Model 258 Handy failure to fire

[srad]

Newbie to the H&R community here.  I picked up a looks like new H&R 258 Handy with .357/20ga barrels and Redhead bag in a trade.
Finally took the combo out to the range today with my boys.  The .357 was fantastic, putting 3 different brands of .38 and .357 on target at 50 yds with open sights.  Didn't have a hiccup at all.


The 20 ga on the other hand had major failure to fire issues.  Bout 1/3 of the shells didn't fire, even with a second hammer cock and trigger pull.  The primer strikes looked awful shallow & weak.  I was careful to deliberately close the action upon loading and give a proper full pull on the trigger when the time came.


Any ideas on what may be causing the problem (errant transfer bar movement?, improper barrel to receiver fit??).


Like I said, all rifled barrel rounds fired properly (pin strike wasn't centered on the primer though).


Thanks for any suggestions if you've had this experience with this kind of issue.

[quickdtoo]

See the misfire and failure to fire links in the FAQs sticky, most likely it's a combination of issues, excess headspace, or poorly fitted barrel, but one common fix is to replace the hammer spring with a Wolff extra power spring.

Tim