Sauer 100 Misfiring

[Bugsy]

The rifle is only 15 months old and recently has started misfiring and not just 1- 1000 but 2-10 , I have checked the ammunition , primers , I do reload for my own deer and use the same primers for the 243 which isn’t and has never misfired , I am nearly positive it’s the firing pin , has anyone on here stripped and cleaned a Sauer bolt , I’m not scared to have go and even . YouTube ‘d it hoping there might be a video to start on but nothing on there . The misfire is the left one and you can see quite a difference on the primer .

 

[deerstalker.308]

Is it just the photo or does the right hand one look rather heavily impacted, almost to the point of damaging it? and or bulging? The photo for comparison between the two is not very useful as you have shadow over the one in question….

 

[Bugsy]

My apologies it’s not the best picture and I’ll try and get a better one , the right hand shell I would say is fine and a good strike , what I done when checking the misfire was prime 10 cases and fire them in the rifle to make sure so there was no live ammunition .

 

[Bugsy]

This is better

 

[BRYAN]

If you fire the primers without powder and bullet you will not get a true comparison because the head of the case will not push firmly against the bolt face. The case needs to obfuscate I THINK, where the case swells and grips the chamber.

 

[Pedro]

I'd say if it's solely reloads you are firing, then firstly get some factory ammo and see how that fares. If the factory rounds also sporadically misfire, then you will have discounted ammunition as a cause and go from there.

 

[Steff]

The light strike in the non-fired primer looks like the ones I know from Blaser missfires where the reason was a not fully closed bolt. I‘d check your stock to see it obstructs your bolt from fully closing.

 

[BRYAN]

I think the word is obturate.

 

[Bugsy]

The bolt is closing properly . Checked , I would have thought that even firing blanks would give me an indication , I understand what your saying about powder but it wouldn’t have made much difference as each blank is in the same position and held the same , out of the 10 that were fired 8 showed a good sign of strike the 2 that misfired were less .

 

[User00040]

Take to a qualified expert (how to find one of those in the UK is another thread), or better still, where you bought it from.

I suspect the firing pin spring has excessive oil/lubricant on it, especially if it has never been stripped.

A lot of rifles ship with excessive grease on the firing pin spring to prevent corrosion, as a 'new' rifle could be sitting on a shelf/storeroom in less than ideal conditions for many years. This needs to be removed to avoid misfires.

 

[Steff]

I think the word is obturate.

Thank you, Bryan.
Sometimes I just speak and write as I think, which isn‘t always correct I‘m afraid. The fate of an non-native speaker.

 

[Bugsy]

Take to a qualified expert (how to find one of those in the UK is another thread), or better still, where you bought it from.

I suspect the firing pin spring has excessive oil/lubricant on it, especially if it has never been stripped.

A lot of rifles ship with excessive grease on the firing pin spring to prevent corrosion, as a 'new' rifle could be sitting on a shelf/storeroom in less than ideal conditions for many years. This needs to be removed to avoid misfires.

It looks like I’ll have to , can’t send it back to the seller without checking as it might be a simple cleaning issue , need the rifle every weekend .

 

[Salesy]

Make sure you are not over sizeing your brass.i.e pushing the shoulder to far back.it will create excessive head space.case moving forward when firingpin hits primer.

 

[calgeo]

I would try some factory ammo and see how that goes. I had a Sauer 100 that I thought was misfiring with my reloads but fired factory ammo ok. What I eventually figured out was that I was crushing some primers slightly when seating them and would show the same light strike that you’ve got.

 

[Leroux]

My brother had the same issue with a 101 and reloads. Sent it back to dealer etc etc. No fault found. Never had a problem with factory ammo?

 

[Utectok]

Occasionally it’s hard primers I have shot thousands of cartridges through one gun then changed manufacturer and had a couple of misfires which in think was a hard primer?

 

[Bugsy]

I would try some factory ammo and see how that goes. I had a Sauer 100 that I thought was misfiring with my reloads but fired factory ammo ok. What I eventually figured out was that I was crushing some primers slightly when seating them and would show the same light strike that you’ve got.

My mate said to watch out for this . I hand prime and have for 15 years and never had this problem , surely you would think the primer pocket and primer are matched to size , it’s a RCBS primer , is there a delux / better hand primer on the market . Thanks

 

[Bugsy]

My brother had the same issue with a 101 and reloads. Sent it back to dealer etc etc. No fault found. Never had a problem with factory ammo?

Big problem with me is getting factory ammo as the nearest dealer is a 350 mile return journey , also I can never seem to get the same ammunition in a row so end up having to zero a lot , with all this copper nonsense rifles are particular to certain brands so when I hit on a winner with the Barnes TTSX reloads were less hassle till this misfire problem

 

[Stalker-of-the-deer]

Take the bolt apart (should be able to just twist back and whole assembly should come out) throw some break cleaner over it and in the bolt housing to remove the old gummed up oil and hopefully blow some crap out.

Lightly oil, put back together as see if that works. I've had it before and it was some crap causing the pin to hang up slightly.

You will also be able to check the firing pin and see if it's broken. I doubt it's that but it's worth a check over whilst your at it.

Failing that maybe a long trip to a gunsmith!

 

[Salesy]

Check firing pin protrusion.55-60 thou is ideal.