What has actually quit on you in the field?

[Igloo]

After doing a lot of reading on the forum, I thought it would be interesting to ask what/how have rifles actually failed you guys in field use? What were they and what happened?

There are a lot of great info in terms of scopes and their testing but really curious about experiences with rifles.

So far, only one malfunction has actually stopped me from hunting, but my rifles lead a very mellow life compared to lots of yours. Flatland hunting and rarely stay out more than 2-3 days in a row....and moose season is quite mild, weather wise.

A Zastava M70 Mauser had a trigger adjustment screw back out and fall, getting stuck in such a position as to block the trigger from being pulled. The rifle needed to be disassembled and to have it fished out, which was not that big of a deal, but certainly did stop hunting. Here's a photo from that week. Not the most demanding of environments at all, but I guess enough miles in a truck, time in and out of canoes and walkin in hills and things happen all the same.

 

[pharmfisher]

I had an AR10 jam. Luckily it jammed on the shot that put the buck I was shooting at down. It spooked me enough to switch to bolt rifles exclusively.

 

[ResearchinStuff]

rem 700 extractor failed, had a live round stuck in the chamber.

 

[General RE LEE]

My bowels

 

[Igloo]

My bowels

LOL that'll do it

 

[rideold]

The trigger/firing pin on my Rem 700 froze solid once in -10 weather. I've since disassembled and cleaned it with carb cleaner. Hasn't happened again.

 

[TaperPin]

Leupold rangefinder crapped out in only mildly humid weather. Having to rely on a piece of electronic equipment has made me uneasy ever since.

 

[wind gypsy]

Range finders that didn't work in the cold (Leica Geovid HD-b 2000 and 2200.)

 

[IDVortex]

Have had animals quit showing up. (A lot).

 

[sbaker0029]

Had a trigger spring fail in a remington 870 during a duck hunt. Trigger was completely dead.

The guys I was hunting with had a nice day of me calling for them and adding birds to the limit lol

 

[Justin (Raz) Rasmussen]

Most common thing I've experienced and seen a few other have is the firing pin spring being gummed up with many years of lube and crud and then being sluggish enough in cold weather to cause light primer strikes. Now I disassemble my bolts each summer and give 'em a good cleaning. The other Issue I had once was an action screw coming loose I'm assuming from a combo of cold and a real bumpy couple days ridding around in a skiff.

 

[UncleBone]

My western precision rear peep site fell off my muzzleloader while hunting pronghorn. Didnt drop it or anything. Cost me a shot on a decent buck that came charging at me and my cardboard cow cutout. Called a few local ML shops, and they said they had multiple people call with the same complain over the various seasons.

 

[PNWhunter541]

Not a rifle but my new Mossberg 500 28” right out of the box on my first bird hunt would click and light primer strike every 3-10 rounds. Sent it in and had it back within 2 weeks. New trigger group and bolt w firing pin. No problems since

 

[DangerRanger]

Scope moved in rings, back when I used to believe them about the whole 17 in lb no loctite stuff

 

[Maverick1]

Firearms related:

Had an old lever action Marlin 30-30 fail to fire when I pulled the trigger. This did not end my hunt but prevented me from shooting that particular deer that afternoon. Ended up shooting a deer with that rifle the next day. The rifle was the model without a safety and the last time that rifle was used that rifle before being sold.

Pump action Ithaca Deerlsayer 20 ga. slug gun: brand new, Forearm became detached from metal slide bars. I returned it to the store; they initially wanted me to screw around with sending it back and forth to Ithaca. That was not happening, ended up with a refund after retuning it to their store. It did not end my hunt but kept me from taking it in the field with me that season, ended up using last year's gun for that season and then moving on to something else later on.

A family member's rifle essentially became a single shot rifle when he lost the magazine while walking through some tall grass. Must have fallen out at some point. He purchased a new magazine after the season was over. Shot once that year and killed a buck. No need for multiple rounds that year!

 

[Mr Drysdale]

Ruger 44 auto rifle jammed while shooting at a buck I had jumped on a deer drive. Sold it the next week.

Live round stuck in the chamber of a Howa 1500 on a very dusty western hunt after firing a successful shot. Now carry a back up rifle on all travel hunts.

 

[SloppyJ]

Winchester Model 100 .243. The action screws were barely loose and when I loaded a round, the hammer dropped enough to not cock and when the bolt came forward the trigger assembly had it locked forward. That was a fun one to fix and a known problem with them.

I had a POS muzzleloader when I first started hunting. The first day of the hunt it misfired and did the whole Roman candle thing on a doe. The second day I had a huge buck walk underneath me. Same exact thing happened. I wrapped that thing around a tree and bought a CVA.

Plenty of waders that sprung spontaneous leaks, 870s that froze up in the duck blind. Nothing too crazy.

 

[duckhunter175]

Safety on a LH Win Model 70 that came apart checking zero after arriving to Colorado for an elk hunt.

 

[crich]

Twice Ive had magazine issues. Once with an AR and a pig at 4 yards and once with the first gen ruger american.

 

[SloppyJ]

Safety on a LH Win Model 70 that came apart checking zero after arriving to Colorado for an elk hunt.

How does that even happen? And better yet how do you find a left hand model 70? When did they make them?