i have a savage 944 12 gauge single shot and sometimes it dont shoot does anyone know what the problem could be it looks like the firing pin is hitting the primer good but sometimes it dont shoot and i put the shell in my other shotgun and it will shot in it so what could be the problem.

Well wlf,

I think that you can rule out the shells being the problem. If you can put the unfired shells in another shotgun and they will fire, this means that your savage single shot is the problem.

I would have to assume and say that even though your firing pin is hitting the primer, chances are the firing pin is probally weak.

After all, when the primer is struck and ignition occurs, it will ignite the gunpowder causing the bullet to exit your barrel.

If it was bad primers......the shells wouldn't fire out of any gun.
If it was bad powder...... the shells wouldn't fire out of any gun also.

Your problem is that the firing pin is not getting a good enough hit on your primers.....this is probally due to a weak firing pin or a chambering problem.......but I doubt the problem lies in the chamber.

here's a link that might help you,.... but if you dont think you can do this yourself, you should let a competent gunsmith check it out.


http://www.brownells.com/aspx/ns/store/productdetail.aspx?p=16336

Agreed, it sounds like a weak firing pin. Make sure everything is clean and there is not too much grease or oil and the firing pin is capable to strike the primers with full strength.

Tell me what a weak fireing pin is please, Ive been a gunsmith for some time now, I would like to know for the future so I can diagnose weak fireing pins. " Yes Im being a SMART-BUT"!!!. A broken fireing pin, a worn fireing pinor a corroded fireing pin could be the culprit, but it is just the device to relay themass of the hammer made by the mainspring to the primer of the shell. So it might have a weak mainspring also, and yes it can have chamber issues, if the pivot pin is worn enough it could have excesive breach space, thus when fired the fireing pin could run out of forward momentum causing a light strike due to the shell being too far away. My sugjestion would be to take it to your local gunsmith and have it checked out and remember these are a cheap shotgun, due to cost it might not be worth fixing if it is excesive breach, fireing pin or spring issues wont be all that bad.

As the original post says "the pin is hitting the primer but it does not ignite". Thst means there is not enough energy transmitted by the pin to the primer, hence the 'weak pin'. Devil dog pointed out all sorts of good reason why this could happen.