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Bolt Extraction problems for Remington 700P, any advice?

G

Ghost112

Private
Full Member
Minuteman
Feb 3, 2014
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San Francisco, CA
I recently purchased a brand new Remington 700P, in 308. After >100 shots I began having issues with the bolt extracting properly. The bolt would remain stuck in the chamber and wouldn't slide out to eject the spent brass. I tried to see if perhaps it was just that round, but have continued to have issues with the rifle since. This issue seems to only happen with rounds that have been fired, unfired rounds, seem to extract out perfectly fine. I have tried putting fired brass back into the chamber to test, and have a hell of a time trying to get it to extract back out. For some of the tries I had to get a rubber mallet to knock the bolt back to get it to eject the brass again. Just a note, I have tried 2 different types of brass, and both seem to have the same issues. IMI match brass, and also Lake City Military Brass.

I have already sent the rifle back to Remington for repair once for this issue, and will be sending it back again since my rifle is affected by the current trigger recall. After the first "repair," it was said that my extractor was replaced, headspace was checked, and then fired for function test. Since getting it back I was able to take it to the range once. The problem seems to still persist. Not with every round, but there were some that were difficult to extract. It was an improvement over what happened when the problem first started, but for a brand new gun I really don't think that it should be having these issues. I had a buddy look it over and he said it might have something to do with my lugs, almost as if the lugs don't seem to clear the recesses on the receiver, thus being unable to retract the bolt to remove the round. I am really in the dark hear, I don't know much about bolt actions, considering this is my first one. If anyone has advice, or can clue me into what the problem may be, please let me know, it would be much appreciated. Thank you!
 
Either your sizing die is out of spec, or you are not correctly adjusting it.

Also, don't send it back for the trigger. Clean it, or just replace it.
 
Weird! I've got something very similar thing going on with my nearly new Remington 700 5R in .223.

One round in 5 requires an extra tug to pull the bolt back and maybe one in 15 requires hammering the bolt handle back to start the extraction of the fired case. (Just using my hand so far.)

These are handloads, but they are well below maximum and there are no signs of pressure. I'm NOT having issues with heavy bolt lift. Chronograph measurements show that some of the loads are 400 fps less than book maximum.

One thing I have noticed is that more than half of my fired cases have a small gouge mark (maybe 0.050" long) at the end of the neck. There's also a small "bevel" scraped onto the very front of the neck. See the photos below for examples.

If I do a controlled extraction, the gouge mark always shows up at the 3 o'clock position (i.e. towards the ejection port).

I'm using once-fired Lake City brass and I've noticed that it is a bit long -- typically 1.756-1.758" vs. a book maximum of 1.760 and a trim-to length of 1.750.

I've inserted some virgin Lapua cases (OAL 1.748") into the chamber and they came out gouged as well, though not as deeply. Haven't fired any of these yet, though, so I can't say if they also have extraction problems.

Any ideas what could be causing this problem (or the OP's problem)?

Thanks,

Lefty

P.S. I bought this rifle second hand ("only 200 rounds fired"), so I can't be sure if this is a factory problem or something that the (newbie) first owner did...

Rem_5R_223_Extraction_Problem.DSC_0817.jpg Rem_5R_223_Extraction_Problem.DSC_0818.jpg Rem_5R_223_Extraction_Problem.DSC_0822.jpg Rem_5R_223_Extraction_Problem.DSC_0825.jpg
 
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Actually, now that you mention it, I have noticed similar gouging marks in some of my brass. I'll try to get some pictures when I get home later. Not quite as obvious as from your pictures but it is there on a few of the cases. Hopefully I can get to the range again soon, I plan to try testing with factory ammunition, to see if I get similar results. I am pretty sure my loads were in spec and also well below maximum. Plus the IMI brass that was loaded was done by my uncle who shoots competition, and I'm pretty sure he knew what he was doing when making the loads. All of the loads both his and mine should have been below specs because I was just trying to fire-form the brass for creating a custom load for the rifle. Thanks again for the any suggestions or advice anyone can provide.

DesertLefty said:
Weird! I've got something very similar thing going on with my nearly new Remington 700 5R in .223.

One round in 5 requires an extra tug to pull the bolt back and maybe one in 15 requires hammering the bolt handle back to start the extraction of the fired case. (Just using my hand so far.)

These are handloads, but they are well below maximum and there are no signs of pressure. I'm NOT having issues with heavy bolt lift. Chronograph measurements show that some of the loads are 400 fps less than book maximum.

One thing I have noticed is that more than half of my fired cases have a small gouge mark (maybe 0.050" long) at the end of the neck. There's also a small "bevel" scraped onto the very front of the neck. See the photos below for examples.

If I do a controlled extraction, the gouge mark always shows up at the 3 o'clock position (i.e. towards the ejection port).

I'm using once-fired Lake City brass and I've noticed that it is a bit long -- typically 1.756-1.758" vs. a book maximum of 1.760 and a trim-to length of 1.750.

I've inserted some virgin Lapua cases (OAL 1.748") into the chamber and they came out gouged as well, though not as deeply. Haven't fired any of these yet, though, so I can't say if they also have extraction problems.

Any ideas what could be causing this problem (or the OP's problem)?

Thanks,

Lefty

P.S. I bought this rifle second hand ("only 200 rounds fired"), so I can't be sure if this is a factory problem or something that the (newbie) first owner did...

View attachment 38177 View attachment 38178 View attachment 38179 View attachment 38180
Click to expand...
 
Since you're both using handloads, that is the first thing I would want to eliminate as the cause of the problems. Try running some factory ammunition and see of the conditions persist. If not, then you need to start looking at your loading process (as mentioned above, an improperly adjusted sizing die would be a likely suspect). If, however, the problem occurs with the factory fodder, then I'd suspect a chamber issue (possibly a short throat that is causing the case mouth to be crimped down against the bullet). Either way, testing with factory ammo will point you in the right direction for further investigation.

HRF
 
New factory ammo first. If GTG.
Then reload with new, unfired brass. If GTG.
Then reload those fire formed cases.

My guess is a combination of a lack of extraction can and improperly resized brass for that specific chamber are the likely causes.
 
The marks on the case happen when the case clears the chamber and the ejector swings the case sideways and it hits a sharp corner in the action. Very common.
 
I would call Remington and explane without telling about using handloads and I'd push them to completely replace that rifle with a new one and as soon as I got the new one get a Timney trigger as did i
 
hotforge78 said:
Or I'd pay a compatant gunsmith to correct this matter
Click to expand...

Or learn to correctly size the brass.

New brass and the Factory ammo is sized to SAMMI. The OP is not returning the brass to a proper size to fit the chamber. This is why it doesnt extract.

Turn the die in another 1/4-1/2 turn. Check with a case gauge...report back.
 
FWIW ive been having issues with the lapua cases not extracting 100% these are virgin from factory no sizing has been done... not sure what the issue is some extract up some don't. every other case I've used has worked flawlessly in this regard. just finished fire forming all of them so well see on the next run if the problem persists with resized cases.
 
OP......Doesn't your rifle have the 40X trigger? I thought that all 700P's came with that trigger? X Mark trigger shouldn't be in there. I would try factory ammo first.
 
I'd take it to a good smith and upgrade the extractor to a BO M16 extractor, you should never have to worry about extraction issues again as long as you are using inspec ammo. I would also follow the advice that was given about firing factory ammo first, then a reloaded round to rule out any sizing issues during your reloading process.
 
The IMI cases were also brand new never fired brass from the factory. Never sized, so they should have been in spec. As for the trigger, I thought it also was the 40x trigger, but when I checked my serial number through Remington's website it said that my rifle was affected by the trigger recall. I may just eventually upgrade to the Timney or Jewell trigger. They definitely feel much nicer. For the gunsmithing, unfortunately, I don't know of any competent gunsmiths, in my area. Living in San Francisco there doesn't seem to be many places I can take my firearms to, for real gunsmithing work. May have to just send the rifle out, if it really comes down to it.

As for the factory ammo, I will be taking my rifle to the range tomorrow morning to test. I was able to get a hold of some winchester factory ammo, if the problem persists I will at least know my issues are with the rifle and not my handloads. I'll report back once I'm finished. Thank you again everyone for the suggestions. Hopefully I can get to the bottom of this.
 
Last edited:
Ghost112,

I had similar issue with .338 Lapua.

What I did :
- I swapped my RCBS dies for Redding Dies and used a Wilson SAAMI gauge to check my cases after Full Length Sizing. Issue went away as I was NOT pushing should back enough.
- I chambered/tested Full Length Sized cases prior to making rounds.
- Made sure new dies were CLEANED before initial use.
- Continue to clean dies after 100 or so rounds are made.
- Switched from wax to Hornady's Case lube and made sure ALL cases are lubed sufficiently for proper FLSing.
- I used Wilson SAAMI gauge to properly bumped shoulders back enough to stop issue.
- Trim cases for each reload.

Also, have you checked primers for pressure signs?

Not sure if my two cents may help.
 
Thanks to all who replied. I too am going to run some tests with factory ammo to see if that makes a difference.

agbm - Thanks for the video on the Wilson case gauge. That looks very useful. I'm gonna order one.

In the interim, I used my Stoney Point (now Hornady) headspace gauge to measure the length from the cartridge base to the 0.330" datum on the shoulder. I got 1.458" for my once-fired Lake City brass, 1.456" for virgin Lapua brass, and 1.455-1.459" for various factory ammo and commercial reloads. All of these are well short of the SAMMI minimum chamber length of 1.4636".

Pahntr760 said:
Or learn to correctly size the brass.

New brass and the Factory ammo is sized to SAMMI. The OP is not returning the brass to a proper size to fit the chamber. This is why it doesnt extract.

Turn the die in another 1/4-1/2 turn. Check with a case gauge...report back.
Click to expand...

I don't understand why insufficient shoulder bump would case difficult extraction. If the shoulder is too far forward, that will make it difficult (or impossible) to chamber the round. Yeah, I've seen that problem before (with other guns). But why would that make it difficult to pull the bolt back? And not make it difficult to open (rotate) the bolt? Please explain...
 
DesertLefty said:
But why would that make it difficult to pull the bolt back? And not make it difficult to open (rotate) the bolt? Please explain...
Click to expand...

Unfortunately, I cannot manifest answer to you. In my situation during time of problem I had a RSO at local range, who has an extensive background within this sport, guide me through possible causes. He did explain to me WHY but it was two years ago and I do not want to attempt to give incorrect information. Once he felt my issue was not pressure he told me a few things to look for which I conveyed in my previous post.

It turned out that my reloading process had issues. Since going over each step and making adjustments where needed I now run smooth rounds from start to finish producing .25 MOA groups and better.

Just a thought with a grain of salt. Maybe consider FLSing to SAAMI ten rounds (Shoulders & Trim) and see if you continue to have issues.

Personally, when undergoing similar I took handloading very slow step by step. I made detailed notes of my handload process so I could critique at later date. Once I found my issues I simply found and made needed corrections and now I have no issues with handloads.

Hope this helps some.
 
After going to the range yesterday, I'm still confused as to what is wrong with either my rifle or my handloads. I shot some factory ammo, but encountered no major problems. The brass seemed to eject without issue, except for 1 or 2 of the 20 rounds fired, that had slight resistance when pulling back the bolt.

I measured a random select few of my handloaded .308 brass from my previous batches, using a case gauge, and all seemed to be within specs. I guess, the next thing I will do is try to hand load some of the factory brass that I fired yesterday and see if I get similar results. The only major difference I can see between the brass I used vs. the factory winchester rounds I shot yesterday, was that my brass is military brass, and the winchester is commercial.

I will look into perhaps getting another die set, I am currently using brand new LEE dies (first time using them was to make these handloads). Funny thing is, I have tried chambering the same fired brass into a couple of friends' Remington 700's. (One M24 and another 700P), and neither of their rifles had issues extracting the brass, whereas mine did. As for pressure signs on the primers and case, I haven't noticed anything major. If anything the factory ammo had more obvious pressure signs than my handloaded brass.

When I can do another test I will report back.
 
Yes, I have tried cleaning it, and wiping it down dry. Unfortunately same results. Same with leaving a light coating of lubrication in the chamber as well. What makes this so confusing is it doesn't happen every single time. It's maybe 1 out of every 5 that this happens, and sometimes the brass that had problems ejecting before, ejects perfectly fine if I try it another time. I am really leaning toward the problem being with the rifle itself, but I want to be sure, and be able to explain it to Remington before I send it back in.


29aholic said:
Have you tried cleaning your chamber and leaving it dry?
Click to expand...
 
Ghost112,

Please post specifications on hand loads you are experiencing issues with. The more detailed you are the better.

Bullet & weight
Powder & charge
Case
Case length
Cartridge length
Primer
Primer depth
Minimum & maximum times case has been fired

Post clear pics of Primer (if possible).

Questions:
- Do you separate cases that cause extraction issues versus cases without extraction issues or do you put back in same pile and start your reload process again?
* Sounds as if you do as I just reread your last post.
- Have you measured cases with extraction issues versus cases with no extraction issues?
- If so, post results
- Are you lubing inside of case necks during case prep
- If so, manifest product and procedure used
- Do you Full length Size and only Neck Size
- Do you measure EVERY hand load you make? case & cartridge length et cetera

Lastly, please be more specific as opposed to saying "no major issues" as that, at least to me states, there were issues. All issues are needed to be conveyed to better help you.

What I am hearing from you gives me flash backs on my past issue with my first .338 Lapua which my issue has been long gone.
 
Last edited:
I will try to get all the details for you by tomorrow. My friend was the one that helped me load these rounds. He said he'll come by and help me. I'll have all the measurements and I'll try to take some pictures of the cases also. As for separation, of cases I have been trying to pick out the ones that have been giving me problems. I will compare them to the ones that haven't been and let you know. Thank you again for your efforts and advice.


Tristian19 said:
Ghost112,

Please post specifications on hand loads you are experiencing issues with. The more detailed you are the better.

Bullet & weight
Powder & charge
Case
Case length
Cartridge length
Primer
Primer depth
Minimum & maximum times case has been fired

Post clear pics of Primer (if possible).

Questions:
- Do you separate cases that cause extraction issues versus cases without extraction issues or do you put back in same pile and start your reload process again?
* Sounds as if you do as I just reread your last post.
- Have you measured cases with extraction issues versus cases with no extraction issues?
- If so, post results
- Are you lubing inside of case necks during case prep
- If so, manifest product and procedure used
- Do you Full length Size and only Neck Size
- Do you measure EVERY hand load you make? case & cartridge length et cetera

Lastly, please be more specific as opposed to saying "no major issues" as that, at least to me states, there were issues. All issues are needed to be conveyed to better help you.

What I am hearing from you gives me flash backs on my past issue with my first .338 Lapua which my issue has been long gone.
Click to expand...
 
Recently I had a Rem 700 PSS 2000 year production blue printed and rebarreled. Shortly after I started experiencing a "sticking" of the bolt where the bolt would rotate easily but would not extract I did it with the LC M118LR 06 reloads. The load was mild at 42.6 gr Varget with a 178 Amax. No pressure signs. WENT CRAZY trying to diagnose.

After the gambit of possible problems I took the bolt out an older production 700 chambered for .260 (built by the same gunsmith) I checked the head space it was good. I commenced to fire round after round of ammo through the gun NO ISSUES.

Solution got a Pacific Machine bolt PROBLEM SOLVED

My smith told me that this run of bolts was the interim between the police models with out the Remington locks and the commercial models with the locks. The parts specifically the bolt body and the firing pin spring were from the lock model was used possibly causing the problem.

What ever the exact problem was in that bolt was it was solved by the new Pacific Machine bolt.

You might want to explore this.
 
Thanks for the suggestion, I will look into that.

M25BeastShooter said:
Recently I had a Rem 700 PSS 2000 year production blue printed and rebarreled. Shortly after I started experiencing a "sticking" of the bolt where the bolt would rotate easily but would not extract I did it with the LC M118LR 06 reloads. The load was mild at 42.6 gr Varget with a 178 Amax. No pressure signs. WENT CRAZY trying to diagnose.

After the gambit of possible problems I took the bolt out an older production 700 chambered for .260 (built by the same gunsmith) I checked the head space it was good. I commenced to fire round after round of ammo through the gun NO ISSUES.

Solution got a Pacific Machine bolt PROBLEM SOLVED

My smith told me that this run of bolts was the interim between the police models with out the Remington locks and the commercial models with the locks. The parts specifically the bolt body and the firing pin spring were from the lock model was used possibly causing the problem.

What ever the exact problem was in that bolt was it was solved by the new Pacific Machine bolt.

You might want to explore this.
Click to expand...
 
Bullet & weight: 175 grain sierra match kings

Powder & charge IMR 4064 ranging from 41 - 42.5 gr (.3 increments)

Case: IMI 308 Win Match, Lake City LR 07

Case length: 2.005"

Cartridge length: 2.800-2.801

Primer: Winchester Rifle

Primer depth: .01 from flush

Minimum & maximum times case has been fired: twice fired

Questions:

- Have you measured cases with extraction issues versus cases with no extraction issues?

commercial 2.0105

LC LR 2.012

IMI 2.012-2.0145



- Are you lubing inside of case necks during case prep

No but I will next batch of rounds I hand load

- If so, manifest product and procedure used

Hornady Unique case lube, with lube pad

- Do you Full length Size and only Neck Size full size to fire form

Full Size

- Do you measure EVERY hand load you make?

Not every single case, but for all the cases that I have noticed giving me issues, I measured them, and they were all within specs, of the L.E. Wilson case gauge


Process:

check case & cartridge length et cetera, measure case length, make sure it fits headspace gauge, check amount of powder

If you notice on the pictures, the one with the 2 brass cases side by side. There is a small scouring or gouge mark on each of the cases. For both these cases, they failed to extract out of the chamber even when I was able to pull the bolt back. I had to take a barrel rod to physically, poke out the brass casing from the chamber

20140522_192836.jpg20140522_192922.jpg20140522_193011.jpg20140522_193023.jpg

Tristian19 said:
Ghost112,

Please post specifications on hand loads you are experiencing issues with. The more detailed you are the better.

Bullet & weight
Powder & charge
Case
Case length
Cartridge length
Primer
Primer depth
Minimum & maximum times case has been fired

Post clear pics of Primer (if possible).

Questions:
- Do you separate cases that cause extraction issues versus cases without extraction issues or do you put back in same pile and start your reload process again?
* Sounds as if you do as I just reread your last post.
- Have you measured cases with extraction issues versus cases with no extraction issues?
- If so, post results
- Are you lubing inside of case necks during case prep
- If so, manifest product and procedure used
- Do you Full length Size and only Neck Size
- Do you measure EVERY hand load you make? case & cartridge length et cetera

Lastly, please be more specific as opposed to saying "no major issues" as that, at least to me states, there were issues. All issues are needed to be conveyed to better help you.

What I am hearing from you gives me flash backs on my past issue with my first .338 Lapua which my issue has been long gone.
Click to expand...
 
Last edited:
I too have a fairly new R700 SPS in .308 . Was experiencing occasional bolt sticks (some were pretty bad). I too handload, and finally narrowed down my issue to nicks in the brass. My chamber must be really set up tight, so what i'm doing now is a close neck inspection removing any nicks, and I give the neck a quick polish with a scotchbrite pad , and have not had any further issues in the past 200 rounds.
 
Not had the problem in any of my R700s but had it in a custom built ar10. The fix was to use short base dies. Hope it helps.

Sent via Tapatalk on S3
 
Most folk that work up their loads, towards the high end, during Fall/Winter. Start have'n extraction issues come summer.
Most of these issues are 'fixed' by drop'n the power chg a grain or so.
LG
 
I plan to lower the charge, see if the problem persists. From what people on here have told me, it seems my handloads are showing pressure signs, ie. flat primers. Hopefully lowering the charge and using a different scale to measure my powder, might lead to some good results. I'll look into inspecting and polishing the my brass for my next batch. I suspect, like you have RoadClam, my chamber might be really tight. Thank again everyone for the helpful advice. When I can report back, I will let you know how it turns out.
 
One thing to remember as well. Most loading data is published using commercial brass. Military brass is thicker in the head area and doesn't have quite the capacity of a commercial case. What wouldn't normally cause pressure in a commercial case might in a military case.
 
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