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Maxus light primer strike

3K views 19 replies 6 participants last post by  mudpack 
#1 ·
I am having problems with light primer strikes in my Maxus. I have had this gun for 4 years and it has approximately 4-5000 rounds through it. I cleaned it before dove hunting this weekend, and got it spotless before using it and still had a light strike. I remember having had this problem with Kent, Remington, Federal and Fiocchi shells. I have replaced the recoil spring thinking that it may have been worn out or broken. I have attached a picture of a shell that was fired this weekend and one that had the light strike. The second picture has shells from 3 other guns. Please note how deep these strikes are compared to the first picture. Any and all ideas of what the problem might be would be greatly appreciated.



 
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#3 ·
Forget about the shells in the second picture. Reason is that the Remington field shells have a hard primer. The strike shown in the picture is a good strike for those shells. I use them to test fire guns in my shop. How many rounds total has this gun fired. Possible causes for your condition could include one or more of the following: weak hammer spring, deformed hammer, firing pin out of spec (too short or worn). bolt not seating quite all the way. I suggest you contact Browning or a gunsmith.
 
#5 ·
bulldog18 said:
Forget about the shells in the second picture. Reason is that the Remington field shells have a hard primer. The strike shown in the picture is a good strike for those shells. I use them to test fire guns in my shop. How many rounds total has this gun fired. Possible causes for your condition could include one or more of the following: weak hammer spring, deformed hammer, firing pin out of spec (too short or worn). bolt not seating quite all the way. I suggest you contact Browning or a gunsmith.
It has 4-5000 rounds through it. I have had it for 4 years. If it just happened with Remington's I would quit using them, but it has been 4-5 different brands. Do you know how long the firing pin should be?
 
#7 ·
bulldog18 said:
Don't have length of a new firing pin. Where are you located at. We need to find a shop that has the parts that you may need. Sounds like a process of elimination needs to take place to find out the problem.
I'm in northwest Arkansas. The closest browning service center is in Tulsa, OK about 2 hours away. I ordered a new hammer spring this afternoon and should have it by the end of the week. I'll compare it to some hulls from last weekend and see if they appear any deeper. If that isn't it all that is left is the hammer, firing pin and bolt face alignment. Is there anything I can do to check the alignment of the bolt face against the shell? All I can think of is to pull out the trigger group and look from below to see if everything is square.
 
#8 ·
I wouldn't worry about alignment. It is about machining tolerances and the factory would have to mic everything to see if in specs or not. You can look at the primer strike in relationship to being centered or near center or on edge of primer. Also when the gun is loading the shell has pressure applied to it from the extractor pushing it somewhat to the left. With chamber dimensions this could show an off center or slightly off center or center strike on the primer. As far as the hammer. I was referring to any distortion of the hammer face from repeated strikes to the bolt and firing pin. Look for the face being rough not smooth and peening of the metal off the sides. If none of that is there the hammer is probably good. Firing pin is not that expensive and I would go with that next if the hammer spring doesn't correct it. Keep us posted
 
#10 ·
Received the new hammer spring this afternoon. My first impression is this will fix my problem. The new hammer spring has the same number of coils, but is 1/8 inch longer than the old one. I guess I have hunted and shot this gun way too much the last 4 years. I'll give another update after I have fired a few hundred rounds out of it. Thanks again for the help.
 
#15 ·
Seniordavis said:
Does anyone know where I can get a video or instructions on how to replace the firing pin and hammer spring?
I don't know about the firing pin, but the hammer spring is very easy. The hammer spring is held in by a single pin that will slide out easily once the hammer has been released and the pressure taken off the spring. Slide the old spring out, put in the new spring and put the pin back. Takes 2 minutes.
 
#18 ·
mudpack said:
NedSwygard said:
Stretch the firing pin spring and try it. Ned S
That's bad advice in this instance. The firing pin spring is a firing pin return spring, and making it more powerful...which stretching would...would make a light strike condition even worse.
I may or may not understand completely, so correct me if I am mistaken.

The Maxus does not have a firing pin spring as many firearms do. The Maxus uses a free floating firing pin that is in the bolt. When the trigger is pulled the hammer is pushed forward by the hammer spring allowing the hammer to hit the firing pin in the bolt. When the bolt moves back it re-cocks the hammer putting the hammer spring back into compression. The spring that I am referring to above, is in the back of the trigger group behind the trigger. Hopefully this clears this up.
 
#19 ·
mudpack said:
NedSwygard said:
Stretch the firing pin spring and try it. Ned S
That's bad advice in this instance. The firing pin spring is a firing pin return spring, and making it more powerful...which stretching would...would make a light strike condition even worse.
And you're an Engineer. I designed springs on a project I was first assigned. Stretching them doesn't hurt a thing. I've stretched many a firing pin spring. You just have to know how far to stretch them. I ruined a couple learning how but I could buy similar springs locally.
 
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