Remington 783 problem

[Carryacolt]

During my load development on my sons new rifle, I shot fifty rounds of once fired brass. Then loaded five rounds for him to use opening day of deer season. He had a shot at a good buck, but the rifle didn't fire, only went "click". A second and third round did the same. Back home, I tried all five and none fired.
He was talking about it with a friend who had the same rifle, a Remington 783, and he had the same problem.
He said to back off the tourque on the front and second bolts on the action to half of recommended tourque listed. I thought he was giving my son a sham, but I tried it.
I've been reloading for over sixty years and have had maybe, maybe, one miss fire, so I "knew" this was a lost dog.
Well, it worked !!!!!

All that to ask the question, "is this a problem for this particular rifle or has Remington had it with others also"?

 

[Ggmac]

Ive played alot with these and have never had a situation or fix like you described. I do know the firing pin tip is adjustable and can get loose and change tip protrusion .

 

[Dusty Stevens]

Sounds as if the bedding is horrible. If you can torque action screws down and bend the action enough to not fire thats some terrible bedding.

 

[Twdmar]

Could it be that the action screw pushes on the bolt head and that pushes the channel for the firing pin out of alignment? Then the firing pin binds in the bolt head and doesn't either protrude far enough or does not have enough force to ignite the primers.

 

[Dusty Stevens]

Could it be that the action screw pushes on the bolt head and that pushes the channel for the firing pin out of alignment? Then the firing pin binds in the bolt head and doesn't either protrude far enough or does not have enough force to ignite the primers.


a sharpie on the end of the screws would tell the tale

 

[Carryacolt]

Sounds as if the bedding is horrible. If you can torque action screws down and bend the action enough to not fire thats some terrible bedding.

That's my thoughts too. It's a plastic stock and I've read where Remington designed this particular model for a low cost, entry level rifle. But, 99% of the engineering was on the action and barrel, the last one persent went to the stock. It's all plastic and quite bad.
All other owners that liked and kept the rifle, bought an aftermarket stock which they all claimed, it made an average shooter a great shooter.
Has anyone heard or know of others having this problem (tourque settings) with other model 783's ??

 

[Carryacolt]

Could it be that the action screw pushes on the bolt head and that pushes the channel for the firing pin out of alignment? Then the firing pin binds in the bolt head and doesn't either protrude far enough or does not have enough force to ignite the primers.

Could it be that the action screw pushes on the bolt head and that pushes the channel for the firing pin out of alignment? Then the firing pin binds in the bolt head and doesn't either protrude far enough or does not have enough force to ignite the primers.


a sharpie on the end of the screws would tell the tale

So if I understand you correctly, the bolt could be just a "tad" long?
That could very well be the problem.
It will be a few days but I will check that as soon as I can. Thank you so much for that.

 

[Twdmar]

The floating bolt head could tilt just a bit if the action screw is too long. The 783 seems like a fairly stiff action, I can't imagine it flexes that much to misfire. But I could be wrong too. I think the rear screw isn't close enough to interfere with the firing pin

 

[Ggmac]

That's my thoughts too. It's a plastic stock and I've read where Remington designed this particular model for a low cost, entry level rifle. But, 99% of the engineering was on the action and barrel, the last one persent went to the stock. It's all plastic and quite bad.
All other owners that liked and kept the rifle, bought an aftermarket stock which they all claimed, it made an average shooter a great shooter.
Has anyone heard or know of others having this problem (tourque settings) with other model 783's ??

Its actually a marlin design BUT Remington changed it fron a blind magazine to a magazine . Thereby changing the screw locations . The stock has a pretty good pillars and recoil plate ( plastic stock ) ive never purchased a 783 with a wood stock or heavy barrel , that i see they recently offered

 

[Ggmac]

That's my thoughts too. It's a plastic stock and I've read where Remington designed this particular model for a low cost, entry level rifle. But, 99% of the engineering was on the action and barrel, the last one persent went to the stock. It's all plastic and quite bad.
All other owners that liked and kept the rifle, bought an aftermarket stock which they all claimed, it made an average shooter a great shooter.
Has anyone heard or know of others having this problem (tourque settings) with other model 783's ??

Is this a aftermarket stock ? Is the steel recoil plate still in the plastic stock ? It can fall out if not careful ?
the action is very stiff and it has shorter firing pin fall than a 700 .

 

[hoz53]

The floating bolt head could tilt just a bit if the action screw is too long. The 783 seems like a fairly stiff action, I can't imagine it flexes that much to misfire. But I could be wrong too. I think the rear screw isn't close enough to interfere with the firing pin

It seems like my 783 only has a front and rear guard screw. Ill check—. Ive never shot it with the original stock.

 

[msinc]

Sounds as if the bedding is horrible. If you can torque action screws down and bend the action enough to not fire thats some terrible bedding.

I have another way of saying it....if the plastic stock and epoxy bedding bend the steel action to the point it no longer works...that's some terrible action!!!!!

 

[hoz53]

I have another way of saying it....if the plastic stock and epoxy bedding bend the steel action to the point it no longer works...that's some terrible action!!!!!

Yeah that’s true— The 783 I have seems as stiff and as good a quality as a 700 though. Coarse I have no test equipment to verify this. If anything the plastic is bending in this case.

 

[Carryacolt]

During my load development on my sons new rifle, I shot fifty rounds of once fired brass. Then loaded five rounds for him to use opening day of deer season. He had a shot at a good buck, but the rifle didn't fire, only went "click". A second and third round did the same. Back home, I tried all five and none fired.
He was talking about it with a friend who had the same rifle, a Remington 783, and he had the same problem.
He said to back off the tourque on the front and second bolts on the action to half of recommended tourque listed. I thought he was giving my son a sham, but I tried it.
I've been reloading for over sixty years and have had maybe, maybe, one miss fire, so I "knew" this was a lost dog.
Well, it worked !!!!!

All that to ask the question, "is this a problem for this particular rifle or has Remington had it with others also"?

Update: clarification needed.
The two bolts I'm talking about, are the two bolts holding the action and bottom metal together. Keeping the tourque lower than stated, does allow the gun to fire.

 

[Twdmar]

Update: clarification needed.
The two bolts I'm talking about, are the two bolts holding the action and bottom metal together. Keeping the tourque lower than stated, does allow the gun to fire.

What if you take a shorter screw and try to use the higher torque

 

[Riesel]

What kind of torque are we putting on those screws? Did somebody take it out of the action between
Load development and deer season? You get down hard on those action screws in one of those plastic
stocks you'll compress that plastic. You will do that before you start bending that action. I would say
that I'm on board with the action screws "now" being a bit too long. Might try to slip in a bedding job between
deer hunts if you got a big enough window.

 

[Knotwild]

Sometimes it is easy hard to logically understand a problem because the information we are taking in clouds and complicates what is going on. The rear action bolt goes through a cheap plastic trigger guard that would crush if torqued too much. Mine did after 2 or 3 removals and reinstalls. The 783 action is substantial, so I seriously doubt you could bend the action enough to bend the bolt enough to warp the firing pin channel enough to bind the firing pin. And yes, the action screws can go too far into the action. When putting together a rear action screw fix, mine protruded enough to bind the bolt. But I can't remember if the front bolt could actually push on the bolt.

You didn't mention what the firing pin strikes looked like. Is it possible that the safety is involved by the cheap stock flexing enough that it doesn't allow the safety to completely release?

For what it's worth. Here is some info I got from a post by Deadshot 2 on 700rifle.com

Just to make sure, have you de-cocked the firing pin with the bolt removed. After re-assembling the bolt, just turn the cocking piece so the firing pin is released. Then check the protrusion of the firing pin where it sticks out of the bolt face. It should stick out about the same as the thickness of a dime. (dime =.050" F/P protrusion =.052")

If this isn't happening then you have a firing pin problem, either an obstruction in the bolt where the firing pin hits when fully forward, a weak or broken spring, or something on the cocking piece that's preventing the pin from going fully forward. Check the base of the ramp on the bolt body where the cocking piece rests after fired. There should be a clear gap when the firing pin is in the fired position.

 

[Carryacolt]

I have another way of saying it....if the plastic stock and epoxy bedding bend the steel action to the point it no longer works...that's some terrible action!!!!

What if you take a shorter screw and try to use the higher tourque

What kind of torque are we putting on those screws? Did somebody take it out of the action between
Load development and deer season? You get down hard on those action screws in one of those plastic
stocks you'll compress that plastic. You will do that before you start bending that action. I would say
that I'm on board with the actions "now" being a bit too long. Might try to slip in a bedding job between
deer hunts if you got a big enough window.

I tourqued according to specs in the Remington 783 manual.

 

[hoz53]

I tourqued according to specs in the Remington 783 manual.

is your stock the factory stock and does it have the pillars in it? Try over torquing one screw at a time to see if you can figure out if its one or the other causing this and which one. Just about gotta be the stock causing this- mabie that plastic trigger guard.

 

[Carryacolt]

is your stock the factory stock and does it have the pillars in it? Try over torquing one screw at a time to see if you can figure out if its one or the other causing this and which one. Just about gotta be the stock causing this- mabie that plastic trigger guard.

Yes it has pillars installed. I just discovered that with the two stock screws removed, the action will "rock" up and down in the stock, at the front pillar. The action does not lay flat in the stock. When the stock screws are tightened down, I can feel the barrel spring up or down depending on which one is being tightened.
Are the pillars adjustable or are they permanent in the stock?