Sticky Bolt?

[regatoni5]

For some reason, every time i fire a round, i can unlock the bolt but cycling it is a problem, it takes a considerable amount of force to pull the bolt back. i've been using 168gr BTHP hornady rounds and american eagle rounds. i thought it could've been the ammo but its doing it with almost every round fired. it has sat around for a few months while rebuilding it, and i gave it a good cleaning, scrubbed the chamber and cleaned the bore but still no luck. any thoughts? Thanks!

EDIT:[reply to posts]
10 may 12
I tried the bore brush with patch and hoppes #9, still the same thing. with an empty case that i fired before i had the problem, there was scratching around the neck of the casing where it tapers down, in the same spot as the picture. I took the action off of the stock, pulled out the bolt and looked inside and it looked like there was a bit of brass shards in the chamber around where the neck was. could this be due to a dirty/fouled chamber? i cleaned it numerous times to no avail. I get the feeling that i'm going to need a new barrel. . .

9 may 12
the rifle is a stock remington SPS varmint in .308 sitting in a manners stock. by rebuild i meant changing out the stock. sorry for the mix up, the only work done to it was cutting the barrel down 2 inches and installing the break, it didnt have this issue before, but then it sat in its pelican case for a few months without any range time and then this occurred. to clear things up, i can chamber a live round, and unfired, extract and eject it with no problem. once i fire it, the bolt will unlock (a bit harder once completely unlocked) and a considerable amount of force is required to pull the bolt back to cycle it. the same thing also happened when i put a casing in there to check the difference. again, with a casing, the bolt will unlock, but while pulling back to extract and eject it feels like binding i've been to the range 2 times since i put the rifle back together [each time using factory loads] and each time its done this.

heres a grainy pic of the neck of the casing, but every round i've fired has a few little serrations and scratches in them like theres something rough in the chamber.

 

[regatoni5]

Re: Sticky Bolt?

help?

 

[mtnhntr]

Re: Sticky Bolt?

Any pressure signs on the primer? Headspace?

 

[TonyAngel]

Re: Sticky Bolt?

Is this to say that the rounds chamber ok? Upon extracting, is the bolt harder to lift that usual?

Since you referred to a 168gr bullet, I'm assuming .308. What make of rifle is it?

You had the rifle rebuilt, right? And this is happening since the rebuild, right? Did you have a new barrel put on or have the chamber recut? New bolt? Who did the rebuild? It's just a little odd to have this problem with the factory ammo that you mentioned. Maybe a little for info and pics of the heads of the fired cases would help.

 

[MahaloMoFo]

Re: Sticky Bolt?

I had the same exact problem and decided I would put in a new extractor. I doubted that it would fix the problem but it was cheap enough to try. So far so good. No more hard extraction issues. Might be worth a shot.

 

[mtnhntr]

Re: Sticky Bolt?

Need more info to help you out. All the same questions ask earlier by TonyAngel.

 

[regatoni5]

Re: Sticky Bolt?

the rifle is a stock remington SPS varmint in .308 sitting in a manners stock. by rebuild i meant changing out the stock. sorry for the mix up, the only work done to it was cutting the barrel down 2 inches and installing the break, it didnt have this issue before, but then it sat in its pelican case for a few months without any range time and then this occurred. to clear things up, i can chamber a live round, and unfired extract and eject it with no problem. once i fire it, the bolt will unlock (a bit harder once completely unlocked) and a considerable amount of force is required to pull the bolt back to cycle it. the same thing also happened when i put a casing in there to check the difference. again, with a casing, the bolt will unlock, but while pulling back to extract and eject it feels like binding i've been to the range 2 times and each time its done this.

heres a grainy pic of the neck of the casing, but every round i've fired has a few little serrations and scratches in them like theres something rough in the chamber.

 

[dbsinh2o]

Re: Sticky Bolt?

I'd get a .45 cal bore brush, wrap it with large patch soaked in Hoppes No. 9, and give the chamber a quick cleaning. Follow this up with a dry patch, and give it another try.

If it didn't do it before, and does it now, I'd check to make sure there's not some kind of residue in there.

 

[Wylie Custom]

Re: Sticky Bolt?

Who did the work? I would take it back to them and have them look at it.

 

[regatoni5]

Re: Sticky Bolt?

edited

 

[TonyAngel]

Re: Sticky Bolt?

I'd take it back to the guy that did the work. If I were to do what you had done to the rifle (being a stock Remington), what I would have done was to have the smith knock some of the length off of the breech end so that he could recut the chamber to a tighter spec with a shorter lead. If this is what the smith did, he may have inadvertently left some trash in the barrel that needs to be cleaned up.

If you have something in your chamber that looks like shavings and it won't come out with a cleaning, it isn't good. Take it back to the smith.

Another thing that occurred to me is that you changed the stock. The front screw may not be too long and it's coming into contact with one of the lugs on the bolt. This is just a maybe. It still wouldn't account for the marks on the brass, nor the "shavings" in the chamber.

 

[regatoni5]

Re: Sticky Bolt?

Thanks for the help everyone. Its always humbling to know that this sport is filled with genuinely great people willing to help out. As for the extraction issue, I spoke to a smith and he's going to polish the chamber to get rid of the burr thats in there and bed my action and bottom metal. Thanks again!