What should I do with a misfired round?

Peri

Well-Known Member
This evening I got barely 50m away from the car and a buck popped across the ride. Up goes the rifle freehand, safety off and then.....click but no bang. I cock the rifle and again ...click. By then the buck is looking at me from 30m away. So I cycle another round and drop him on the spot.


Now my problem is that I have a round with a dimple in the primer from the firing pin and I don't know how to make it safe. The reason for the misfire I think is that the primer is seated a fraction too far into the case.


What should I do? I am getting paranoid that it might go off!!!


Cheers,

Peri
 
Usually on the range they use a 6 second rule with a misfire if it has not gone off in that time its safe, I would just pull the bullet in the press tip out the powder push out the primer and put a new primer in and re load it.
 
Thanks Sikadog, but I have no reloading equipment. Would it be safe to use a pair of pliers?
 
The problem is that you do not know the basic safety drill to deal with a missfire. That is worrying.

If you have a misfire you should hold the rifle steady with muzzle pointed at a safe back stop for at least 30 secs. Sorry Sikadog but 6 secs is no where near long enough to deal with a hangfire (delayed ignition) then after the 30 secs you should lower the rifle and once down carefully open the breech exposing as little of as possible and using just one finger and thumb to operate the bolt if bolt operated so if the round goes off as you open there is less of you to get injured. With just fingers tips holding top and bottom of knob the bolt should be able to fly past with taking fingers off.

Once the round is clear of the breech you can eject it as per normal.

if you are worried about the round and wish to dispose of it drop it into your local plod shop. They won't thank you of course but it's the way the licensing folks would want it dealt with.

The missfire drill is part of the NRA RCO instruction course and ALL RCO's should be familiar with this.
 
The problem is that you do not know the basic safety drill to deal with a missfire. That is worrying.

If you have a misfire you should hold the rifle steady with muzzle pointed at a safe back stop for at least 30 secs. Sorry Sikadog but 6 secs is no where near long enough to deal with a hangfire (delayed ignition) then after the 30 secs you should lower the rifle and once down carefully open the breech exposing as little of as possible and using just one finger and thumb to operate the bolt if bolt operated so if the round goes off as you open there is less of you to get injured. With just fingers tips holding top and bottom of knob the bolt should be able to fly past with taking fingers off.

Once the round is clear of the breech you can eject it as per normal.

if you are worried about the round and wish to dispose of it drop it into your local plod shop. They won't thank you of course but it's the way the licensing folks would want it dealt with.

The missfire drill is part of the NRA RCO instruction course and ALL RCO's should be familiar with this.

Sound advice

Al
 
find soft ground and push it in as far as you can.

it will rot away.

Please don't joke about it bob because some naive person who doesn't know any better will see your comment think you are serious and then go and do exactly as you have said.
 
It's perfectly safe. Even if it does go off, once it's outside the constraints of the chamber all you will get is a bang and the bullet and case parting company. Velocity will be very low as there's no chamber/barrel to provide a prolonged "push" from the powder.

What's stated above is not quite correct.
Should a hangfire cartridge explode outside the breech in 'Free air', it is likely to behave more like a small hand grenade, sending the bullet, primer and any parts of the case that split away in all directions.
These days though, hangfires are pretty rare due to excellent quality control standards in manufacturing.

Although the particular round in question is not now remotely likely to 'Go off' and may be dismatled safely, best using a bullet puller in a press or a kinetic hammer...your local dealer probably has one, call him to see if he can help.

Brithunter is absolutely right in what he's written. If you've got a true hangfire purring away in the breech, it absolutely needs to stay there for a good while.

The problem is, should a round fail to fire, you're not going to know if it was a failed primer or whether the primer has ignited and is burning slowly. So, leave the round in the breech for a while.
Then 1/2 to 1 minute later extract as BH directs.
 
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Just to add to what others have said, under no circumstances ever put a live round in a vice to disassemble, the vice can fragment if the round goes off. IMO the most convenient way is with a bullet puller (either kinetic or die mounted), empty powder, deprime, examine and if sound, reload. If you have a fault with a defective factory round return it to your supplier for a refund/replacement and in the friendliest possible terms let them know how inconvenient it has been - if you do not tell them they will never know that something is wrong! atb Tim
 
It's perfectly safe. Even if it does go off, once it's outside the constraints of the chamber all you will get is a bang and the bullet and case parting company. Velocity will be very low as there's no chamber/barrel to provide a prolonged "push" from the powder.

It should be safe to pull the bullet with pliers, empty the powder out and mix it with water to make it inert, and then fill the case with oil or WD40. This should make the primer inert, then the case can go in the rubbish.

WHAT !!! .

Further education required quickly before you end up blind or dead . Taking with you other members of this site with bad information .
 
The problem is that you do not know the basic safety drill to deal with a missfire. That is worrying.

If you have a misfire you should hold the rifle steady with muzzle pointed at a safe back stop for at least 30 secs. Sorry Sikadog but 6 secs is no where near long enough to deal with a hangfire (delayed ignition) then after the 30 secs you should lower the rifle and once down carefully open the breech exposing as little of as possible and using just one finger and thumb to operate the bolt if bolt operated so if the round goes off as you open there is less of you to get injured. With just fingers tips holding top and bottom of knob the bolt should be able to fly past with taking fingers off.

Once the round is clear of the breech you can eject it as per normal.

if you are worried about the round and wish to dispose of it drop it into your local plod shop. They won't thank you of course but it's the way the licensing folks would want it dealt with.

The missfire drill is part of the NRA RCO instruction course and ALL RCO's should be familiar with this.


Thanks for that,didnt know the official procedure although,its all pretty much common sense really........
 
Thanks for that,didnt know the official procedure although,its all pretty much common sense really........

No problem. Just one reason to shoot with a good rifle club as they will have qualified RCO's, have to have to be able to run ranges now, and teach safe procedures. Sadly not all clubs do it seems. Due to the move north my RCO ticket expired but I held it for Target Rifle Pistol and Black Powder. before and acted at RCO of a cuple of the NRA open days at Bisley. In fact was helping out at the very first one they held. last time I was witht eh HBSA and Enfield Rifle Association on their bit helping out and running people through some classic rifles.
 
Although the particular round in question is not now remotely likely to 'Go off' and may be dismatled safely, best using a bullet puller in a press or a kinetic hammer...your local dealer probably has one, call him to see if he can help.
:eek::eek::eek::eek:

Wouldnt advise the use of a kinetic hammer personally

Easiest way is to get a fired case slip it over the bullet of the misfired cartridge wiggle it back and forth and the bullet will be un seated.
 
This evening I got barely 50m away from the car and a buck popped across the ride. Up goes the rifle freehand, safety off and then.....click but no bang. I cock the rifle and again ...click. By then the buck is looking at me from 30m away. So I cycle another round and drop him on the spot.


Now my problem is that I have a round with a dimple in the primer from the firing pin and I don't know how to make it safe. The reason for the misfire I think is that the primer is seated a fraction too far into the case.


What should I do? I am getting paranoid that it might go off!!!


Cheers,

Peri

Chuck it in a pond or something peri and forget about it . Nice one for getting the buck !
 
Chuck it in a pond or something peri and forget about it . Nice one for getting the buck !

I can't help feeling that discarding a live round is irresponsible, however unlikely it is to be found again.

As already stated, if you know a friendly reloader get them to pull the bullet and empty the powder. A drop of oil on the inside of the primer and then it is 100% safe with 100% peace of mind that no one is going to dig up your round and hand it in to the police (complete with your fingerprints ;) ).

Failing that, give it to your RFD who I'm sure will be happy to dispose of it for you.
 
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