Rem 700 LTR - feed problems, any thoughts?

[recurry]

Hi All,

I've been shooting a 700 LTR in .223 for the last couple of years now, and it's always worked great. However, it recently started having some kind of feed problem and I'm at a loss to figure out why. This is with the stock magazine, I don't have a DM or any other mods made to it...

If I put 5 rounds in the magazine, when I push the bolt forward it gets about half of the way forward, and the rear of the case suddenly jumps straight out of the magazine, and the round then wedges, with the rear of the cartridge angled up at the top of the receiver, and the front of the cartridge pinned against the metal at the front of the receiver.

I've been baffled by this, because this doesn't seem to happen when I have four or less rounds in the magazine, so spring tension might be the problem - but after two years of use, I'd expect the spring tension would be lower, not higher...

There are no other factors involved - I'm shooting the same brass, same OAL, same bullet that I've always used. This just started happening out of the blue.

If you have any suggestions, I'd love to hear what you might think the problem is - I'm just baffled by this.

Thanks,

Russ

 

[hk dave]

Re: Rem 700 LTR - feed problems, any thoughts?

The scientific method (har har, i remember something from grade school) would say to first use another fully loaded mag to check if you have the same problems. If it doesn't have the same problem, then it's the mag, if it has the same problem, it's the gun.

I wonder if after lots of use, if your feed lips haven't gotten bent or a bit worn? I know I've had a similar issue with glock mag... as they got worn from being shot thousands of times... I began to experience failures... but these were older style mags.

 

[FLIGHT762]

Re: Rem 700 LTR - feed problems, any thoughts?

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: hk dave</div><div class="ubbcode-body">The scientific method (har har, i remember something from grade school) would say to first use another fully loaded mag to check if you have the same problems. If it doesn't have the same problem, then it's the mag, if it has the same problem, it's the gun.

I wonder if after lots of use, if your feed lips haven't gotten bent or a bit worn? I know I've had a similar issue with glock mag... as they got worn from being shot thousands of times... I began to experience failures... but these were older style mags. </div></div>

Dave, from reading the post, it looks like his rifle is a model 700 LTR with a BDL style fixed magazine, not a detachable.

 

[recurry]

Re: Rem 700 LTR - feed problems, any thoughts?

Hi Dave, Flight:

Flight's right about my magazine configuration - it's the standard fixed magazine you find on most of the 700s.

Dave - you've given me something to think about though, with respect to the metal rails that keep the rounds in the magazine until they are fed:

When I first purchased the rifle, the rails were so sharp they would tear into the brass and leave a sharp groove in it when the rounds were fed forward, so I asked a gunsmith friend to round them off a little. I suppose that minor smoothing of the rails, combined with having put a thousand rounds or so through the gun, is finally coming back to bite me. I suppose it would have been better to just let it tear up the brass for a hundred rounds or so rather than having someone smooth the rails down a bit... d'oh!

Cheers,

Russ

 

[fw707]

Re: Rem 700 LTR - feed problems, any thoughts?

Tinker around with the attachment of the spring under the little detents in the floor plate. It may have scooted too far forward or backwards and changed the pressure point on the follower.
It's a long shot, but I've heard of it happening.

The rail modification might be the culprit.