I just recently received my mini fix and while I love the gun it seems to be having a pretty large issue with light primer strikes on a wide variety of ammo. I've even used a number of my reloads using CCI 450, CCI 41 and CCI BR4 primers and I have issues with pretty much all of them. I'm at a loss at this point as to what I can do to remedy this issue. I already contacted Q and they basically stated they're aware of this issue and are working on something and then blamed the ammo. It seems like a stronger firing pin spring would do it but I really don't know much about the make up of the bolt for this gun. Has anyone else had this issue and if so what did you do about it? All the rounds that didn't fire in my fix fired just fine in my MCX as well.
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Q Mini fix (or fix) light primer strikes
- Thread starter pinkhair
- Start date
Got my Fix in 308 yesterday. Had two light strikes out of 40 today with FGMM that both went bang in my AR.
Have you measured your fired brass vs new to see if there’s a headspace issue? Case too far from the bolt face. Firing pin potrusion?
Light strikes with the mini fix seem much more common than the full size. Mine definitely doesn’t like #34 primers but I haven’t had issue with anything else.
Light strikes with the mini fix seem much more common than the full size. Mine definitely doesn’t like #34 primers but I haven’t had issue with anything else.
Will Q actually swap in a heavier spring? I've emailed them about it already but they didn't mention anything about that.
I tore my bolt apart today. Seems to me the single retaining pin on one side holding the back part of the bolt or bolt carrier( I’m not sure of exact nomenclature) together may be an inherently bad idea as it spreads on the opposite side. If I apply palm pressure to the rear where that spring applies pressure, the two pieces of bolt carrier tighten up and the firing pin sticks out further. I’m by no means an edumacated engineer, but it seems to me that the spring I find in question that needs to be made heavier for the firing pin to fully protrude would result in a heavier bolt lift that people already complain about. And admittedly, I think I will be adding the big bolt knob already.
I’ve already added the big bolt knob so at this point I’d welcome a heavier bolt lift if I could get at least close to 100% reliability. A nice bolt lift does me no good if nothing happens when I pull the trigger lol.
That’s interesting about the bolt design though. I’ve not taken mine apart that far, only enough to get the new bolt knob in.
Hopefully the engineers at Q come up with a fix for this issue soon as having a $3k gun that can’t run most ammo is pretty irritating to say the least.
You’d think you wouldn’t have to check the headspace on a $3K gun shooting FGMM 175 ...
I mean...you'd think if the ammo had headspace issues then you wouldn't be able to take it out of one gun and pop it in another with no issues. I personally think they just use a weaker firing pin spring than would be best in order to have a lighter bolt lift.
Imagine trying to shove fgmm 175 into a 300blk chambered gun...
I was referring to the second poster who had a 2/40 failure rate on his 3000$ gun with FGMM.
I bought one of the latest Q Mini Fixed about two months ago. The only primer l have gotten to fire reliably is Federal 205 Match primers. I contacted Q and they said that most primers/ammo are out of spec and I should find a load that works and stick with it. I like the gun but am frustrated that it is so picky with primers. Given $3300 price tag and the current world situation l would prefer it to eat anything l put in it.
Yea that’s pretty much where I’m at as well. I just bought some federal 205’s so hopefully those work because basically everything CCI doesn’t work 100%.
Do you know if there is any difference between the 205m's and regular 205's as far as hardness goes?
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I've actually got a 300blk barrel for my zeus that isn't at all picky with primers/ammo either.
Here’s where my thinking is on the matter. If it was and issue with striker vs have fired guns and ar rated primers then you’d think there’d be ALL SORTS of people having issues across all the actions using SR primers. Cci 450 and br-4 are common the the mini fix doesn’t seem to ignite them reliably.
What is the percentage of total 300blk usage that is shot in ar type rifles? 90%+? The same type rifles that call for these “hard” primers. Wasn’t it developed for ar type rifle’s from the start? Why would you release a firearm that there’s a good chance doesn’t work with majority of the ammo on the market? I don’t recall ever seeing primer type having to be a noted feature on any type of 300blk ammo before.
There is a post on this in the Q group in fb. There was a comment questioning if the mini fix would even ignite common 6.5G or 6 arc loads if barrels and bolt heads ever come out that disappeared after Kevin popped in.
He was offering full refunds to people having problems though so good on him for that.
What is the percentage of total 300blk usage that is shot in ar type rifles? 90%+? The same type rifles that call for these “hard” primers. Wasn’t it developed for ar type rifle’s from the start? Why would you release a firearm that there’s a good chance doesn’t work with majority of the ammo on the market? I don’t recall ever seeing primer type having to be a noted feature on any type of 300blk ammo before.
There is a post on this in the Q group in fb. There was a comment questioning if the mini fix would even ignite common 6.5G or 6 arc loads if barrels and bolt heads ever come out that disappeared after Kevin popped in.
He was offering full refunds to people having problems though so good on him for that.
Yea I agree with you on that. I was actually a part of that thread on facebook and while it was nice that he offered refunds to everyone I'd really just rather have the gun work with all (or even most) available ammo. I really hope that they're working on something to fix it because I'm looking to try out 223 in it soon and I'd imagine most primers found in that ammo are probably fairly hard, even in match grade ammo.
Yeah but the TL3 is one of the best action ever built and isn't generally known to be a "picky" action for primers, same with the Zeus. Aren't they both > 20 lbs striker spring weight ?
On the other hand, I had plenty of issues with my factory AAC R700 SPS 300blk, even with a stronger striker spring, even with factory Remington ammo (and factory Barnes Vor-Tx) which leads me to believe the issue could have been in the headspace rather than in the striker spring. I remember seeing plenty of people on 300blktalk having striker issues with factory 300blk bolt guns but mostly Remingtons model 7 and 700, but that was at least 6-7 years ago.
One of these days I'll get a 300blk barrel for my ARC nuke with the 19lbs spring and see if it properly ignites factory 300blk with milspec primers meant for autoloaders.
My DTA with the SAC 223 conv also never ever skipped a beat with CCI 450s and Rem 7 1/2.
Same cup thickness but match version (maybe better QA ?)
205s (0.025" cup) are a good in between from soft (.020 cup rem 6 1/2, cci 400, fed 200) and harder primers (0.025 cup Rem 7 1/2, cci br4, cci 450)
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My (two) TL3's both had issues. A $1,350 Action should not have issues. Just saying.....
If you can tell the class what a TL3 and a Mini Fix are doing the same discussion I'll give you a Gold Star.
Oh you're still here!
Are we arguing? I'm just waiting for more of your "advice" on primers or was it TL3's or a Mini Fix...
Either way, most all production guns have no issues with the primers the OP has asked about. It would seem to most anyone the problem is with the Mini Fix. It could be headspace or a mechanical issue with the firing mechanism of the Mini Fix itself.
A go and no go gauge could confirm the approximate state of the headspace, but not the exact clearance. YMMV
This is the type of CS reply that you get from Q LLC after spending 3k on a mini fix and questioning why the light primer strikes.
My mini fix has been returned via RMA for almost a month.
From Q LLC:
"Are all of your other weapons hammer fired or striker fired?
We have been doing testing on common ammo in the fix platforms, as well as your other bolt actions on the market (Remington 700, etc).
There is absolutely an industry wide problem right now with what primers are available, and specifically with 300 BLK, issues with companies making ammo that isn't to SAAMI spec. The rounds are smaller than spec generally and sitting just slightly different in the chamber. So when you have this intersection of factors, the round sitting slightly different coupled with a hard primer, a striker fired gun can have trouble igniting the primer. If it were hammer fired, it would be a different story.
If you'd like for us to explain why companies use these hard primers we can do that too but anyone who isn't an "inexperienced child" should probably already know that."
My mini fix has been returned via RMA for almost a month.
From Q LLC:
"Are all of your other weapons hammer fired or striker fired?
We have been doing testing on common ammo in the fix platforms, as well as your other bolt actions on the market (Remington 700, etc).
There is absolutely an industry wide problem right now with what primers are available, and specifically with 300 BLK, issues with companies making ammo that isn't to SAAMI spec. The rounds are smaller than spec generally and sitting just slightly different in the chamber. So when you have this intersection of factors, the round sitting slightly different coupled with a hard primer, a striker fired gun can have trouble igniting the primer. If it were hammer fired, it would be a different story.
If you'd like for us to explain why companies use these hard primers we can do that too but anyone who isn't an "inexperienced child" should probably already know that."
Yea I pretty much gave up on their CS and just load my own ammo using fed 205 primers. Haven’t had any issues since.
.......I must have pissed them off when I sent them these pics of my reloading room and told them that it's my faust as none of my equipment works well enough for their mini fix.
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I wonder if they can point to any other factory rifles than theirs that are having light strike issues. I haven’t seen or heard anything.
I’m glad KB doesn’t run this forum or the thread would disappear and we’d all be banned for questioning the unpossibility of his guns to fire common, off the shelf ammo.
honestly I'd be surprised if it works 100% with all manner of factory ammo once you get it back. I basically gave up on factory ammo other than Grind Hard and I just load my own stuff with fed 205's. These seem to work no matter what brass or bullet I use.
People complained about the heavy bolt lift indicative of the 45 degree bolt throw so Q started using lighter firing pin springs. The lighter springs don't reliability ignite primers. Short of redesigning the bolt head and barrel extension you're probably stuck switching to a heavier spring and longer bolt lever/knob.
The excuse about undersized cartridges is stupid, the cartridge is held by the extractor and ejector in same orientation regardless of the case is a few thousands short.
The excuse about undersized cartridges is stupid, the cartridge is held by the extractor and ejector in same orientation regardless of the case is a few thousands short.
If that were the case I would think they’d offer the heavier spring as a solution with the disclaimer that it will have heavier bolt lift. They don’t seem to have a solution other than “stop buying ammo that doesn’t work in our gun”
I actually asked them about a heavier firing pin spring a while back… that went precisely nowhere.
It’s not only the mini as I was shooting next to someone with a standard fix in 308 and they were having light primer strikes. They were using FGMM. They said Q told them to use ammo with softer primers. I asked if they had a suggestion for something softer than Federal and he said he asked, but they told him to just try other stuff before blaming it on the gun.
His fix is now for sale.
His fix is now for sale.
My 6.5 fix has been for over 16 weeks now for light primer strikes. 12 weeks ago they said it would be a week or so. 4 weeks ago they said it would be fixed and sent back “in the next few weeks”.
God the Fix just appears to be a POS when looking from the outside. Maybe if I owned one Id love it but it just seems like an expensive unrefined experiment from where Im standing.
I love the concept of the rifle itself, and it meets the role that I want it for.
However, it pisses me off that I spend $3200 on it and it won't work with common ammo.
Problems occurred with the following:
Barnes Vor-TX Long Range 127
Hornady Precision Hunter 143
Hornady Match 140 ELD-M
Handloads with Lapua brass and CCI 450 primers
Handloads with Lapua brass and CCI BR4 primers
At first when I had the problem happen with the one box of Barnes, I thought it could just be bad primers. I have had some issues with small pistol primers in the last two years. When it happened with two different boxes of Hornady, I got a bit worried. Then it happened with handloads with CCI 450's and even BR4's and I knew it is an issue with the rifle.
The fact that the rifle has been back for repair for 4 fucking months is infuriating. I worked at a big box gun store for 7 years and have literally sent hundreds of guns back for repair. This is now eclipsing even the most dogshit of dogshit repair times with Taurus. If I would have bought a $329 Savage Axis I would have expected issues and this level of "Service". With a rifle 10 times that much, I am fucking pissed. "The Fix" is probably going to end up being a Seekins Havak. At least they care about their customers.
If you go back a few years you can find all of the bolt lift complaints on forums. They all just pretty much stopped. Q seems to vapor lock on all warranty claims that require more than a simple parts swap with regular production parts.
Of course there couldn’t be design flaws with their guns. Unpossible!
I remember that. I assumed they changed the geometry on the cocking cam or something like that.
Luckily my fix seems to work fine with cci 200s and br-2s which is all I really use. It will NOT light a #34. I’ll keep using it as long as it’s working but I’ll be damned if I’ll buy anything from Q again considering the joke they’ve turned into.
Pull the bolt out, cock it by twisting and then press the sear underneath to fire,
Take a look at how much the firing pin protrudes from the bolt face, seems too little to me,
Take a look at how much the firing pin protrudes from the bolt face, seems too little to me,
Strangely enough, I installed a proof 223 barrel on mini fix yesterday and shot some ammo with known hard primers - (CCI 41, FED 205mAR, etc) and had absolutely no issues. I'm glad it works but I'm a bit confused as to why.
I wonder if it comes down to headspace since 300blk doesn’t have much of a shoulder. Anyone with a mini fix set up to reload? Prime a couple fired cases with #41’s to see if they fire with a formed case
Today marks 18 weeks since my Fix arrived at Q for them to look at it for light primer strikes. Arrived November 15th, I have a can where the check was cashed on November 16th, which will come back first?
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