Click instead of bang Tikka T3

[ThrottleJ]

I had a little unintended dry fire practice during this rifle elk season.

I shot a bull and he was still moving so I ran the bolt and attempted to shoot again - "click" - the round did not go off. I quickly ran the bolt again but he went down before I attempted another shot.

I picked up the round that failed to fire and it had an extremely light primer strike. Barely noticeable. The case from the fired round had a full heavy primer strike.

Weather was dry and 60f.

The rifle is a .300WM Tikka T3 ~5 years old, ~150 rounds through it, clean and good condition. I pulled the bolt apart and it is clean and dry with no debris. Ammunition was Federal Premium 180gr Nosler Partition. The ammo is about 15 years old and I might have used fresh ammo instead if not for the current shortage. I had fired 16 rounds from this particular box without issue.

I am going to try to fire that light strike round again and see what happens. If it doesn't fire it's got to be a bad round. If it fires then I am going to be really scratching my head.

What do you think?

 

[Vandy321]

Had the exact same thing happen on a cow this week...twice in 2 rounds. Both times I cycled the bolt halfway and rechambered, they fired. Got a bit rattled and put the first one though the high shoulder at 525yds which stopped her but didn't drop her, 2nd one dropped her a few seconds later.

I was shooting federal premium 168gr berger hybrid hunters.

Whats going on, Tikka!? About 80 rounds down this rifle, never a FTF. Temps in the teens to 30s during this week.

 

[ahcraig87]

I had this same issue and sent my bolt into Tikka for a new one. They said that it's the firing pin/spring not hitting the primer with enough force. No further issues after the replacement bolt came and this was 5-6 years ago.

Sorry to hear it happened at such a bad time, it happened to me too. I also tried to clean it and stretch the spring and was still getting inconsistent primer strikes - I would recommend calling them or the dealer you got it from.

 

[WCB]

Could be actual bolt issues or perhaps you didn't get the bolt handle all the way down or brushed it coming back up to shoot. This can cause light strikes.

 

[fightthenoise]

I had it happen to me too but I thought it might have been that the bolt was lifted slightly (whether it was or wasn’t I don’t know). Not enough to disengage the fire control group but enough to maybe take some compression off the spring so it doesn’t send the pin very hard.

Just a theory though. Maybe I should send my bolt in.

 

[VinoVino]

You’ve seen this video? Maybe your bolt needs a cleaning? I dunno.

 

[ThrottleJ]

I played around with the Tikka bolt and when in firing position it lifts out of position with the most minimal pressure. This seems like the most likely explanation for what I experienced.

 

[cod007]

I had my Savage 6.5 do that to me with a wolf standing still about 75 feet away. (CLICK!)
First time I ever had a factory load fail on any of my rifles. Upon inspection it was apparent that the primer was inserted too deep. Take a close look at your pic. It looks like the misfired cartridge has the primer inserted too far also. Notice the wide gap around the primer?

 

[MikeDeltaFoxtrot]

Could be actual bolt issues or perhaps you didn't get the bolt handle all the way down or brushed it coming back up to shoot. This can cause light strikes.

This is likely the answer. I have had the same thing happen with a Weatherby Mk V. Resize and prime a few cases and experiment with it. If you can drop the striker when the bolt handle is slightly lifted and it doesn't touch off the primer, that is our answer.

Glad you got your elk.

 

[Packin_packout]

Had this issue with my kids 7mm-08 tikka. Only happened at cold temp. He tried firing a half dozen times at a javelina on a Arizona youth hunt before it went off. Multiple rounds cycled, dimpled and no bang. Factory federally ammo. Could never reproduce it when warmer. Happened again later that year, different ammo nosler during elk season. I tore the bolt apart couldn't find anything wrong and could not get any support out of the local Beretta gallery dealer. Pulled the bolt off of one of my rifles, checked headspace and let him use that bolt from then on without issues down to below zero. I'm assuming I just had a bad spring.

 

[MikeDeltaFoxtrot]

Had this issue with my kids 7mm-08 tikka. Only happened at cold temp. He tried firing a half dozen times at a javelina on a Arizona youth hunt before it went off. Multiple rounds cycled, dimpled and no bang. Factory federally ammo. Could never reproduce it when warmer. Happened again later that year, different ammo nosler during elk season. I tore the bolt apart couldn't find anything wrong and could not get any support out of the local Beretta gallery dealer. Pulled the bolt off of one of my rifles, checked headspace and let him use that bolt from then on without issues down to below zero. I'm assuming I just had a bad spring.

Are Tikka bolts a drop in fit? On most bolt guns I have messed with, the bolt has to be fitted to the action. If they are truly drop-in, I might want a spare for my Veil.

 

[JFK]

Had a rifle do that few years ago. Stripped the bolt, cleaned everything with brake cleaner, applied an extremely light coat of clp to bolt internals and it never did it again. Thinking some gunk got in there or over lubrication caused it to get sticky.

 

[realunlucky]

I saw that happen with my buddies Tikka 7mm-08 on a Desert sheep hunt. Two light strikes in a row talk about adding drama to a once in lifetime experience.

Sent from my moto z3 using Tapatalk

 

[Wapiti1]

Are Tikka bolts a drop in fit? On most bolt guns I have messed with, the bolt has to be fitted to the action. If they are truly drop-in, I might want a spare for my Veil.

No, they are not intended to be. That said, their machining tolerances are very good, so you will probably get one that headspaces, but it isn't 100%. But you MUST check headspace on a new bolt.

Jeremy

 

[BeardDog]

Yikes. Better send my bolt in.

 

[Vandy321]

I had this same issue and sent my bolt into Tikka for a new one. They said that it's the firing pin/spring not hitting the primer with enough force. No further issues after the replacement bolt came and this was 5-6 years ago.

Sorry to hear it happened at such a bad time, it happened to me too. I also tried to clean it and stretch the spring and was still getting inconsistent primer strikes - I would recommend calling them or the dealer you got it from.

How did you get a hold of them? I can't get a call back from Beretta usa

 

[ahcraig87]

How did you get a hold of them? I can't get a call back from Beretta usa

I purchased the rifle at Sportsmans and they sent it in for me.

 

[Vandy321]

I purchased the rifle at Sportsmans and they sent it in for me.

I did as well, I'll call them, thanks.

 

[RodoubleB]

I did as well, I'll call them, thanks.

Did you ever find a resolution out? Just had this happen to me on my elk hunt, however inspection by feel is that rounds primer was set deeper than the rest in the box…

185g barnes vor-tx.

 

[Formidilosus]

Most of these are because you are accidentally bumping the bolt up before firing due to the ease/smoothness of the bolt. This will cause light strikes, cocking the bolt or loading the round again it will fire.