Rem 700 ADL light strikes on the primer

baitpile

baitpile

Active member
Got a .223 ADL that I'm gonna play with. Experiencing some light strikes on bulk Federal AE .223.I have shot other ammo in it, but not 10-15 rnds in one sitting to experience the light strikes. Put the light strikes in another gun and they went bang. I torn the bolt down, scrubbed it up, all new grease and light oil...no improvement. I'm leaning toward the main spring. However, in all the 700's I got, I have never experienced this. I do not know what year of rifle, I'm guessing 5-8 yrs old. Supposedly only about 40-50 rounds down the tube.Opinions? Has anybody ever cured light strikes with a new main spring? Should I replace the whole firing pin assembly? It is not a J lock firing pin assembly. Thanks for the replies!!
 
Originally Posted By: GCI'd ditch it just because it's a J-lock.

The OP says it isn't a J-Lock, and if it was, replacing the J-Lock is a relatively inexpensive and simple thing to do.
 
Oops... misread that, sorry to the OP. I still don't like the J-lock, wherever they may be found.
 
Oh GC...no worries, I'll forgive ya. Whats the thoughts on head space relative to light strikes? Guess I haven't heard of any factory 700's with a head space problem. I will be running a bunch of different ammo through in the meantime as well.
 
I had a 700 recalled for barrel replacement. At that time they would not return the rifle with the trigger set at 2# 12 oz. The factory turned up the trigger pull and lubed the bolt. First time out in cold weather I had light primer strikes, my gunsmith examined the bolt and discovered the cross pin( not sure if that's what it is called) was a few thousandth to long and would drag as the firing pin advanced, easy fix once problem was found.
 
Hmmmm...I'll check mine. I didn't take note when I had the bolt apart. Thanks for the heads up!!! Where abouts in So MN?
 
I have a couple ADL's with J lock crap, and went ahead and replaced the complete firing pin assembly with Gre-Tan setups a couple years ago. Helical firing pin, good spring, aluminum shroud etc. Been real happy with them.
Mark
 
Okay guys, my verdict is in. I am going with the ammo. Today, I completely disassembled the bolt and cleaned again, and compared parts, tolerances, etc to another bolt. All looks good. Reassembled and started in on ammo tests. I shot 4 different 10 round groups of different brand ammo and reloads. PMC, Fed HiShok blue box, Fed AE(again), and some of my reloads. All performed flawlessly, with the exception of the AE...3 light strikes again. In talking to a smith/custom gun builder here on the phone last night, we were talking about the head space/shoulder in ref to different brands of ammo.I do not have the gauge to measure shoulder precisely, so waded through with my caliper best I could. The cases on all the unfired rounds were right at 1.750(SAMMI)with the exception of the AE. All the Fed AE was 1.735-1.740. The fired cases reflected the same .010-.015 difference. I suspect the AE, being a little shorter, is able to be run into the chamber a bit further causing an occasional light strike. Now, I don't know if I am explaining that right and in the right terms, so don't burn me down. More expert reloaders will understand what I tried to say
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So, anyway, that's what I am going with for now...I shoot all reloads anyway.Just piques curiosity from time to time. Thanks for all the replies!!!! To you guys with way more experience than me...does this sound feasible?
 
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If you reload, do yourself a favor and get a set of bump gauges for everything you reload for, then you'll know exactly what's going on with all your brass. You can get by without them, lots do, but it's just kinda guess work when you aren't using a bump gauge. They aren't all that expensive and are a valuable asset to have.
 
If you were measuring case length the difference doesn't matter, unless you are trying to have a consistent length for say crimping during seating operation.
 
Spot, yep, I understand. I'm just guessing the shoulder is set back on that short AE bulk stuff, definitely, bump gauges are in order.I may have access to a gauge in the next couple days and will definitely check my hypothesis.
 
I grew up in s.w. mn. The tape on the case head would confirm excessive headspace. Bolt should not close with the .004 additional length. If you have a safe area, even short rounds would fire if the gun is muzzle straight up.
 
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Spot, If you are familiar with Emmons, MN, Spring Grove, MN, Eitzen, mn...we have definitely run on some of the same dirt. I grew up in north central IA and am now ne IA.
 
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