A buddy of mine asked me to mount and zero a scope for him on his brand new .300 WM Rem 700 SPS. He also provided me with a new box of Federal 180 gr ammo to use. It was my worst experience with a Rem to date. After I fired the first round, the case remained in the chamber, despite working the bolt to the rear, so I had to tap it out with my cleaning rod (closing the bolt on the stuck case a couple times did not help). The next round fired resulted in heavy, difficult bolt lift and a struggle to pull the bolt to the rear to eject the empty case. The bolt would cycle normally and eject an unfired round without issue. I put 8 new factory rounds through it, hoping that the issue would resolve itself after a few rounds, but it did not (the remaining shots resulted in either a stuck case in the chamber or similar heavy bolt lift and movement to the rear). The rear of the spent cases did not have a heavy extractor mark or spot rubbed smooth on the case stamping. I was at a loss to try to explain this to my friend.
Any insight from the pros? Could the extractor be that effed up on a brand new rifle? Would this (extractor failure) explain the difficult bolt lift and bolt movement to the rear after firing, or is that a separate issue? The rifle is headed to a 'smith next week for a hands-on inspection, but I'm curious to see if any of you have heard or seen a similar occurrence.
Any insight from the pros? Could the extractor be that effed up on a brand new rifle? Would this (extractor failure) explain the difficult bolt lift and bolt movement to the rear after firing, or is that a separate issue? The rifle is headed to a 'smith next week for a hands-on inspection, but I'm curious to see if any of you have heard or seen a similar occurrence.