Finnwolf VL63 Finnwolf VL63 308 early model- will not fire

[locknloadnow]

ok I got my long awaited Sako Finnwolf last week, and finally got a scope mounted on it, so I can aim it, and went to sight it in today. The firing pin falls down with a very weak sounding "click" and it doesn't dent the primers enough to fire the cartridge.

Here's pictures of the cartridges.

What's wrong ?

Where can I get new firing pin spring and/or firing pin, if that's the issue ?

Intuition tells me it's probably just firing pin spring ?

See pictures

 

[misako50]

Lock and Load- You're intuition is dead on. Those springs compress over time if the rifle is left in cocked position for lengthy periods. The springs are not too hard to replace( not real easy either) but they should be matched up correctly if you completly replace the spring. A long time member that isn't on here anymore said that a ruger pistol spring can be used for replacement. I can't tell you which spring but he got help from the Wolfe spring co. I have a spare that I can take pictures of and give you specifics. I would start by taking it to a good qualified smith. In the meantime, I will do some searching around for you.

 

[enotstehw]

lock

I'd try a box of Federals. I had a similar problem with a drilling.

 

[locknloadnow]

I narrowed it down to the hammer spring. These guns have a hammer that swings on a pin and hits the back of the firing pin, similar to the Remington 760 pump and 740 semi auto. Looks like the gun was left cocked and stored for a long time. The hammer spring comes out easy from the bottom of the gun, with lever open, just compress the plunger and out falls the spring and plunger. It's held in place by the nose of the plunger seating in a hole in the lever assembly. I removed the spring, stretched it, and put it back in. Removing the clip, the hammer hitting the back of firing pin is visible. Could see visually that the firing pin was not dropping its full travel at first. After stretching spring it dropped further but still not all the way. Stretched the spring again, and now it drops all the way most of the time, but hangs up ever so slightly about 1 out of 10 pulls.

Any common hardward spring that would fit over the hammer pin guide, and plunger tube, would work. It's an easy fix, but it is tricky to get in/out of there, like brain surgery. It's a tweezer job- needlenose pliers job.

Will return to range and see if it fires today.

 

[misako50]

Lock and Load- Sounds like you are the perfect person to own a Finnwolf. Your explanation was easy to understand and I will try to find my spare tonight and I will get some measurements and a coil count.-Misako

 

[enotstehw]

A new spring is for sale on gunbroker now for $12.00

 

[locknloadnow]

I removed the spring, stretched it to gain tension, and put it back in- and the rifle is firing again. And man oh man, is it ACCURATE. It will outshoot quite a few of my Mauser M98's. Amazing.

 

[locknloadnow]

A new spring is for sale on gunbroker now for $12.00

Thanks for the heads up, but that is a firing pin spring for a Sako Forester, not a hammer spring for a Finnwolf. There is a big difference. Using a bolt action firing pin spring, would have about 3x or more hammer tension than originally designed for, it may overwhelm the sear/hammer claw and cause slam fires, or make the gun unstable and fire on safe by just jolting it.

it may be a spring one can take and cut down but it's a gamble. The hammer spring has a small i.d. on one end, to fit snugly over the plunger rod. I'd think a firing pin spring would have a much larger i.d. and be too large to get in there.

 

[enotstehw]

If you got it firing again . . . it should be good to go. Parts for a wolf are hard to find.

 

[locknloadnow]

that's if the spring doesn't lose tension and compress again. I'd like to take it hunting this fall, and sitting for 4 hours with it cocked on safety, I'm wondering if the spring will retain enough tension to fire. Am going to go to the hardware store and look through their spring selection.

 

[enotstehw]

The only thing I would be wary of is the temperature. If you are hunting and it's very cold the spring might not function correctly.

 

[misako50]

Springs for the Wolf and a Forester. The topspring is the FW return spring (light duty) the middle is the FW Main hammer/firing spring and the bottom is the Forester w/f-pin. Misako

 

[misako50]

The length of a new/unused FW mainspring is 1.37" +or-.The ID is about .20 and the OD is about .25.-The spring has 15 coils.---Misako

 

[locknloadnow]

thanks for dimensions, do you want to sell the spare spring ?

is that a little pin in the packet with the top FW return spring ? if so, that's the pin that can work it's way out of the bolt body, and jam the action, making it not close all the way, and not eject because the bolt doesn't come back all the way. That happened to mine while sighting it in, and I was able to fix it by nudging the pin back into the bolt with the flat of my pocket knife.

if you notice the Forester firing pin spring is much longer and heavier. Cutting a section of that and putting it in the Finnwolf may cause a dangerous slam fire condition, because the sear may not be able to hold all that spring pressure. If you look inside a Finnwolf, you will see the sear has a very slight hold on the hammer claw, that's why they have such a good trigger. It's a hair trigger from the factory.

the Finnwolf has a fine tuned, delicate balance of a light hair trigger, offset by a relatively light small hammer spring (compared to a bolt action), so as to not overpower the sear with too much spring pressure. That's why the spring wears out after 40 years.

unlike say, a Winchester 94, that has a leaf spring you can use for a car suspension, and lasts 150 years, and has a trigger pull of a truck door. Or a Mauser 98 same deal, they almost never need a firing pin spring.

 

[huntmaster]

Have you tried some Win, Rem, or Fed factory ammo? The stuff you took a picture of looks like military match ammo for the M-14. Usually had a very hard primer. I had the same problem several yrs ago, went and got some standard load stuff, no more problem. This ammo worked fine in an M-14 or FN FAL, but wouldn't work in my Finnwolf or my model 88's.

 

[locknloadnow]

I changed the spring and now it fires perfectly. A gun should shoot any ammo. While some military ammo has a bit harder primers than others, in this case it was reloads and the primers were common soft commercial primers. It would not even set those off with the weak spring. The spring is quite easy to change, it can be accessed by simply opening the lever.

 

[misako50]

Sorry, Locknload- I missed the post for a few days. I have few parts for the Finnwolfs and I need to keep what I have. How and where did you come up with a spring for yours.-Misako

 

[locknloadnow]

that type of spring is very easy to find, it doesn't have to be the "exact" spring, a friend of mine who's into semiauto target handguns had a bag full of various assorted springs. I simply used the dimensions of the original spring, and found one that was close. I found one that was nearly exact. Springs don't have to be "dead nuts" on tension and length, there's a lot of leeway either way in tension and length, before a replacement spring would not work. Basically if it fits in the space and has the proper i.d. and o.d. and does not reach "crush height" when compressed, it will work- and of course as long as it has enough pressure to fire the gun. The particular springs I got were from an older S&W semiauto pistol, but the FFL who sold me the gun also found a spare and mailed it to me, so now I have many spares.

 

[texman8397]

I had the same thing happen to my vl63 .243. The gunsmith has had it for 6 months trying to fix it. When my spring fell out, it was all I recovered. Don't know if anything else is missing from the action, but any help would be greatly appreciated! What does the plunger tube look like? How does the firing pin or plunger fit into the hole without falling out?

 

[locknloadnow]

there are only 3 parts, it doesn't involve the firing pin, the firing pin is inside the bolt up higher in the action

the 3 parts are the plunger guide, the spring, and plunger itself. The plunger pushes inside the plunger guide, while compressing the spring, then move downward or upward away from the plunger guide seat, then uncompress to remove the plunger and spring.

what happened was, the plunger in your gun, came loose from the seat, most likely because the spring lost tension, and it's the spring that holds it in the plunger seat.

the plunger seat is merely a hole that the tip of the plunger guide goes into

you lost the plunger

the gunsmith is going to have to make a plunger. It is basically a tiny rod with an enlarged tip that captures the spring, allowing the spring to be compressed into place, then when it's let free, the tip of the plunger moves outward with spring tension, causing it to seat in a hole in the lever assembly, and that's all that holds it together is spring tension

actually a good design but they scrimped on spring quality, and that's why these guns have this problem. They should have had 2 springs, an inner and outer, like a valve spring on a car.

fortunately for me, the plunger and spring fell out on the floor of a gun shop and they found it. If that had happened while hunting or at the range or in the woods, I'd be in the same boat as you are, I'd have lost the plunger.

the plunger guide is very similar to the plunger itself, but it has a small hole drilled in one end, and it pinned to the hammer, this is how the hammer is preloaded with tension so it fires when the trigger is pulled. The plunger guide is a hollow tube, and the plunger slides inside of it, as the spring it compressed and the gun is cocked

think of the entire assembly as a tiny pogo stick like a child gets as a toy to play with and ride, that is spring loaded, and you'll understand what it is, but it is quite small and miniature. Now think of one end of the pogo stick pinned to the hammer, and the other end going into a seat (hole) in the lever assembly- when the lever is closed, it loads the spring in the pogo stick

when the spring wears, the plunger and spring falls out, because the spring lacks the tension to keep the plunger seats in the lever assembly

they should have pinned it at both ends