HELP- Firing Pin Sticking in Cold Weather

[muleybucks]

Anyone else had this problem? An old timer told me to boil the bolt of my REM 700 30/06 for 10-15 minutes to remove oil and powder residue from the inside of my bolt. It came out crisp and clean but had the same problem this year elk hunting in single digit weather. The firing pin will fall, but not with enough POOP to fire the bullet. The solution is to take the bolt out of the rifle, hold it under my arm for a few minutes while the elk feed along (hate this part) and pray the warmth will loosen up the "Grime???" inside the bolt and let the pin fall. It generally works, but takes a few minutes.

Most of the info received by MM members has been great and I'm hoping someone can lead me in the right direction. Gun has been a champ for me and I hate to leave her home, but I can't afford this type of failure anymore.

Thanks for any advice.
Monte

 

[RELH]

Check the lenght of the firing pin that protudes out of the front of the bolt in the fired position, it should be about 50-55 thousands. If it is shorter then this, you may have a carbon built up in the bolt where the shoulder of the firing pin makes contact. If you have proper firing pin protrusion, you may want to replace the firing pin spring, you can even get a stronger spring that will give more power to the firing pin. The standard spring or more power spring can be purchased from Brownells. They have a web site--www.brownells.com The part numbers you will be looking for are--969-635-028 or 969-635-032.
Also check the firing pin tip and make sure it has not been damaged, should have a smooth rounded surface.
Since you have removed any excessive oil that can freeze, I am willing to bet that your firing pin spring has weaken and needs replacing. The above spring will only set you back about 6 bucks plus shipping.

RELH

 

[rost495]

I'm wondering if you had grease problems the first time maybe(reference the things to check and solve in RELH post as he is dead on there) and then by boiling the bolt, ruined the spring temper somehow?

You can take the bolt apart, degrease it well and then you have to remember if you get in rain with it, the insides can rust.... Not sure what to do there other than try waxing what you can.

FWIW it you get a stronger spring it may be hard to put in, and cocking the bolt each time will seem a lot stiffer but don't worry about that, thats all good.

Don't fall into the titanium replacement firing pin thing though. They are very good, very expensive and IF you ever pierce a primer for whatever reason, you will have no tip left. Stick with an extra power spring and regular pin.

BTW I recallhearing using graphite inside for lube and it won't be affected by temps, BUT it won't protect from rust.

Jeff

 

[Bambistew]

You guys solved the worlds problems, but I have to ask... have you taken the bolt apart and cleaned the firing pin and spring? Or did you just boil the whole thing? I've had the same problem with one of my 700s, but it was solely from (gasp) neglect. I took the firing pin out, cleaned all the gunk off the spring and firing pin with acetone and a tooth brush, and gave it a light shot of oil afterward, havne't had a problem with it since. But I do clean it after each time I'm out in wet weather and at the end of the season.

 

[Vek]

Dude, just disassemble your bolt and clean it up. Here's how:

Next time you drop the hammer, note which portion of the back of the bolt moves. This is the ass end of the firing pin. take the bolt out of the rifle, and find a table or workbench with a sturdy corner or edge. Locate the part of the firing pin that sticks down into the trigger area of your action. Catch this protruberance on the corner of your table, and push the bolt down (forward relative to the bolt) until the ass-end of the firing pin is sticking out of the back of the bolt a ways. You will see a small hole in the firing pin, which you can put a small nail or allen wrench through. A nail or pin through this hole lets you unscrew the firing pin out the back of the bolt, and clean things up. Clean the firing pin off well, and use a large bore brush to scrub out the firing pin hole. Once everything is wiped off and dry, oil LIGHTLY (like you're just trying to keep rust off) with light oil or ATF. Reassemble, pull the nail out, and you're off!

-JV

 

[RELH]

I spent a year in Alaska, eons ago, and we had to degrease any firearm for winter use. Even a small amount of oil would slow down the firing pin causing misfires. Semi-autos had their bolt travel revert to slow motion and would jam every shot. I have even seen triggers freeze up and not work due to oil on the trigger parts.
We used powder graphite for all lubication on the firearms. It solved the problem. Only thing is that you have no rust protection if in wet weather. This is no problem if you are willing to break down the rifle and clean it every time you come in from hunting.
When he mentioned he boiled the bolt, I did not think about that he may have also boiled the spring, if he did, 312 degrees for 10-15 minutes is sufficent to de-temper the spring and cause it to loose power.

RELH

 

[rost495]

RELH, on a different tune I once bought a M1 Garand that had been reparked( it was junk and a long story). Evidently they reparked the springs too The first shot was interesting and netted a recoil spring in many small pieces......

Jeff

 

[RELH]

Jeff;

I am not going to ask you what you said when that happened, they don't allow cuss words on this site. Brownells also sells M1 Garand springs, but I am sure that spring problem has already been taken care of.

RELH

 

[muleybucks]

THanks to everyone for all of the great ideas. I expect the boiling did weaken the spring. The gun eventually fired and put 2 bullets within about 3 inches of each other on my biggest bull to date. The shot was about 450 yards and after the second hit he dropped like a rock. Like I said, I love the gun, but need to fix this problem. I will dig into it this week and see if I can't get the problem remedied.

Thanks again to all of you who took the time to help me out. I hate not being able to solve what appears to be a simple problem. But, with all of these ideas, I'm sure I can get through this.

Best wishes to you all for the holidays.
Monte