# Anyone else having shell problems?



## Fowlmouth (Oct 4, 2008)

Okay here's the problem: 
I have problems every time I shoot a "certain brand" of shotgun shells. At least a handful of them don't go bang when I pull the trigger. The firing pin hits the primer and leaves a small divit but not the full on divit it should have. I won't say what gun I am shooting and I won't say the brand of shells these are because I want to find out if other people are having the same troubles as me and 5 others I know of. (they all shoot different guns) and I don't want to persuade opinions. I have had problems with these shells since they came out with them, at first I thought it was a bad batch or something but I bought more to try this year and have the same issue. We have contacted the company and were told "your gun is the problem" I would believe this statement if it was just my gun. So if you have had problems with a particular brand, I would be interested in hearing about it.
What shell are you having problems with and what gun do you shoot?
Thanks
P.S I think the primers are recessed to much and this is the problem.


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## NothinButGreen (Dec 4, 2010)

I am. It's driving me nuts.


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## Fowlmouth (Oct 4, 2008)

Dustin, which shell and what gun do you shoot?


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## Bears Butt (Sep 12, 2007)

Remington, Winchester, Kent and Federals have not failed me this year.


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## Clarq (Jul 21, 2011)

Dad and I have shot plenty of Kent, Federal, Federal premium, Winchester, Hevi-Shot, and a little bit of Black Cloud and Remington since we started hunting five years ago and have only ever had one misfire. It was a Kent. 

We were shooting Super X3, Browning BPS, and Remington 870. Based on my experience I'd say your gun is probably the problem. I don't know though. It sounds like you probably shoot a lot more shells than I do.


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## Fowlmouth (Oct 4, 2008)

I am sure I will get different responses from different people but that's okay, I just want to see if there is a pattern with a specific shell that people are having problems with. Like I said in my original post, I already know 5 other people that have had the same problem using these shells with 5 different guns.


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## paddler (Jul 17, 2009)

No problems with B&P or Winchester Experts.


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## Hunter_17 (Mar 15, 2008)

My extreama 2 doesnt like Kenya but with a extra o ring in the gun it shoots anything I have.


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## shaun larsen (Aug 5, 2011)

Kents don't go bang every time I pull the trigger on my SBEII


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## TEX-O-BOB (Sep 12, 2007)

Unless you see a BIG dent in the primer and you still have a dud, it's your gun. I had an old Citory that didn't like certain shells. It also never left much of a dent in any shell I shot. Then it started not liking any shells. The dent it was making wasn't even big enough to leave a mark on some brands of shells. True th primer pocket can vary on different brands, but if your firing pin isn't smacking the primer HARD and leaving a BIG dent, it aint working right. I took it to my gunsmith and he put two new firing pin springs in it and the problem was solved. Now, that same gun practically punches a hole in the primer. It goes BANG every time now. Get your gun fixed. It aint the ammo.

I'll say this too. How many of you guys clean the firing pin when you clean your gun? Crud and gunk can cake up on it rendering it too fouled to hit the primer hard enough. :idea:


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## Critter (Mar 20, 2010)

I agree with Tex. A real good cleaning may be in order. If you don't want to disassemble the bolt get some carb or break cleaner and spray the snot out of it. Let it sit for a while and then do it a few more times. You might be surprised at what comes out of it.


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## Mojo1 (Sep 8, 2007)

The last box of Kents fast steel I have ever fired did that, I was shooting them out of my old Xtrema 2. I never have bought another box of them until I tried out those new all purpose loads Kent put out this year.

Tex is right, you need to clean your firing pin spring occasionally.


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## Fowlmouth (Oct 4, 2008)

I agree 100% with cleaning the gun, and I clean my guns every time after using them. I am not the only one having problems with this particular brand of shells, 5 of my friends have had the same issue using different guns. (Beretta, Browning, Benellis, Mossberg) I shoot lots of different shells and have not had issues with any other brand of shells. I shoot other shotgun shells made by this company with no problems, it's just one certain "model" of shell they make that doesn't work all the time for me.


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## Chaser (Sep 28, 2007)

I had a couple shells that didn't fire one day out of my Benelli. Small marks where the pin hit, but no bang. I disassembled it, observed the pin, thinking it might be dirty, and put it back together. The next time I shot it was at clays. Had the issue one more time, and realized it was because I was short-shucking it when I pumped, and not getting the slide all the way forward, and thus not allowing the pin to strike it hard enough to go off. Never had a problem since.


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## Guest (Dec 4, 2011)

winchesters work fine all time; remingtone is overpriced junk so don't buy that crap;


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## bearhntr (Oct 6, 2008)

My buddy has had a problem with Federal this year and he is shooting a SBEII. It is an older gun and I would think that his spring is needing to be replaced as he is jamming every once in a while. I would have the firing pin looked at and a new spring put in and I bet it goes bang.


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## paddler (Jul 17, 2009)

One other potential factor is the rim thickness on the hull. Fowlmouth, if the shells you're having problems with have a thin rim, your firing pin protrusion may not be enough for that particular shell. 

The firing pin spring should not be a problem unless it's so caked with grease and crud to restrict the forward motion of the pin. It's function is to retract the pin. Especially in cold weather, I'd clean the entire bolt assembly, and LIGHTLY oil it with light machine oil. Of note, I've never had a misfire in any of my double guns. My 11-87 had a couple issues when my buddy got crap in it while hunting out of a layout blind, but that wasn't the gun's fault.


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## ducksarmy (Jun 13, 2009)

first clean your gun I love how one week a guy will say how great his gun is and never cleans it and the next how it jams and it or the shells are the reason he cant shoot. clean your gun after every weekend and it wont let you down..the trick, spray out the action with rem shotgun cleaner and blow out with shop air ,then a little rem oil and you are done ...now your shell problem, I had a case of fed blue box 3 inch that would not cycle threw all three of our sbe2 so I sold them to a pump gunner and he loves them ..


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## utahgolf (Sep 8, 2007)

haven't had a problem with the cheap winchester stuff.


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## gonelkin (Jan 9, 2008)

+ 1 on the winchester xpert....have shot over a full case so far this season and bagged 70+ birds,Cheap works for me


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## Gaston (Dec 6, 2008)

Never had a Winchester Drylock fail ever! Had some Kents fail and some cheaper Remingtons.


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## kailey29us (May 26, 2011)

i have shot Kents and Xpert this year and no problems, come to think of it i dont think my Nova has ever had a misfire, misfeed or any other problem love this gun!!


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## dkhntrdstn (Sep 7, 2007)

I don't have any problems with the xperts. Shoot them and your number of birds will go up. You won't have any problem with them going off and then I won't have to shoot your limit as well as mine and then you can be cool like me.


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## Fowlmouth (Oct 4, 2008)

I'm surprised nobody has mentioned the particular brand and model of shell we are having problems with. I'm thinking maybe nobody else shoots these things. Okay, I'm going to tell you what they are and if you have had problems with these (like 5 of us have) please do tell. They are Remington Sportsmans 2 3/4" & 3" 
Most of them fire fine, it's just a couple in every box that don't. I shoot kents, winchester xperts, estates, remington nitros, federals, heavy shot, heavy metal and just about every other non-toxic shell made and have no problems. Only remington sportsmans have 5 of us had problems with.


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## GooseBuster!! (Nov 28, 2011)

sounds like the problem I was having with the winchester xp.


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## 357bob (Sep 30, 2007)

This is the first year I can remember having more than one shell fail to fire, most years I have none, but I shoot mainly reloads. This year I have been stuck with store bought and most of those have been Winchester XP's. I have had at least 6 fails out of the 11 boxes I have shot so far. I shoot a Citori that's 5 years old and have not had a misfire in that gun with any other shell. My 835 Mossberg has been the culprit the few other times. I'm thinking it's time to get the reloader back in action.


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## gooseblaster (Sep 2, 2009)

I was having the same. Pull the rigger, click and no bang. It started with Kents and then basically everything else. Really frustrating. Like others have said clean you entire action. The high pressure spray like stuff is the best to use. It breaks up all the gunk and then you are golden. I now clean my gun after every 100 shells. i used tho think that my gun was invincible......but it isn't. It works perfectly every time i shoot now.


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## Gee LeDouche (Sep 21, 2007)

I usta have problems with those Xperts, but not becuase they wouldnt fire but becuase they would jam in my gun after being fired. I chalked it up to the brass expanding to much in my chamber and making it extremely difficult to eject. I fixed this problem by putting a 12ga wire brush on a drill and wrapping the brush with some steel wool and scrubbing the chamber of the barrel out REALLY well and it worked great. 

I also had a friend who was shooting Xperts out of his mossberg 835 last year when we were in single digits and the hammer froze up on him. (Not the shells fault!) We had a pair of hooded merganzers nearly land in our decoys, I hopped up and dropped the drake, he hopped up and instantly started cussing cuz his gun wouldnt fire. The hen even circled around for an even closer look but it was off to my buddies side and all he could do was look at it. :/


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## Hunter_17 (Mar 15, 2008)

Here is what fixed my problem with light hits out of my extreama 2, Havent had a problem since I glued the ring in.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2FQhPMjX ... re=related

As far as shells go, I dont care how cheap the xperts are ILL NEVER SHOOT ONE EVER AGAIN, I have seen three barrels get blown up while shooting them, not saying it was the shells that blewn it up, but I know there was not anything in the barrel before the shot, we are thinking the wad got stuck in the barrel from the last shell.

I personally have had a wad get stuck while shooting xperts. I was out hunting ducks came in I shot once it sounded really really funny so I didnt shoot again took my gun apart and look down the barrel and about 3/4 the way through the wad was stuck in. I had to take a metal rod from the cleaning kit and a hammer to it, to get it out. These shells were brand new bought the night before the hunt, not wet or anything. That was the last shell of xpert I shot. I cut open many other shells including the remaining box and brands I measured the wad with caliapers and the wad was anywhere from .025 to .031 bigger from what I found. I tried calling and email winschester about the complaint but have not been returned or contacted.

If you get bored one day in the marsh or at home get a knife and cut open a xpert shell you will be amazed to see the "BB's" In the shells, they are oval, flat, egged shape, 2-3 stuck together, pits in them, and I have even seen bb's with holes right through them.

They are crapxperts IMO.


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## 357bob (Sep 30, 2007)

Hunter_17 said:


> If you get bored one day in the marsh or at home get a knife and cut open a xpert shell you will be amazed to see the "BB's" In the shells, they are oval, flat, egged shape, 2-3 stuck together, pits in them, and I have even seen bb's with holes right through them.
> 
> They are crapxperts IMO.


I did this one day last week and was amazed at the variation in pellets. Aside from the deformities and odd shapes, there was quite a size discrepancy. I haven't measured the yet but some look to be as big as BB and the shell were #2. Another thing I found odd was the powder, it was caked together, and not lightly. Maybe this is common in shotshells but it seemed odd to me.


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## Gaston (Dec 6, 2008)

The "cheaper" Remingtons I talked about were the Sportsman loads. Same thing, it was only one or two loads in the box that would'nt shoot. That was last season.


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## xxxxxxBirdDogger (Mar 7, 2008)

In the past couple of years, I have had several Estate shells not fire when I pulled the trigger. I made the mistake of buying a bunch of boxes one day when they were on sale and now I don't even want to hunt with them. Remingtons have always worked great for me. I've never used the Remington Sportsmen, though. I use the Remington Nitro shells and I have a lot of confidence in them.


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## Gaston (Dec 6, 2008)

I agree, Nitros are good shells.


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## Gee LeDouche (Sep 21, 2007)

I cant remember for sure, but I think it was winchester Xperts blew up a good friends Benelli Nova. He ended up contacting the company and threatening legal action and they ended up sending him money for a new Nova and a case of shells to say "sorry, but dont sue us!" He's lucky he walked away from that accident.


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