Light strikes with Defiance Bolt

Stag556

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Feb 10, 2017
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Hopefully someone here has some insight...

I have a Defiance Deviant 338LM action and the entire rifle has run great up until a little while ago. I started getting light strikes with no ignition. I ran a control test on factory ammo (to rule out an issue with the primers I'm using) as well and no fire there either so I narrowed it down to the gun itself.

Defiance told me to clean the bolt very good and go from there. That worked. I cleaned it up real good, put a small drop of oil on the spring and spread it around and 30 rounds later, light strikes again. This has happened twice now. I'd like to think I have narrowed my issue down to the bolt itself, more specifically the firing pin assembly. Anyone else have this issue or can help me out? The rifle only has 450 rounds through it.


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.........was having the samething happen with another bolt action company......ended up changing from the CCI250s to FED215s and it all stopped.

I should have stated that I'm using Federal 215m primers. My control test eliminated the primers as the culprit though because none of the factory primers would ignite either. I hoped it was that easy to figure out.


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Do you have a stiff bolt lift also? cocking piece may be bottoming out the sear, causing light strikes. Some of the Timneys have little down travel in the sear. guys have shaved a little off the bottom of the cocking piece or cut a coil from the sear spring or run another trigger. If you have another trigger, swap it and dry fire. listen to the sound of the FP fall. Should be a good hard thud sound.
 
Do you have a stiff bolt lift also? cocking piece may be bottoming out the sear, causing light strikes. Some of the Timneys have little down travel in the sear. guys have shaved a little off the bottom of the cocking piece or cut a coil from the sear spring or run another trigger. If you have another trigger, swap it and dry fire. listen to the sound of the FP fall. Should be a good hard thud sound.

I don't have a stiff bolt lift at all actually. That's an interesting take on it though that I'll look into. If the trigger had something to do with it, what would cleaning the bolt internals do to make it run again? As stated earlier, once I clean, it runs great then goes down the tubes again shortly thereafter.


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having any pierced primers? The small piece of primer can get inside the bolt and cause miss fires n such. Heavy grease on the spring can slow things down, esp in cold weather. Also check that the cocking piece is not hitting the trigger body. Could be a weak/broken/wrong size FP spring. Broken or worn tip on the FP, Are your cases sized to much, bumping the shoulder back too far causing the miss fires? Just a few things it could be and to check.
 
Do you have a stiff bolt lift also? cocking piece may be bottoming out the sear, causing light strikes. Some of the Timneys have little down travel in the sear. guys have shaved a little off the bottom of the cocking piece or cut a coil from the sear spring or run another trigger. If you have another trigger, swap it and dry fire. listen to the sound of the FP fall. Should be a good hard thud sound.

Mine had the same issue, but the cocking wasn't really harder than normal. The only thing I could tell was that when dry firing it didn't make the loud *whack* that my others actions do. The trigger was the issue, which was also a Timney.
 
having any pierced primers? The small piece of primer can get inside the bolt and cause miss fires n such. Heavy grease on the spring can slow things down, esp in cold weather. Also check that the cocking piece is not hitting the trigger body. Could be a weak/broken/wrong size FP spring. Broken or worn tip on the FP, Are your cases sized to much, bumping the shoulder back too far causing the miss fires? Just a few things it could be and to check.

No pierced primers, I only put a slight dab of oil on the spring when I reassembled it and I only neck size my brass. I appreciate you giving a list, definitely good to cover all bases. I have a call into Defiance to see what their techs say but have not received a call back as of yet.

Just really seems odd to me at I got 450 flawless rounds through the gun then all of a sudden it starts with this.


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I experienced a similar problem with my surgeon. Finally took the bolt apart to replace the spring and discovered that Cerakote build-up from the bolt shroud was binding the firing pin. A few laps with 600 grit and I'm back in business.
 
No pierced primers, I only put a slight dab of oil on the spring when I reassembled it and I only neck size my brass. I appreciate you giving a list, definitely good to cover all bases. I have a call into Defiance to see what their techs say but have not received a call back as of yet.

Just really seems odd to me at I got 450 flawless rounds through the gun then all of a sudden it starts with this.


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Have you taken your trigger off? You might see if there is any dirt or debris under the sear that could be causing it to slow the firing pin down.
 
I have a 338laupa on a defiance. I had the same experience as you. My issue started 5 days before going away to shoot it at a mile. Called defiance they shipped me out a new fp spring. That fixed it. The people at Defiance are great to deal with.