hit on primer. NO BANG?

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lockoutmonkey

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I have a new Charter off-duty .38 and when I shot some black hills ammo, I had a few that went click, but no bang. Why is this? The primer was marked, but no bang. I tried to fire it 3 or 4 times.
When my dad put them in his blackhawk they worked just fine?
 

Glocktogo

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Possibly a light hit? When the primer strike is light, sometimes they will light on the second strike, sometimes not.

To check you can take a common Bic ink pen, make sure the gun is empty, cock the hammer and drop the pen in the barrel and chamber. Then point it towards the ceiling and dry fire it. The pen should come close to hitting the ceiling from a seated position. If it barely comes out of the barrel, it isn't hitting with enough force, or the pin protrusion from the recoil shield isn't enough. Check the tip of the firing pin for damage. If all else fails, try other ammo or fire that ammo in a different gun to see if it's the ammo.

Federal ammo has the softest primers if that's an issue with your gun, but if it were me and the gun was the issue, I'd send it back.
 

LightningCrash

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Possibly a light hit? When the primer strike is light, sometimes they will light on the second strike, sometimes not.

To check you can take a common Bic ink pen, make sure the gun is empty, cock the hammer and drop the pen in the barrel and chamber. Then point it towards the ceiling and dry fire it. The pen should come close to hitting the ceiling from a seated position. If it barely comes out of the barrel, it isn't hitting with enough force, or the pin protrusion from the recoil shield isn't enough. Check the tip of the firing pin for damage. If all else fails, try other ammo or fire that ammo in a different gun to see if it's the ammo.

I once did the "shooting the pen" thing with my Witness... It bounced off the wall, off the ceiling, and whizzed right by my head. Surprised the bejesus out of me.
From standing, aimed flat, it would send it out about 15 feet.

Amazing! I guess if I run out of ammo I could always put somebody's eye out.
 

Glocktogo

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DAO. Do I try this in the same manner? unload, drop pen in, point at ceiling, fire, see where pen is?
If this is correct, I'll try this tonight.

For a DAO, you have to stage the trigger where the empty cylinder advances and locks up, but before the hammer falls. Then drop the pen in the barrel & cylinder and complete pulling the trigger.

On some DA/SA guns, the firing pin strike can vary greatly between the two modes.
 

ez bake

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I've never heard of any issues with black hills ammo, so my first thought is to check the gun first, but everybody has a bad run of stuff.

You can also take the ammo and shoot some of it in another gun of the same caliber and see if the primer strikes are as deep into the primer as they are in your Charter.

This should prove two things - 1.) that its not the ammo (or is) and 2.) that it is or isn't your gun (depending on primer strike comparison).
 

Glocktogo

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I once did the "shooting the pen" thing with my Witness... It bounced off the wall, off the ceiling, and whizzed right by my head. Surprised the bejesus out of me.
From standing, aimed flat, it would send it out about 15 feet.

Amazing! I guess if I run out of ammo I could always put somebody's eye out.

You gotta love a solid primer strike! :)
 

mr ed

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Did you buy the gun "Brand New"?
if yes, has anybody worked on it?
If the gun is DAO or misfires only in DA but works in SA, its most likely
the mainspring.
The hammer does not come back as far in DA and therefore needs more spring power than when fired in SA.
it could be something as simple as the wrong spring was in the parts bin when assembled.
if bought used or you had it worked on- somebody's poor action job
 

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