Rem 700 - light strike or primer problem?

[akalma]

I went to a shooting range the other day, was shooting 30-06 with Rem 700 using my reloaded cartridges. Two rounds of eight misfired.
I didn't check the bolt assembly yet. I know I did disassembly and cleaning of the bolt this year. Is it Rem's famous light strike or I got a batch of bad primers?
The "bad" one is at the left:

 

[E.Shell]

I've been running M700s for 40+ years, built a few myself and had hundreds of students bring them to class, firing 200+/- rounds per. I have never heard of nor seen 'Rem's famous light strike'.

Good chance your sizing die is cranked down too far and you have a little excessive headspace, exceeding the firing pin's protrusion. If you set your F/L die according to the die manufacturer's self-serving generic 'one size fits most' instructions, your chances of this happening are quite good.

If your primers are not firmly seated in the pocket, it is possible that the firing pin is doing the final seating and the primer movement in the cup absorbs impact. A properly seated primer is fully bottomed out and slightly recessed below the case head.

Another thing I have seen that may cause this is a perforated primer leaving the little disk of cup material inside the bolt, partially obstructing striker travel. It can move around, causing intermittent misfires. Have any pierced primers lately?

One other thing that can cause this is if you are truing primer pockets and your tool is cutting a little deep, leading to a recess depth greater than the normal 0.003" to 0.005", again exceeding firing pin protrusion. The misfired primer does look a little deep, but there is no way to tell from here.

Bad primers are extremely uncommon and with the indent as shallow as it is, I wouldn't depend on that primer firing, good or not.

 

[John from MD]

I agree with Ed, I have never seen a problem with Remington light strikes either.
I would check the size die setting as well.

 

[4g64loser]

Much as I dislike the 700 after seeing the light and selling most of the ones I dumped fools money into for years (custom actions and sako products are the way) I have never seen this light strike issue you speak of except for idiots who store their bolts cocked.

I am with ed and john. There's an excess headspace condition in all probability. A datum gauge will answer this question quickly. On a side note, I've noticed that s&b brass tends to have super tight primer pockets and thus a primer may feel seated fully but is not when checked. I processed a few hundred s&b 6.5 sleazemoor cases for a friend and discovered this fact the hard way. Pun intended.

 

[normbal]

I agree with Ed, I have never seen a problem with Remington light strikes either.
I would check the size die setting as well.

Ditto what Ed said. Are you using a case gauge when FLS or just neck sizing?

but pull the firing pin and clean the inside of the bolt.

only takes a small sliver of brass or crud to stop the pin.

 

[teratos]

Case gauges are a must, IMO.

 

[akalma]

One other thing that can cause this is if you are truing primer pockets and your tool is cutting a little deep, leading to a recess depth greater than the normal 0.003" to 0.005", again exceeding firing pin protrusion. The misfired primer does look a little deep, but there is no way to tell from here.

Bad primers are extremely uncommon and with the indent as shallow as it is, I wouldn't depend on that primer firing, good or not.

Thank you so much! I could not believe I missed it myself - the "bad" cartridges have the primer seated deeper, like 0.007"-0.008" - now I can see it myself.
But just in case I've ordered the case length gauge. I was using the old hand primer from Lee, could not believe it failed me.

At this angle it is clearly visible: bad, bad, good:

And here is the priming tool:

 

[akalma]

but pull the firing pin and clean the inside of the bolt.

only takes a small sliver of brass or crud to stop the pin.

Yep, I opened the bolt and cleaned it up, it wasn't gunked but I had to check it!

 

[4g64loser]

Case gauges are a must, IMO.

Or a headspace datum gauge and calipers.

 

[John from MD]

There is nothing wrong with the Lee tool. The problem is that your primer pockets are too deep. It is apparent that you are not over squeezing the primer tool as the primers still have rounded edges. There isn't much you can do if your primer pockets are to deep except to ditch the cases.

Now, if you had a Mosin Nagant, you could adjust the firing pin out.

 

[teratos]

There is nothing wrong with the Lee tool. The problem is that your primer pockets are too deep. It is apparent that you are not over squeezing the primer tool as the primers still have rounded edges. There isn't much you can do if your primer pockets are to deep except to ditch the cases.

Now, if you had a Mosin Nagant, you could adjust the firing pin out.

Easy. Just get some primer shims.

 

[John from MD]

Easy. Just get some primer shims.

FIFY

 

[akalma]

There is nothing wrong with the Lee tool. The problem is that your primer pockets are too deep. It is apparent that you are not over squeezing the primer tool as the primers still have rounded edges. There isn't much you can do if your primer pockets are to deep except to ditch the cases.

Yep, you're right, it is a primer pocket problem. It is LR and not a military crimp so usually no need to widen them.

Now, if you had a Mosin Nagant, you could adjust the firing pin out.

Ha-ha, I have Mosin but don't use it for hunt (my son used it only once for hogs hunting), it is my safe queen, I shot it last time like 10 years ago. But I do know how to engage safety on it!

 

[E.Shell]

First time I ever heard "Mosin" and "safe queen" in the same sentence.

 

[teratos]

FIFY

 

[akalma]

First time I ever heard "Mosin" and "safe queen" in the same sentence.

I refinished the stock and it is beautiful now! Didn't touch any metal parts, it was heavily soaked in cosmoline, got it from Keep Shooting. At that time people were buying them by crates.

 

[John from MD]

First time I ever heard "Mosin" and "safe queen" in the same sentence.

 

[lazarus]

First time I ever heard "Mosin" and "safe queen" in the same sentence.

Welfare queen?

 

[akalma]

Welfare queen?

Ok, I have to admit it was a joke. Mosin isn't safe queen but I don't know how to call it. It was kept in a safe for more than 15 years and not shot. Neglected queen?

 

[outrider58]

Ok, I have to admit it was a joke. Mosin isn't safe queen but I don't know how to call it. It was kept in a safe for more than 15 years and not shot. Neglected queen?

Red-headed step child.