I have a cva 35 whelen single shot. 3 boxes of shells through it. 3rd box I reloaded. I had 1 misfire, no noise, nothing. So i figure primer didnt go off? Never really listened for it before but never had a misfire?? Yes there is powder in case, can shake it and hear it. But the gun always hits the primer off center? Taking it elk hunting in a couple weeks, dont want that happening out there? THe primer looks like its in the correct distance. Yes im a little new to reloading but the off center firing pin has me worried. Any thoughts from you guys?

Have to see it. A little bit off center is not that rare. Missmatched sizeing die and shell holder can cause case shoulder to be set back to much creating excessive head space = misfires.

Its not a mismatched sizing die, the factory ammo did the same thing. Same thing I mean the offset fireing pin hit.

I've had guns start to have light primer strikes from debris in the firing pin slot.

Have any of the factory loads failed to fire? Seating the primer to forcefully can cause a misfire the face of the primer should only be a few thousandths below flush.

A rimmed cartridge will work best in a single shot. The Whalen is based on an 06 rimless case which may present headspace problems in your barrel. Just my opinion.

Resizing lub on fingers while handling primers with fingers can kill them. I never touch my primers.

Firing pin hit off center doesn't mean much. If it happens as you say with both hand loads and factory fodder the first thing I would check is the firing pin and its channel. There is probably a return spring on the pin. If that is broken or kinked/not running true because it has weakened it will bind the pin. I have a spare pin and return spring (where applicable) for every gun I own. If all that stuff is good and the channel is squeaky clean with NO lube the next thing I would look at is the hammer spring. I have replaced more hammer springs than firing pins or pin return springs. More than likely though its crud in the pin channel. I religiously run all my break action receivers thru my ultra sonic totally immersed in diesel fuel a couple times at least once a year. Blow them out with compressed air and reassemble. You wouldn't believe how black the diesel gets in just a minute or two. You may not think it but there is quite a lot of carbon and crud gets blown back into the guts of the receiver especially around the firing pin. It doesn't take much to bind them up.

I've only had a modern cartridge rifle misfire twice, both times while shooting at a deer. Out of thousands of rounds shot at a target I don't recall ever having a misfire. What's the odds of that?

Try your home made shells in another gun-then you'll know if its the shells or the gun.

adjust your die so the cases fit the chamber, its a headspace issue!
RR

There are times when a person has a miss fire, its the primer has not been seated all the way in, The initial impact drives the primer into place causing a miss fire.

Check the simple stuff first. Did you touch a primer or two. Stuff on your finger can do that. Case lube or oil for example. Did you check for a nice deep dimple on the round that did not fire? If there is one, if you didn't touch the primer, it may have been a manufacturing defect. It happens. If that round does not have a nice deep dent in the primer you likely didn' t seat it deep enough. Check the rest of your reloads. lay a wooden straight edge across the bottom of your case. Or a kids plastic ruler. Something relatively soft. Your primers should not touch the straight edge.

Good thing it wasn't on a Brownie hunt!

Open the barrel so you can see the opening for the firing pin. I am assuming it is a break down model. Squirt some solvent down in the hole. Put in a n EMPTY casing or if you have a dry fire blank use it. Fire it 5-6 times. Solvent again, then rem oil or another silicone based gun lube. I had the same proem with a single barrel Winchester shot gun. It hadn't been fired for 5-6 years after I cleaned and oiled it it was fine.

I was a little lax on getting all the crimp out of some 5.56 with crimped primers

had 2 that needed a second hit , first one drives the primer in second sets it off


these help to get a good clean pocket with no crimp or crud , then make sure you seat all the way
https://www.amazon.com/Lyman-Reloading-Primer-Pocket-Reamer/dp/B001OPLS2Y/ref=sr_1_3?crid=39BR255SAFKS&dchild=1&keywords=lyman+primer+pocket+reamer&qid=1601304141&sprefix=Lyman+primer%2Caps%2C180&sr=8-3

yes but avoid remoil and wd40

something silicon or something like a Hornday one-shot dry lube rem oil and wd-40 dry out and gum up

also had remoil go rancid

a cousin glued the firing pin in the bolt on his 12ga pump with wd-40 , clean it after deer season , put it in the cabnet , pulled it out 51 weeks later and the first shot the gun went click , not even a dimple

much lower chance that you fired a bunch of rounds then got to your reloads and had issues that it is the speed or lack of speed with the hammer

rarely is it a bad primer, but i have seen a couple. More than likely dirty firing pin spring and just a light strike. Once you clean the gun try that shell again and see if it fires.

My suggestion is to take factory ammo on your hunt until you have more experience reloading.

We all learned some lessons when we first started reloading.