[CourtJester]

Went shooting today to kill some time with the 338 Lapua.

Love the gun and got and impressed myself holding within a few inches at 800 yards. I had several misfires though.

Using Winchester Magnum primers and 87.4 gr MagPro powder. Not sure if it's a reloading issue or a firing pin issue.

The case on the left was a fired
The middle one misfired
The one of the right fired on the second try

Any ideas???

First time out to 800 yards

 

[JTJ]

That looks like a light strike. Check your firing pin and bolt. Light strikes can be caused by a number of things like a weak spring, dirt, bent firing pin etc. could also be some very hard primers but I would check the mechanics first.

 

[CourtJester]

Thank you sir

 

[Txhillbilly]

I agree,looks like a lite primer strick on the middle round.
Winchester primers aren't too hard,and I mainly use Winchester primers for all my ammo.
I'd check the firing pin and spring to start with,you could also just prime a few cases-just the primer,no powder or bullets,and see if you continue to have this problem. That will narrow you trouble shooting down pretty quick. If you have or can get a couple different brands of Magnum primers,that will also tell you if it is a primer mfg problem.

 

[locutus]

My first thought was a bad lot of primers.

 

[robocop10mm]

Head space can be an issue as well. Excessive headspace can cause light indent misfires. If the shoulder was bumped back a bit too much that might cause this. Judging by the level of accuracy you are getting, I am betting against this. More possible a bad batch of primers.

 

[tri70]

How are you storing your primers before they are used? I use small rifle for 223 and leave the hand priming tool in a ziplock bag while not used. I have not had any problems as long as the primers are stored well.

 

[CourtJester]

Thanks for the ideas all.
It's only had about 50 rounds through it so it should be covered by warranty. I put about 15 though it the first time and had zero misfires. I did about another 10 or so so check loads and got three shots nearly touching at 300 yards so I stopped. Still no misfires.
I absolutely hate the accutrigger set up so while my wife and kids were at her sisters just before new years I stretched out on the living room floor and "practiced" trigger pull on the living-room floor but I had two of these to run through it. http://www.midwayusa.com/product/178317/harbour-arms-snap-cap-338-lapua-magnum-aluminum-package-of-2 so it's not been "dry fired" per-say. Now it has the misfire issues.
Any chance that helps narrow down the possibilities?

 

[tri70]

Have you fired factory ammo thru it with good strikes? Pictures of factory ammo compared to reloads.

 

[CourtJester]

100% reloads. I was using some primers at first that were not magnums and had some issues with the timing of the boom. But they did all go boom. Changed and had no issues until after I did the firing with the spring loaded rounds. Not sure what the result is from dry firing. Maybe something with the spring loaded rounds. I dunno.

 

[Txhillbilly]

I absolutely hate the accutrigger set up

What's up with your Accu-trigger hatred?

I've always loved the Accu-trigger's,to me,it's almost like having a 2 stage trigger in a bolt gun.
They do take getting used to.

Back to your issue's,maybe the firing pin got damaged by the snap caps. You might want to swap out the firing pin and spring.It would probably be a low cost investment,plus if they aren't damaged,you'll have spare parts.

 

[John_Deer]

I dry fire bolt actions of all brands and dry firing has never caused any issues with any of my guns. You may or may not have a firing pin/spring issue but I really doubt it was caused by dry firing.

 

[CourtJester]

My guess is bad primers. I just fired off 10 cases with primers only and not a single issue.

 

[floydster]

Firing just primed cases is totally different then a loaded round.
Fire form your brass, then just neck size, I bet that will solve your problem, I don't think it is the primers---just sayin.

Smokeyloads

 

[locutus]

I dry fire bolt actions of all brands and dry firing has never caused any issues with any of my guns. You may or may not have a firing pin/spring issue but I really doubt it was caused by dry firing.

Dry firing is good pracrice and will not harm your weapon.

 

[GrtWhytHype]

When I looked at the second pic my initial thought was that the second two primers looked like they might have been seated deep. I've done that by accident a couple times. Bear in mind I'm also somewhat new to reloading though. Take my opinion with a grain of salt.

 

[Viking]

Gun oil that has become gummed up sticky can do this as well, especially out in really cold weather, it could slow the speed of the firing pin down enough to cause a strike but not enough to ignite the primer.