Czech VZ24

I took several Mausers to the range yesterday. Among them was a Czechoslavakian VZ24. Of all the rifles, it was the only one that had failures to fire. Using the same ammo in all of the rifles, it failed 4 of 5 times to fire on the first firing pin strike, but fired on the second with all rounds. After the first failure, I looked at the primer, and though the strike appeared less deep than some of the others, it really didn't look all that light. I'm pretty sure I headspaced all my Mausers, but I will check this one to be sure. The internals of the bolt are not caked with grease, and I have looked at the firing pin, and there is nothing obviously wrong with it, so I'm thinking a weak spring. Any other thoughts? TIA.

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Originally Posted by Brad in Idaho

I took several Mausers to the range yesterday. Among them was a Czechoslavakian VZ24. Of all the rifles, it was the only one that had failures to fire. Using the same ammo in all of the rifles, it failed 4 of 5 times to fire on the first firing pin strike, but fired on the second with all rounds. After the first failure, I looked at the primer, and though the strike appeared less deep than some of the others, it really didn't look all that light. I'm pretty sure I headspaced all my Mausers, but I will check this one to be sure. The internals of the bolt are not caked with grease, and I have looked at the firing pin, and there is nothing obviously wrong with it, so I'm thinking a weak spring. Any other thoughts? TIA.

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Had the same problem when the $75 Turk M38's were all the rage 10 years ago. Replaced the firing pin springs with Wolf brand springs (the standard GI poundage) and NEVER had a problem since. All of the supposedly "dud" Turk ammo that I hauled back from the range to salvage the bullets and powder went off just fine after the new springs were installed. Of course, firing pin protrusion and headspace could also be a factor.