Gunsmithing Bolt closing hard new rifle

[huang]

I have a new rem 700 .300 WM 24" bbl 5r. I have 30 factory rounds through it. The bolt feels smooth without a cartridge in the rifle, however, with two different kinds of ammo, Fed 180s, and HSM 190 HPBTs ( all I have ran) the bolt close is real, I mean real stiff. I have noticed brass shavings in the bolt head, I have greased the lugs, but have yet to lap them. Do I need to send this rifle back to Remington, or is there something I can do. Your wisdom is appreciated.

Huang

 

[Ridgerunner665]

Check the headspace

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[deadly0311]

Check your extractor. Chances are it doesn't have enough spring to snap over the rim so it's pushing right through it. Can we see the case head from some fired rounds?

 

[VURTLE]

Like RidgeRunner said,
Check your headspace. You may have a tight chamber. If you know anyone who reloads your cartridge, have them slowly push the shoulder of a once fired brass back in small increments until the bolt closes with ease. Or have him pull a bullet from an unfired round that is too tight and do the same. Then measure the shoulder with a headspace gauge and use that measurement everytime. If factory brass is too long in your chamber, you will have to have it finish reamed by a good quality gunsmith or learn to reload your brass to your chamber specs.
A local shooter in my town was having the same trouble with 338L and all he needed was the shoulder barely pushed back to solve the trouble. He purchased a good headspace gauge after that. Every quality rifle used for accuracy really needs the ammo spec'd to the chamber size.

 

[Ridgerunner665]

Its a 300 Win Mag...it headspaces off the belt, not the shoulder...and a short chamber will make for a very difficult bolt closing, that belt doesn't have any give in it like a shoulder does.

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[VURTLE]

Yea, I forgot it was belted, but still the same as far as the shoulder goes. I try to stay away from belted cartridges. Nothing wrong with em, just never viewed them as necessary or appealing.

 

[van462]

Also check to see if you can push the ejector pin down flush. Look at the brass for any swipes in the ejector area.

 

[Mike 338]

You could do all that or just call Remington up. Get a return shipping label on your computer. Drop it off at UPS. Get it back in 2 weeks (hopefully).

 

[deadly0311]

Check your extractor. Chances are it doesn't have enough spring to snap over the rim so it's pushing right through it. Can we see the case head from some fired rounds?

I'll quote myself

 

[huang]

I got some pics with my phone this was HMR factory with 190 gr SMK HPBTs

 

[Lucky Jack]

Buy a .30 cal Unithroater from PTG and you can fix in 30 seconds. I wouldn't send a belted magnum back to Remington. Number one, if you send it to a repair center like Sport's World in Tulsa you won't get your gun back for a dog's age. Number two, when they do repair it they don't test fire it...so how can they know they fixed your problem? Half of all new belted magnums do this...including the 2010 when fired with 220 smk's.

 

[huang]

Buy a .30 cal Unithroater from PTG and you can fix in 30 seconds. I wouldn't send a belted magnum back to Remington. Number one, if you send it to a repair center like Sport's World in Tulsa you won't get your gun back for a dog's age. Number two, when they do repair it they don't test fire it...so how can they know they fixed your problem? Half of all new belted magnums do this...including the 2010 when fired with 220 smk's.

I appreciate your assistance, please excuse my ignorance, but what is a Unithroater. Would you care to explain what you believe the problem is?

Huang

 

[MarinePMI]

I think he is implying that the throat is too short for the longer bullets...

 

[huang]

That sounds logical, it got worse with the 190gr HPBT but the 180 Federal HydroShock loads did the same thing. Would a short throat cause brass shavings to be inside the bolt face too. You know what sucks is this rifle was a safe queen for about four years ( never again) now it's prime desert season I am faced with Remington taking forever to possibly fix the problem or popping for at least $100 to make it right myself. You can tell by my questions I'm new to a lot of this.

 

[Ridgerunner665]

Brass in the bolt face is either the extractor or improper headspace...

Bullet grip should not be enough to shave brass off the head.

Checking the headspace takes only 5 seconds if you have the gauges...and should be pretty cheap to get a smith to do it if you don't.

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[Lucky Jack]

"Desert season" where are you at?

 

[dinc]

huang,

Don't know if you have got things sorted out yet but have a couple of thoughts.

Make sure you're using some factory ammo. The Fed sounds good. Not sure about you're HSM, some of their stuff is reloads. You want factory fresh stuff when diagnosing problems. Get some different factory ammo.

I suspect it's the extractor. To find out: slip a round into the bolt, angling it in to get the rim under the extractor. You'll have to push against the ejector (the plunger in the bolt face) to do this. While holding the round in the bolt against the push of the ejector, close the bolt guiding the round into the chamber. Does it close easy all the way?

If it doesn't you have either oversize brass/undersize chamber problems or if the difficulty closing is all right at the end it may be undersize throat/over long round (the bullet is hitting).

If it passed this test it's because the extractor didn't have to 'pop' over the rim as the round seated all the way into the bolt. You have extractor issues. Bent/broken/incorrect extractor. Needs professional replacement/repair. (If you don't know Remington extractors, getting one in depending on luck and not knowledge is about a 1 out of 10 prospect.)

The extractor could have a burr or some kind of visible nick. You can try polishing it if you can identify an obvious rough spot. Just shooting it a lot will wear it in. I've had some that became perfect after a few hundred rounds. Magnum extractors are the worst. Good luck.

 

[huang]

Wow you guys are great. I will test the extractor tonight, with both the factory new HSM, and the Federal. From what I am reading if I pass the extractor test, the next thing I should check is a sized and trimmed case (no projectile). I am getting my dies this week so I'll be able to size a round and see how stiff the bolt is.

Desert season: I am in San Diego, this time of year we campout and hit the BLM land.

Huang