New to the forum any advice would be greatly appreciated. Purchased a used venture in 7mm-08 for pa whitetail hunting this year. Gun was said to have 30 rds through it and I believe that is correct and I have since put 40 rds through. So the problem is I went out last night and had a nice doe at 20 yards and squeezed the trigger and click, did not fire. Tried 2 more rds and same thing. It then came in to about 10 ft and stood there as I desperately tried one rd 14 times and still did not fire. Ammo was Hornady American whitetail. I shot half the box a week ago and had no issues. All 3 had light primer strikes. Disassembled bolt and all looks good. Manually cocked it and pin sticks out where it should. Here's where I'm concerned. When dry firing the back of the firing pin seems to move at the right speed. When I tried to fire it on a spent case it seems to move very slow and sounds like it's not very powerful. I'm just not sure why when a round is in the chamber the firing pin power would be affected. Was hoping it was an ammo problem but not looking that way. Temps were right about 30 degrees. Any input would be appreciated.
T/C venture misfire help!!
- Thread starter Nw556
- Start date
-
- Tags
- thompson venture t/c
- Status
Dr T
Member
The two things that come to mind are that there may be fouling on the bolt (too much lube that got stiff in the cold) or the rifle may have a headspace problem. How do you clean the rifle?
The striker/hammer spring could have been lightened to a point where your having light primer strikes.
A more unlikely scenario could be that the cartridges/chamber could be slightly out of spec causing the case to sit ever so slightly deeper in the chamber resulting in light primer strikes.
A more unlikely scenario could be that the cartridges/chamber could be slightly out of spec causing the case to sit ever so slightly deeper in the chamber resulting in light primer strikes.
Previous owner may have had grease or old oil in the bolt that froze up at 30 degrees. On the bench at home it's warm and operates well. Clean out old lube. In sub-freeze conditions use synthetic or dry graphite or none at all.
Corn-Picker
Member
This is slightly OT, but do you know when he purchased his Venture? If it was before 2013, make sure it had the recall work done (they mark the area near the safety if they've completed the recall work).
http://www.gunsandammo.com/blogs/ne...recall-for-icon-venture-and-dimension-rifles/
http://www.gunsandammo.com/blogs/ne...recall-for-icon-venture-and-dimension-rifles/
Thanks for the replys guys! I took the bolt apart and it seemed very clean. I read people saying they were finding them packed with grease from factory but it seemed in good shape. I let it soak in solvent overnight and still seems the same. I only have cleaned it twice so far and just ran a brush then wet then dry patch through it. I'm going to get it to the range early this week and try it out and see what happens.
dutchglider
Member
I have a similar story. Using Hornady American Whitetail, I had a misfire, actually failure to fire, out of my T/C Dimension 7mm-08, also in the field shooting at a doe. Fortunately, the next two rounds fired, yes the first misfire ( the first I've ever had in the field) got me flustered and I missed clean on second try. The deer did not run further but stayed at 200 yards. I was able to get settled in and make a good kill shot to the vitals on the third try.
Using Hornady American Whitetail in same rifle, I did have 4 or 5 misfires out of two half boxes two years ago, again 7mm-08. Hornady paid for return shipping of the remaining ammo and after investigation claimed no out of
spec issues with the two boxes. They sent two new boxes which all fired 100%.
T/C "fixed" the rifle misfire problems along with the safety recall, not sure what they did.
With inspection of the remaining 17 rounds in this years box, I think I see that maybe 40 percent of the shells have the primer set to deep, definitely beyond being flush the base of the cartridge. I think this is the source of my problem,
and perhaps, also with your T/C Venture (which I think has a similar bolt). Maybe the T/C design has a firing pin which strikes not quite as deep as other rifle manufacturer's.
I would appreciate knowing what you see with visual inspection. Do some cartridges have the primer set noticeably deeper, causing the light strikes and failure to fire?
I have more Hornady American Whitetail in 243 and 270 Win. I do not see visible variations in how deep the primer is seated in several other boxes in these other calibers.
Generally I like the ammo, particularly in 7mm-08 where other manufacturers charge a hefty premium of 7mm-08 compared to say their 308 or 243. I have taken cleanly now three whitetail with the brand.
I get about 1.5" grouping at 100 yards. Mostly good, but after this year, I might be taking
another brand in the deer woods next year.
Good luck. Let us know if you see variation in primer seating depth.
Using Hornady American Whitetail in same rifle, I did have 4 or 5 misfires out of two half boxes two years ago, again 7mm-08. Hornady paid for return shipping of the remaining ammo and after investigation claimed no out of
spec issues with the two boxes. They sent two new boxes which all fired 100%.
T/C "fixed" the rifle misfire problems along with the safety recall, not sure what they did.
With inspection of the remaining 17 rounds in this years box, I think I see that maybe 40 percent of the shells have the primer set to deep, definitely beyond being flush the base of the cartridge. I think this is the source of my problem,
and perhaps, also with your T/C Venture (which I think has a similar bolt). Maybe the T/C design has a firing pin which strikes not quite as deep as other rifle manufacturer's.
I would appreciate knowing what you see with visual inspection. Do some cartridges have the primer set noticeably deeper, causing the light strikes and failure to fire?
I have more Hornady American Whitetail in 243 and 270 Win. I do not see visible variations in how deep the primer is seated in several other boxes in these other calibers.
Generally I like the ammo, particularly in 7mm-08 where other manufacturers charge a hefty premium of 7mm-08 compared to say their 308 or 243. I have taken cleanly now three whitetail with the brand.
I get about 1.5" grouping at 100 yards. Mostly good, but after this year, I might be taking
another brand in the deer woods next year.
Good luck. Let us know if you see variation in primer seating depth.
Ks5shooter
Contributing Member
I agree with Loonwolf, they look fine but you said they have fired,and last week was seasonally warmer. I would need to know how you lube your gun and what you lube it with. Sounds like the cold got the best of your lube combined with fouling in the bolt. Take your bolt apart clean and use a light synthetic lube. Also dry fire your gun in its current condition . You should here and feel a strong audible click,if not the bolt cleaning is the issue.
Last edited:
Handyman79
Member
- Joined
- Apr 21, 2014
- Messages
- 12
I have a Venture in 30/06 and had the same problem. What I found was that the firing pin was too long and therefore couldn't gain enough momentum to "strike" the primer but instead would push into the primer. With your bolt out let the firing pin down and see how much protrusion you have at the bolt face. you only want about a 1/16th of an inch anymore and your pin is too long. This solved the issue with my rifle.
ironworkerwill
Member
Those firing pin marks are from repeated strikes. It doesn't prove(to me) that the FP is not the problem.
Okay so update. Went to the range this morning. Fired 10 rounds of Remington extended long range ammo with no problems. Shot 6 rounds of American whitetail first 3 were good 4th no fire. Primer hit looked good tried same round and fired on second try. 5th was good and then 6th nothing again. Didn't try to shoot again that's the one in the picture. I emailed Hornady so hopefully they make this right.The picture I just posted is only one strike
ironworkerwill
Member
I think your firing pin is on the cusp of being too long. Send it to meet its maker.
Pics of pin above
ironworkerwill
Member
It's impossible for my uncalibrated eye to tell you if that's too much FP(firing pin protrusion). You gonna have to measure it.
It's easily measured with the wrong end of caliper. Set the end flush with the bolt square with the end of the lugs. Run the caliper out to touch the firing pin then touch the bolt face and note the difference.
Less than .027"is is too little after say .045" it may be getting too long. FP past .045- .05 could be ok depending on head space. Not knowing how the bolt is designed or headspace is another issue that would dictate how long FP needs to be. I can, for example, tell you EXACTLY what the Savage FP should be( .032") to be optimal.
Science: Too little FP will not crush the primer pellet between the anvil and cup... Duh right?
Too much FP will loose energy due to short stroking the spring that propells the pin. In other words the pin is not at full speed on contact of the primer. Or the pin will engage the primer before it reaches top speed.
A good fast hard smack closest to the center of the primer is needed.
It's easily measured with the wrong end of caliper. Set the end flush with the bolt square with the end of the lugs. Run the caliper out to touch the firing pin then touch the bolt face and note the difference.
Less than .027"is is too little after say .045" it may be getting too long. FP past .045- .05 could be ok depending on head space. Not knowing how the bolt is designed or headspace is another issue that would dictate how long FP needs to be. I can, for example, tell you EXACTLY what the Savage FP should be( .032") to be optimal.
Science: Too little FP will not crush the primer pellet between the anvil and cup... Duh right?
Too much FP will loose energy due to short stroking the spring that propells the pin. In other words the pin is not at full speed on contact of the primer. Or the pin will engage the primer before it reaches top speed.
A good fast hard smack closest to the center of the primer is needed.
It's right about 0.04
ironworkerwill
Member
That's probably good....I got nothin.
Handyman79
Member
- Joined
- Apr 21, 2014
- Messages
- 12
Yeah your FP protrusion looks normal to me, mine was 3x's that length. I'm gonna go with bad ammo on this one too. If it's only happening with one brand of ammo it's definitely the ammo.
- Status
