bolt sticking

[widecamel]

so i'm a little confused i have a rem 700 vtr in .308
and so far its been a beauty until yesterday i went shooting and for ten rounds it was fine but after that every other round the bolt would stick as in not come out to release spent brass
its never happened before in any of my rifles
any suggestions or advice would be greatly appreciated
thanks
clint

 

[Supersubes]

Re: bolt sticking

You shooting factory ammo? Usually a sticky bolt is a sign of high pressure. This is possible with factory ammo, but more likely with handloads.

One more thing, is it sticking from the full closed position or when the bolt handle hits the extractor cam?

 

[oneshot onekill]

Re: bolt sticking

Hmmm... Lots of variables here. Were you shooting reloads? Is the chamber relatively clean? How does the brass look? Any signs of over-pressure? Whenever a bolt fails to extract a round or sticks like you are describing you should stop shooting until you figure out what's going on. Failure to do so could result in damage to your rifle or injury to you. Not trying to scare you but that's a pretty dangerous situation. Can you take pics of the brass? Especially the bottom or headstamp.

 

[widecamel]

Re: bolt sticking

its cbc brass and when i finall do get it out it looks pristine
they were factory 150 grain magtech fmj's
but it will do it with all my spent brass and only spent brass
i clean the chamber everytime i shoot

 

[Captain Kirk]

Re: bolt sticking

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: widecamel</div><div class="ubbcode-body"> i clean the chamber everytime i shoot
</div></div>

There is your problem........

Sounds like pressure issues as stated above. If you have a diffeent type of factory ammo you could try to see if the problem is reoccuring. Most factory ammo is loaded on the "safe" side, but if you are shooting in higher temps with this ammo than previous temps, pressure could increase enough to cause issues.

Does the fired brass show any pressure signs ? extractor marks ? cratered primers ?

Kirk R

 

[widecamel]

Re: bolt sticking

like i said the brass looks pristine other than some soot on the neck

and i can chamber unfired rounds all day as long as i don't shoot them
other wise they stick
and even my empty win brass or rem brass sticks and thats stuff i shot months ago with no problems

 

[winxp_man]

Re: bolt sticking

check the sizing of the brass after the resize and make sure its within specs..... if its all good are you primers LR and not LRM primers. next is your loads running to hot maybe ? try them in a different rifle if possible ?

i have shot a buddy of mines Remington R25 and the magtechs did a major jam in the rifle after one round....

 

[oneshot onekill]

Re: bolt sticking

I'd really want to see the Headstamp area of the brass to look for signs of over-pressure.

But your statement about old brass sticking now when it was fine before would indicate that something has changed in your chamber. I'd pull the bolt out and try to get a look at the chamber from the breech. Maybe a shard of brass or some other foreign material has been smashed against the wall and is causing your spent brass to hang up. Might even be hard to tell and equally hard to get out... FWIW

 

[Long_Trang]

Re: bolt sticking

You said you clean the chamber every time you shoot. Are you being sure to clear any oil from the chamber after cleaning? If not it's likely your rounds are obtaining this oil and slipping, forcing the bolt face to take the extra load. This could lead to high pressure; thereby a sticky bolt.