I have a Remington 700 custom, Timney trigger. Never had this problem until this year, but this is the gun that had a severe impact due to a SxS wreck. Had to replace base, rings, scope....

Pics below. Two on the left did not fire, the one one the right did fire. Factory Winchester Ballistic Tip 7mm-08 ammo. Thoughts on what the issue is? Firing pin spring? Replace trigger? I have had about 5-6 rounds fail to fire, so I don't think it's the ammo.

Thanks

I’d try the non-fired ones again. Then try a different brand of ammo and see if the problem is consistent. It really looks like the primers weren’t seated to me, but who knows.

If that works, I’d say it’s an isolated ammo issue.

If it doesn’t work, clean the firing pin channel and potentially look for a longer firing pin.

I'm with Tactical Cowboy on this. Do the cheap simple stuff first. Clean out the bolt and chamber. Try different ammo. My first thought was also that the primers may not be fully seated though rare in factory ammo.

It sounds silly but you might want to check the headspacing on the rifle. It could explain your ignition problem if your barrel moved in the receiver when it took the whack. But only do this if nothing else seems to be wrong.

Whatever the case, something is eating up the energy the firing pin needs to ignite the primers.

Start easy
1). Replace firing pin spring with new Wolf spring $15
2) use caliper and shoulder bump gage and measure the fired cases (base of case to shoulder) and compare to measurement of cartridges that wouldn’t fire (light strike)

Shoulder on Factory ammo may be excessively “short” for your rifle’s chamber. The light primer strike would result from cartridge getting pushed Forward into the chamber as compared to proper spaced shoulder would index off chamber hold cartridge in place to receive full impact of firing pin strike to primer.

Always good idea to periodically replace spring.

6 rounds of the same ammo?

If so, try different ammo next. I can believe ammo Q.C. having gone down hill due to such high demand the last two years.

You may have done this but if not

I would pull the firing pin and spring and inspect it if you haven’t already. Often the problem is evident.

Any chance the bolt handle got whacked in the crash? I would tear it all the way down and check the bolt for run out.

Inspect the lugs for damage or new wear.

These are free inspections you can do yourself at the kitchen table one evening.

Is this firing pin a factory stock unit?

I ask because I have a tubbs speed lock in one of mine and the firing pin protrusion is less than a stock unit and will only light off cci primers the Winchester wlr and the Remington primers it will not light off and will produce results like your picture.

I have seen Jewel triggers fail to fire a whole lot. Not Timney, but of course it is possible.

And I have seen greased firing pin springs collect enough debris that they wouldn't fire.

A fellow competitive shooter, who is very good at it, had both things happening to him. We are almost a mile from a truck or a building. We threw down a shooting mat, three of us grabbed tools out of our packs. We disassembled his bolt, cleaned off the grease, drove the Jewel trigger out, cleaned it with lighter fluid, and got his rifle back together. He shot another day and a half, for another 250 rounds without a fail to fire. Hand loads made by him of course.

What he said.

I'm not sure. I'm assuming so since it is a factory Rem 700 action.

I'll see if I can clean out the chamber and bolt and clean out the firing pin and spring. Gonna have to watch a Youtube to see how it's done.

I followed the suggested method of using a shoe string to release spring tension on the bolt cap so that you can field strip the firing pin and spring assembly for inspection and cleaning. Takes some effort but very easy other than that. As was noted earlier, field stripping is likely to uncover the issue.

Grab the cocking piece with your key ring as it rotates around to the notch, to make it clear. Pull hard to get it out of the notch, and keep rotating.

Is all the ammo that didn't fire from the same box?

Did you test it with different ammo?

I made a tool for this about 25 years ago..
pretty easy..

After a second look it appears the primers on the two that failed appear to be seated a bit deeper than the one on the far right that did fire.

The ammo is in those plastic ammo boxes, so I'm not sure if from the exact same box. This is the only ammo I've ever used in this rifle since it typically shoots very well with it. Haven't ever needed to try anything different. I do have some other brands I can try next time I'm at the range. I'll get it all cleaned out and try to re-shoot the rounds that didn't fire off.

The second picture definitely shows a difference in primer seating, quite a bit of difference.

Does it? Not being smart at all. The one on the right fired. That primer will have been pushed back to the bolt face.

I am not quite sure what the issue is. I tend to think there is an issue with the bolt/firing pin myself looking at the strikes. Below is the OP's pic I doctored to point out what they are saying about the primers...which I can also buy.

I completely agree that the one on right is not as deep. My point was that after firing the primer is pushed back. Not as deep. One of the signs of high pressure is a flat primer. That’s from being pushed too hard against the bolt face, or action in a pistol. You can seat it as deep as you want, if you fire it will be flush with the brass.

I have many 45 Colt plinking rounds that don’t meet this theory. They’re low enough pressure that it doesn’t move the primer. That’s an exception though, not the rule.

If all three primers were initially seated at the same depth, was the deeper strike on the primer to the far right caused by the primer being pushed back against the firing pin by chamber pressure, or was it caused by a deeper strike from the firing pin?

It would appear close inspection of the remaining, unused rounds would show any differences in primer seating depth.

It’s got to have some debris or something built up on the inside of the bolt causing your issue.
I’d take it apart and blow it out with brake cleaner and wipe the firing pin and spring down.

If you need help or tools I have everything to take it completely apart.

Hopefully Doc will eventually update us. Inquiring minds want to know.

Yes, I'll post back up when I get it cleaned out and try again. Might be a bit since I likely won't get back to the range for a couple weeks, unless I have a chance while I'm hunting.

On a another note, something I just thought of......I only run this gun suppressed, would shooting suppressed have any effect on the firing pin or spring? Would that backpressure push debris back into the bolt?

I don't see any issue with the primer depths. Something else is going on.

Suppressor should not have any effect on firing pin or spring.

No....back-pressure (in a bolt gun) can not push debris back into the bolt. The case expands in the chamber sealing it off and all gases are going forward. If it were a semi-auto like an AR (direct impingement) that would be different. They basically 'poop where they feed' with each shot.