Rem 700 Firing Pin Causing Slight Wiggle in Reticle

HumbleEinstein · Mar 9, 2014

When dry firing, I'm noticing a very slight wiggle in the reticle when the firing pin slams forward on my Rem 700 (XLR chassis, SWFA-5-20). It is noticeable with a snap cap. It is much more dramatic on an empty chamber. I would say it is about .25-.5 MOA of movement. I think it would be dumb to ask if this effects accuracy. It seems clear the answer is YES! Is this common? What is the fix? There's not much on it in the threads. Once that I read mentioned using a lighter firing pin. Would that fix it? Are there reliability concerns associated with a lighter firing pin? Could it be something else? What do I need to do?

Thank you.

(This is my first precision rifle experience and I think I might be done with the off-the-shelf variety. I'm too particular and there are just too many problems. Next time I'm going custom.)

ryu_sekai · Mar 9, 2014

Tag. Never heard of firing pin causing this before

strike33 · Mar 9, 2014

unless your strap/clamp/bolt the rifle into a rest there is going to be movement due to the simple fact of the inertia of the firing pin and spring moving forward. this in itself is not going to degrade your accuracy potential. same as you can see the reticle move with your heart beat.
you're stressing over physics..which unfortunately you can't change

Lowlight · Mar 9, 2014

The fix is you, that movement is you.

Adjust your NPA better it won't move. If you thing the reticle is actually moving inside the scope, I have a bridge to sell you.

It's always the least experienced that notice these "problems". Ask yourself why is that?

roggom · Mar 9, 2014

Something is not right. Do you have a bipod, are you prone? If you have established a good, natural point of aim and are loading correct your rifle should not move. As a matter of fact, you should be able to balance a penny on the top of the barrel and cycle without dropping it. This keeps your eye on the target and focus on only essential movements.

308boltgun · Mar 9, 2014

I agree with strike, there will always be some movement.
Read up on internal balistics. You would be amazed as to how much movement is going on before the bullet leaves the barrel.

HumbleEinstein · Mar 9, 2014

Lowlight,

I don't think the reticle is moving INSIDE the scope. The whole rifle is moving. I have been dry firing in prone with a bipod and bag. I attached string to the trigger and gently pulled it with 1# of pressure, while not touching the rifle. I could see the same wiggle as the firing pin slammed forward.

I can surely accept that my trigger pull is flawed. I've been going through your training videos and working on that. But am I the cause when I'm just applying 1# of pressure to the rifle with a string? Is this unheard of? The reticle always appears to wiggle to the left. Could it be the firing pin is not perfectly straight or something else is out of spec? Set me straight.

Lowlight · Mar 9, 2014

It's the shooter... period, fix your position and your NPA and it will go away.

It's not unheard of in bad shooters, but it is in shooter who know how to address the rifle properly.

The rifle is a tuning fork, how you touch that when the shot breaks effects the tune the fork sings. The trigger is still connected to the action, applying pressure to that triggers in a poor manner will change the tune.

HumbleEinstein · Mar 9, 2014

I'll keep practicing. In particular, I'll pay attention to NPA and trigger pull.

Graham · Mar 9, 2014

It's not the firing pin that's causing it

Killswitch Engage · Mar 10, 2014

Kinda think the op wants someone to say "yeah, those factory rifles and their junk ass hard slamming firing pins/springs are the cause...go custom"

HumbleEinstein · Mar 10, 2014

Killswitch Engage said:
Kinda think the op wants someone to say "yeah, those factory rifles and their junk ass hard slamming firing pins/springs are the cause...go custom"

That's not what I was looking for. It's just growing pains. Self doubt combined with rifle doubt. I'm new to precision shooting and precision rifles. I'm working on fundamentals. However, with all the information on the internet (and I'm a reader), sometimes it's hard to tell what is me and what is the rifle. Also, I suppose to some degree, in a moment of weakness, I was blaming the rifle. Still, the fact is, that I have had a number of problems with the rifle itself. The rear top portion of the receiver was uneven, which caused the scope base to twist. I fixed that by bedding the base. Also, it came to me with what appears to be a chip in the crown. I'm probably going to have to get it re-crowned. There were also some other issues not worth mentioning. My first four groups were between .95 and 1.24 MOA, so I'm holding off on re-crowning until I shoot it some more. I'm certain much of that space in the group size is attributed to me, since I had only fired about 15 shots through a bolt action before that. It just seems like if I had went with a custom rifle from a quality builder that makes an accuracy guarantee then there is no question I'm the problem, and that is how I prefer it. My next purchase will be custom for sure. It's personal choice. I'm not telling anyone else what to buy. Live and learn...

On the plus side, last night I did learn that if I did everything just right there was almost no wiggle at all. So, in this case, I am indeed the problem.

T44 · Mar 11, 2014

It seems like the tendency these days is for folks to think that they can solve their "problems" by throwing money at them, rather than spending the time to send a lot rounds downrange in a constructive manner - i.e. not just plinking.

If you're a newbie, spend the money on ammo, not a custom build.

rpk762 · Mar 11, 2014

It is not always you. I had a Leopold scope that had a failure. The retical would do the same thing except it would get worse as heat would increase.

Before everyone jumps on me I swapped it for my mk4 and the movement almost went a way. While it is rare scopes do fail I also had a night force 5.5-22x56mm fail on me. It let in water.

M40_A1 · Mar 11, 2014

Scopes do fail. I had a cross hair break in a Unertl for no apparent reason, so I got a whisker from my cat and replaced it. Worked great. You could only tell it was a hair because it was ever so slightly thicker at one end than the other.

softcock · Mar 11, 2014

You would think there would be a Tell on paper ? .
Any loose Reticle ( no matter how slight ) .&. ( If you KNOW ) your rifle well . will have symptoms attached as a tell especially on paper . Any tiny wiggling of Ret. that is inside a Tube body. Translates to big movement in relation to POA & POI @ 100 & down range farther .
If you have all of the sudden one day go from tight group to a loose 100 yrd. group with erratic little flyers . Then yes the Lens that your X-Hair Ret. is on, could be loose. if all is tight on the rings & mounting .

What I hate is a new rifle & a new scope combo & finding out you got bad 'new' glass . Couple weeks ago . Had a buddy with new Upper & we go out to set it up & get on paper . New Nikon was holding a 'Not-nice' 6 to 8 inch zero @ 100 . switched scopes & it was the new Nikon . new out of the box with a bad Erector or loose Ret. or ...??? .who knows ? . it was just one of those factory POS that everyone can get once in while .
.

HumbleEinstein · Mar 22, 2014

(the signature belongs to the RSO because I was qualifying the rifle for the 1000 yard range)

Dry fire practice is paying off. I shot this my second time out with the rifle, in prone position. I think it's under .7 MOA. Without the outlier it would have been around .3 MOA. It's my best group yet. I was using Norma Match 168 grain. I had simliar, though slightly larger groups with other types of match ammo. I take back everything I said about the rifle. It has taken some tweaking here and there to get things right, but the rifle is definitely capable of the .5 MOA I strive for. I think I'll get there within a few more trips to the range.

Mad_Charlie · Mar 22, 2014

M40_A1 said:
Scopes do fail. I had a cross hair break in a Unertl for no apparent reason, so I got a whisker from my cat and replaced it. Worked great. You could only tell it was a hair because it was ever so slightly thicker at one end than the other.

I'm sure your cat appreciated donating to the cause...

ROFLMAO

pawprint2 · Mar 23, 2014

T44 said:
It seems like the tendency these days is for folks to think that they can solve their "problems" by throwing money at them, rather than spending the time to send a lot rounds downrange in a constructive manner - i.e. not just plinking.

If you're a newbie, spend the money on ammo, not a custom build.

Great post. It's not just "the tendency these days", I've observed this phenomenon for a long time.

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Rem 700 Firing Pin Causing Slight Wiggle in Reticle

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