Misfire on Homeloads

Hi can anyone put light on my constant misfires .
Rifle was a new 6.5x55 Tika T3 .
Lapua cases with Remington primers, N160 powder 129gr sst.

Rifle was knew about 2 yrs ago and I had this problem about 15 rounds in from new I stripped bolt and cleaned and sprayed and never had a problem since . Out shooting bucks other night the misfires started again I've had 4 in 2 days luckily still got the bucks. I even tried the misfired bullet again but didn't fire . Misfire again this morning !

It's annoying as I've stripped bolt down again and still happening.
not sure where to start apart from try different primers.

misfired round bottom , fired round on top in pic.

I might be wrong about this but I vaguely remember something about tikka or sako bolts - that you can change the tension or position of the firing pin inadvertently when you strip it. I'd check that the pin wasn't proud when it's cocked. I don't think this is your problem because I assume you would get slam fires.

Also, when you say spray do you mean oil your firing pin? I think tikka's are designed to be used dry, because oil would freeze in the Finnish winters.

I nearly didn't post this because I'm not an expert in this field, but you never know, it may be helpful. I hope this gets resolved soon.
 
My money would be on damp primers. I made the mistake when I started out loading, of not ensuring my brass was completely dry (I use a wet ultrasonic cleaner) this caused the primers to fail.
Wingy
 
If primers aren't seated fully the pin shifts them rather than going bang.
My thought would be to pull the round and fire the empty again. If it goes bang it's not the primer itself.
 
I read somewhere once that the best to way kill primers, is to soak them in oil. You said they were stored in your garage. Could any oil get near them, perhaps an over lubricated case?
 
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I would stop stalking until you have found the issue. You'll just get yourself more frustrated and you may not go through the proper routine for dealing with a misfire if you are on a buck you really want. Putting yourself at risk.

Primers would be my first port port of call, try a different make
 
I read somewhere once that the best to way kill primers, is to soak them in oil. You said they were stored in your garage. Could any oil get near them, perhaps an over lubricated case?
I read an article about that where someone deliberately soaked primers in oils then left them for a period of time before trying them. They still went bang.
i think it just dodgy Remington primers.
 
I read an article about that where someone deliberately soaked primers in oils then left them for a period of time before trying them. They still went bang.
i think it just dodgy Remington primers.

I tried soaking them in water, WD, gun oil they still go bang
 
I had a similar problem with a Sako 75 . I purchased a new firing pin and Spring , it solved the problem .
How many rounds has the rifle fired ?

Chill
 
Primers being seated to deep. If I remember rightly the rem primer cup it the shallowest of the large rifle primers. I have had the same problem a while back. It was the Lee auto primer and I can't remember the primer off hand.
When you seat to deep you roll the top of the primer cup over and into the anvil. Can't remember where I was reading it but never had the problem since.
£4 test. Either murom or CCI . Load 20 but don't seat the primers to deep. As long as they sit just below the head then you'll be good to go.
 
Primers being seated to deep. If I remember rightly the rem primer cup it the shallowest of the large rifle primers. I have had the same problem a while back. It was the Lee auto primer and I can't remember the primer off hand.
When you seat to deep you roll the top of the primer cup over and into the anvil. Can't remember where I was reading it but never had the problem since.
£4 test. Either murom or CCI . Load 20 but don't seat the primers to deep. As long as they sit just below the head then you'll be good to go.

nice to see correct use of the term head in relation to ammunition. CORRECT TERMINOLOGY MATTERS!
:)
 
Primers being seated to deep. If I remember rightly the rem primer cup it the shallowest of the large rifle primers. I have had the same problem a while back. It was the Lee auto primer and I can't remember the primer off hand.
When you seat to deep you roll the top of the primer cup over and into the anvil. Can't remember where I was reading it but never had the problem since.
£4 test. Either murom or CCI . Load 20 but don't seat the primers to deep. As long as they sit just below the head then you'll be good to go.
Looking at the pictures they don't look to be overly deep seated.
 
Funny you say that I do use a Lee primer ,wondered if I'd pressed them home too much. Just a thought as everything goes thro your head .
gonna load some more up this week with cci primers see makes a difference
 
Funny you say that I do use a Lee primer ,wondered if I'd pressed them home too much. Just a thought as everything goes thro your head .
gonna load some more up this week with cci primers see makes a difference

Never had a single misfire using CCI primers seated with a Lee autoprime shot from my T3. My money's on the primers, or as Activeviii suggests, the Remmy primers are seated too deep in the head. One to two thou' below the head should be fine.
 
Dismantle the misfires. Use a bullet puller. It may sound obvious, but check there is powder in them. If not, there's your problem. If there is powder, check whether the primer fired. If it fired, then either something is wrong with your primers or powder. Test the powder, tip some onto the concrete and put a match to it. It should burn vigorously. Does the powder smell OK? If it is acrid, then its 'off'. Chuck it on the lawn. If the primers didn't fire then maybe your cases are too short (in terms of headspace). If so, try some new brass without full length resizing. If you can, measure the headspace of your brass. Try neck resizing only. If that's all fine, look at you firing pin: is it the correct length; does the tip look intact or damaged: are you getting the correct protrusion from the firing pin tunnel; is the bolt clean internally; does the spring appear stong enough?

It's highly unlikely to be defective primers, presuming you store them in a cool dry place. The failure rate for primers is less than one in a million (according to Federal) so perhaps you would experience one but not successive failures. And there's nothing wrong with Remington primers, or CCI, or Federal, or PPU for that matter. Well, the latter are a bit tight in some brass but they delivery superb accuracy. No, your problem lies either with your brass or your rifle. If the headspace is too short, then the firing pin is losing energy pushing the case to the front of the chamber and hence has less energy to detonate the primer.

-JMS
 
Could be any of the above but I'd go for firing pin issue.

Whatever it is just be fully aware of what your dealing with and leave it a while before ejecting and handling.

Stay safe.
 
Quick question is a misfired round safe to handle also is it safe to put in a bullet puller hammer ?? Always wondered ?
 
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