Another weird fiasco...

[nuadixion]

I went bear hunting this past weekend. Covered lots of ground with not much to report. At the very last light I was tracking through the timber . All of a sudden I am face to face with a massive boar. He is roughly 20 ft from me and we are having staring contest. I take aim at his chest -squeeze -nothing...look down- bolt is half open -I close the bolt - squeeze - nothing again WTF!!!... I reload - at the same time he takes two steps between the trees and is gone like a fart in the wind. I don't know wtf happened...when I reloaded, the bullet came out. I examined the bullet - it didn't have the pin mark. I guess it wasn't meant to be. . Another hard learned lesson. @#$%!!When attempting close combat ALWAYS make sure everything is in tip top shape
p.s.
I did fire the rifle earlier in the day for aim test purposes and tested the rifle afterwards...no issues to report.

[ACE]

​What make of rifle?

[Gateholio]

Sounds like your rifle wasn’t cocked.

[nuadixion]

​What make of rifle?
It was Mossberg4x4 30-06 with Nightforce SHV 4x12. Made some great shots with in last decade and a half...never had issue with it.

[stoneramhunter]

I went bear hunting this past weekend. Covered lots of ground with not much to report. At the very last light I was tracking through the timber . All of a sudden I am face to face with a massive boar. He is roughly 20 ft from me and we are having staring contest. I take aim at his chest -squeeze -nothing...look down- bolt is half open -I close the bolt - squeeze - nothing again WTF!!!... I reload - at the same time he takes two steps between the trees and is gone like a fart in the wind. I don't know wtf happened...when I reloaded, the bullet came out. I examined the bullet - it didn't have the pin mark. I guess it wasn't meant to be. . Another hard learned lesson. @#$%!!When attempting close combat ALWAYS make sure everything is in tip top shape
p.s.
I did fire the rifle earlier in the day for aim test purposes and tested the rifle afterwards...no issues to report.

Question- Did yo

[KootenayKiller]

I am by no means a firearms expert... by last year I slipped down a steep embankment with my 270 without having the barrel taped up. Got a bunch of silt in the barrel. I cleaned out the barrel, but was subsequently having issues with the gun not firing. Took it apart, cleaned the internal mechanisms, put it back together and it works better than ever now. I debated taking it into a gunsmith, but was able to figure it out.

[wideopenthrottle]

if your bolt was partly closed, pulling the trigger may have just caused the bolt to finish closing absorbing the spring energy enough to prevent the pin from striking hard enough...

[HappyJack]

I'd think if you were loaded and on safety the bolt shouldn't be able to open? Does the gun have a 3 way safety?

[high horse Hal]

Everyone has a plan til they get punched in the face

Funny what can go on in the heat of the moment

[caddisguy]

Wow I can only guess what happened there. Maybe bushwhacking the bolt found it's way out and in the heat of the moment wasn't fully inserted.

Did you hear a distinct "CLICK" when you pulled the trigger? Or was it loosey goosey?

Tell ya a story just so you don't feel as robbed (even though you were there's no denying that) ... my very FIRST attempt at hunting bear, 2014 ... in fact, my first DAY hunting bear, I was sitting in a little grassy meadow on a stump. Not too much going on then suddenly I hear something crashing through the timber towards the meadow. Holy crap I'm thinking.... this is actually happening. The bear comes out in the meadow. I'm taking my time for a good shot, then had to dial down my scope because it was about 7 yards from us at this point (my wife is sitting on the same stump) .... okay now I can see what I'm shooting at and about to send off the double lung shot. I squeeze the trigger... CLICK (the quietest loudest sound I've ever heard) ... so I'm thinking uh oh... gun safety... what if it's a hangfire... bear safety... am I going to get worked over? The bear paused when the CLICK happened, then after pausing for about 1-2 seconds (I estimate anyway.... everything is in slow motion for me) then literally jumps and does a 180, mach 5 warp speed whatever I hear it crashing through the timber the way it came from... figure he was a mile away before I stopped hearing the odd branch echoing.

That was also June 15th... the LAST day of hunting for Region 2. Sure I could have poked into R3 for another couple weeks, but I didn't... so I had to wait until the next season to see if I could make these kind of opportunities a repeatable process... or was it just a fluke?

Turned out to be a repeatable process, but I sure thought about that whole thing and replayed it in my mind a ton for the next 10 month or so :D

Anyway, my cartridge was a dud. I tried to shoot it several times with 3 different rifles (unless I'm thinking of another Winchester dud... I could be... had 3 I think... huh, now I'm second guessing this part, maybe I got it to go off eventually?) Had a normal dent from the firing pin. Got a pic of that somewhere. Anyway thanks Winchester (that said I still use them sometimes LOL... they work most of the time and only screwed me once when it counted)

[HarryToolips]

Have you tried shooting it since then?

[nuadixion]

Have you tried shooting it since then?

Yes, of course I did - no problems; tested different scenarios, etc. All cases of failure suggested in previous comments are plausible. Bottom line is - sheet happens and it's good to be aware of smallest incidents to avoid large failures.

[northof49]

You didn’t mention if you heard the firing pin drop (click) after you closed the bolt and squeezed…you just said nothing happened?

I believe it’s a 2 position safety and the bolt on those will cycle when on safe which is a disadvantage bush whacking as you have discovered.

Is it possible when it didn’t fire at first….you closed the bolt but then in the heat of moment simply forgot to push the safety off. Because you can cycle with safety on that would explain why the ejected round had no indent. If it went click…then different issue all-together.

[nuadixion]

You didn’t mention if you heard the firing pin drop (click) after you closed the bolt and squeezed…you just said nothing happened?

I believe it’s a 2 position safety and the bolt on those will cycle when on safe which is a disadvantage bush whacking as you have discovered.

Is it possible when it didn’t fire at first….you closed the bolt but then in the heat of moment simply forgot to push the safety off. Because you can cycle with safety on that would explain why the ejected round had no indent. If it went click…then different issue all-together.

There was no "click" after closing the bolt and squeezing the trigger ....I clearly noticed that - but I did not check the safety....just quickly reloaded. I will test hat scenario next time I am in the bush.

[northof49]

There was no "click" after closing the bolt and squeezing the trigger ....I clearly noticed that - but I did not check the safety....just quickly reloaded. I will test hat scenario next time I am in the bush.

More than likely what happened. That said, if it were me I would disassemble the bolt anyhow and pull the shroud/pin/spring assembly and clean it thoroughly and inspect well to ensure no burrs or filings in there or excessive grease. This will give you peace of mind regardless.

Then once you got it sorted, sell it and pick up a Tikka T3x. If you like to be able cycle on safe for unloading consider something like a m70 with a 3-position safety. Just my 2 bits.

[nuadixion]

More than likely what happened. That said, if it were me I would disassemble the bolt anyhow and pull the shroud/pin/spring assembly and clean it thoroughly and inspect well to ensure no burrs or filings in there or excessive grease. This will give you peace of mind regardless.

Then once you got it sorted, sell it and pick up a Tikka T3x. If you like to be able cycle on safe for unloading consider something like a m70 with a 3-position safety. Just my 2 bits.
I do have a tikka t3 as a primary rifle, but occasionally take the "back up " one for a walk....But will examine that bolt little closer. Thanks for the advise.