Out-of-battery discharges in Marlin 795s

[FiremanBob]

At this weekend's shoot in Montpelier, VA we saw two OOBs (out-of-battery discharges) in two different Marlin 795 rifles. One of them resulted in a squib with the bullet lodged in the barrel. The student followed his Safety Briefing instruction well and immediately ceased fire, and there were no injuries nor damage to his rifle. In the second case, the bullet did exit the barrel, but the case head was nearly blown off.

In both cases, the cause of the OOB was a dirty chamber that prevented the round from seating fully. Because the Marlin's firing pin is in the bottom of the bolt, the hammer was able to strike the pin and drive it into the case rim.

If you own or use a Marlin 795 or similar semiauto Marlin (including the model 60), be sure to keep the chamber scrupulously clean and check to make sure that your rounds are seating fully in the chamber, with the rim firmly set against the breechface of the barrel.

[Rocket Man]

Good warning.

At our Saturday event my Marlin 70 loaner was on the line -- and its recoil spring finally gave up, meaning a very inconsistent return to battery and multiple fail-to-fire.  The design of the Marlin 60/70/795 bolt is such that the hammer can't quite rotate to strike the firing pin unless the bolt is closed, but it's not perfect.  A couple of his fail-to-fires had very light indentations...  so we deadlined that rifle.  Any time you're getting light strikes, watch for this!

[DanT]

Because the Marlin's firing pin is in the bottom of the bolt, the hammer was able to strike the pin and drive it into the case rim.

Would that not be true regardless of where the firing pin was located?  Please help me understand how the location/orientation of the firing pin affects this situation.

Thanks!

[FiremanBob]

Dan, I wrote a fuller explanation, with photos, here: https://1022companion.wordpress.com/2016/09/12/another-reason-i-prefer-the-1022/.

In contrast to the Marlin, the Ruger 10/22 has the firing pin in the top of the bolt. If the bolt isn't fully closed, the lower rear edge of the bolt stops the hammer from hitting the firing pin.

[Kennebago]

Bah! Beaten by Bob while I was hunting and pecking out a reply on my phone.

I would imagine you'd have to get the rifle pretty stinkin' dirty for this to be an issue because there should be a fair amount of room built into the receiver to account for it, but I am looking at a schematic and not at an actual 795. I may be visualizing it wrong in my pea brain and it's been a while since I handled one.

[DanT]

Dan, I wrote a fuller explanation, with photos, ...

Ahhh... it's a math thing -- WORD = PICTURE x .001

Thanks Bob, now it makes sense.

[Engineer shooting]

I've witnessed OOB firing and squib from M&P 15/22's twice but never from a 10/22