face.

[ozarki]

Got out to the range yesterday, was able to get my indexed rounds fired at the 50 yd line between the rain drops. It looks like I have a shooter. No FTF and the poi is about 2" high which should make it about right for 100. The pin impact is pretty well centered and a bit low. So now were off to zero at 100yds. Thank you for all the shared info, and tricks and tips. Akuser been trying to teach me how to post pix, he just doesn't realize how stupid his student really is.

[Tuco Ramirez]

That's great news!!! Sure is a great feeling when its fixed and your the one that did the fixing......