Odd misfire situation

[Incitatus]

I posted about my new frame on another thread.  I took it out back today with a 22 mag barrel.  Oddly the thing misfired 3 out of 4 times:  it finally fired on the fourth try.  It kept acting this way as long as I was shooting it.  I changed brand of ammunition, same thing.  The barrel works just fine on my other frame. 

I put a 22lr barrel on it it is great, no problems.

What could it be?  Not striking hard enough for the 22 wmr? 

[Lone Star]

This has nothing to do with the ammunition.  The barrel bolt is not going into the frame far enough to release the interlock safety, not that odd really.  First, easy thing to try, clean out the action with gun spray and  DO NOT OIL IT.  If that does not solve the problem, replace the bolt with a two-piece split bolt from T/C and get a new bolt spring at the same time.  If that does not solve the problem then send it to T/C and they'll fix it.



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[Incitatus]

I'll give it a try but the firing pin was in fact hitting the cartridge.

[Keith L]

Listen to him  He is right on the money.  This will solve your opening problem with this barrel as well.  You can polish the bolts as suggested in the other thread, or get new ones from TC and replace them as Lone Star suggested.  I had to do that with my first Contender.

[Incitatus]

Okey dokie.

I'll give it a try tomorrow.  Thanks.

[JON8777]

Do you have a hammer extension on it? if so remove it and she'll fire

[Incitatus]

Do you have a hammer extension on it? if so remove it and she'll fire

ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh......................................

[deeregunner]

I have had some trouble with fiocchi primers, as they do seem harder than say winchesters..The problem does start as previously stated with your gun though, it wont get better

[Dang]

+1 On the hammer extension...I put one on my encore and started getting misfires, removed it and it has not happened since.

[JON8777]

If you look at TC's site/2009 PDF sales catalog they sell everything else BUT a hammer extension. Send it back to TC for 70-80$ (forget the price) and they will install the swing hammer.

I have had a hammer extension on mine for years, never a problem, but guys I know that have newer ones have the problem from the first day they put the extension on.

As a side note any aftermarket work you have done to the action they will replace with TC factory parts. They will not send back the aftermarket parts or the "old" action parts that they upgrade when the kit is installed.

When you send it back, spec a 3.5# and they will do that for free.

[blhof]

+2 on the hammer extension.  Mine worked fine in 357max and 223, but misfired 2 out of 3 times with the extension.  I called T/C and a nice gentleman in the repair dept. asked if I had an extension on my hammer, I did and he said remove it, test it and call him back.  Anyone want an extension cheap?!!!

[blhof]

I submitted too soon.  It only misfired with the 30/30 barrel, and hasn't misfires since removing the extension.  The smith explained that the excellent Contender trigger is a delicate balance between the weight of the hammer and spring force; add weight to the hammer and spring speed is reduced. It's also a way to know when the hammer spring needs replacing if you don't have an extension.

[Incitatus]

Well, I cleaned it thoroughly and removed the extension and it still misfires 3-4 out of 5 times.

[mbk]

Not sure of what was posted on the other site, but a quick easy way to tell if it is the locking bolts causing you problems is to take a black marker and ink the top of the bolts.  Open and close the barrel several times and see where the ink wears off to.  If it does not line out pretty much all of the half moon cutout, the bolts are not engaging far enough to fully rotate the butterfly.  If the butterfly is not fully rotated it can drag on the hammer block as it drops and the block will not fully clear the hammer before it falls.  You will still get the firing pin indentation, but it has not stuck hard enough to fire the round.  Take a look at the wear mark on the locking bolts some of your barrels that do fire for a comparison.  If that is it, it is simple with a fine flat stone to take a little off the tops of the bolts to make them engage properly.  Secure your barrel and "feel" the stone so it does not rock on the bolts.  Try to take an even stroke and try not to change the locking bolt angle. Re-ink and test after several strokes until you get the hang of it.  You will not need to take off very much. It sounds more difficult than it really is.  Worst that can happen if you fail, is that you will have to buy a new set of locking bolts (which you are looking at anyway) and new bolts are cheaper than the shipping to T/C.

FWIW Mike

[Incitatus]

here is a photo of a lug that works on both frames (right) and one that only works on the newer frame (left).

I've been polishing but it looks like the rear/bottom needs work too.