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The Fix from Q

What's the consensus on these rifles and feed issues? Do the 308s have any issues? I'd like to pick one up in 260 as a nice change of pace but I'm a little leery of it based on this thread.
 
What's the consensus on these rifles and feed issues? Do the 308s have any issues? I'd like to pick one up in 260 as a nice change of pace but I'm a little leery of it based on this thread.
Newer models don't have issues. If you do just document it well and be a complete ass when requesting an RMA and they will take care of it.
 
Newer models don't have issues. If you do just document it well and be a complete ass when requesting an RMA and they will take care of it.

The RMA process was surprisingly not painful. Mine is on its way back from being replaced and will arrive tomorrow. Now I just have to go through the obnoxious California paperwork and 10 day wait to do the transfer since it's a new SN :(
 
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My 6.5CM works fine with the PMAG that came with it. The only feeding issues i have are when i am really slow and deliberate. Is that the same feeding issue others are having or is it a worse issue no matter how you run the bolt?
 
My 6.5CM works fine with the PMAG that came with it. The only feeding issues i have are when i am really slow and deliberate. Is that the same feeding issue others are having or is it a worse issue no matter how you run the bolt?

That's the issue. If you slam the bolt forward, it will feed but likely will damage the bullet tip. If you feed slowly and watch carefully, the tip of the bullet hits the perpendicular face of the barrel just below the chamfer that helps the bullet tip slide into the chamber.

I believe the challenge is that they designed this rifle around 308 bullets. The added diameter of the 308 vs. 6.5 places the tip of the bullet higher up as it rides up the feed ramp on the barrel extension and therefore makes it into the chamber easier.
 
That's the issue. If you slam the bolt forward, it will feed but likely will damage the bullet tip. If you feed slowly and watch carefully, the tip of the bullet hits the perpendicular face of the barrel just below the chamfer that helps the bullet tip slide into the chamber.

I believe the challenge is that they designed this rifle around 308 bullets. The added diameter of the 308 vs. 6.5 places the tip of the bullet higher up as it rides up the feed ramp on the barrel extension and therefore makes it into the chamber easier.

I don't find that i necessarily have to SLAM the bolt, but i know for certain i can't slow feed. Hm...it isn't a HUGE deal to me so i am curious if it is worth the hassle of contacting them. It is a range gun for fun.
 
I don't find that i necessarily have to SLAM the bolt, but i know for certain i can't slow feed. Hm...it isn't a HUGE deal to me so i am curious if it is worth the hassle of contacting them. It is a range gun for fun.

It's not a huge deal, but we've had bolt action tech since the late 1800's and new designs should be evolutionary improvements not regressions.
 
The RMA process was surprisingly not painful. Mine is on its way back from being replaced and will arrive tomorrow. Now I just have to go through the obnoxious California paperwork and 10 day wait to do the transfer since it's a new SN :(
Yeah my RMA was painless as well, absolutely 0 complaints. Just a reminder to some people who freakout and are a-holes to customer service people when they need repairs.
 
What's the consensus on these rifles and feed issues? Do the 308s have any issues? I'd like to pick one up in 260 as a nice change of pace but I'm a little leery of it based on this thread.

I never had any feeding issues with mine in 308 but when I switched 6 creedmoor with 105 Bergers it was another story. It tore up all the bullet tips in my dummy rounds.
 
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That's the issue. If you slam the bolt forward, it will feed but likely will damage the bullet tip. If you feed slowly and watch carefully, the tip of the bullet hits the perpendicular face of the barrel just below the chamfer that helps the bullet tip slide into the chamber.

I believe the challenge is that they designed this rifle around 308 bullets. The added diameter of the 308 vs. 6.5 places the tip of the bullet higher up as it rides up the feed ramp on the barrel extension and therefore makes it into the chamber easier.

This is what I'm thinking as well. The further back the shoulder and smaller the bullet the more problems we will see. They also worked with Hornady from what I know and the polymer tip really helps get it in there but a long skinny hollow point is going to get ate up while chambering.

Also, I can see where the FGMM 175s have been hitting the face of the barrel as well but just slightly outside of the chamfer.
 
I took mine out this weekend to test some 87gr varmint loads in the Bartlein 6 Creedmoor and it was shooting pretty good. As I was getting close 3000 fps and over the bolt was sticking like crazy though. No marks on the brass and barely flattened primers with some flow. Its a little weird but it was the first test run. I had groups sub half moa for three shots then I would throw the others because of my current setup not being ideal and it was a concrete bench. Recoil was like 22lr; a lot nicer to shoot than the 308.

I'm going to play around with some other loads and see what it does, as well as some factory if I can get some local. So far it is looking good on accuracy.
 

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i have 5 Q guns, a HB SD, a HB Pistol, a minifix 300 bo pistol (now sbr with stock) a minifix 224 and a 6.5 Fix (plus the TB, TC and JS in Form 4) and never had a problem with them or the rifle .. i have HKs, ARC, GAP, Seekins, Larue, remington, JPs, Wilson Combat, Nighthawks, Noveske, AI, and the Q suffer nothing relative to them all. Whats all the whining about?
 
Anyone have a picture of a FIX with a AMG on it?
I’m thinking about moving my MK5 to another rifle and going with a AMG on the FIX if it doesn’t dwarf the rifle.
I had one on mine but don't have any pictures. Imo it looked a little odd with the 16" barrel but fine with the 22". I switched to a 5-25 vudu
 
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I wish I was setup for making more right now. I have been struggling to get a home renovation completed. Its been 5 months of really annoying delays and excuses. So unfortunately I can't since the house is entirely packed up.
 
It's not a huge deal, but we've had bolt action tech since the late 1800's and new designs should be evolutionary improvements not regressions.

Well.... I picked up my rifle today after a 14 day wait to allow the wonderful state of CA to make sure I'm worthy of a firearm. After re-assembling everything, I tried out my brand new receiver by loading a few rounds into a magazine and running the bolt.

Same fucking problem. Bullet tips still strike the barrel before feeding into the chamber. What a waste of time. I give up..... I'm not going to waste any more effort on this. I guess I just have to accept that I'm stuck with a $3K lemon and learn to love the taste of lemonade.

I've attached a picture of the bullet tip hitting the junction between the barrel perpendicular and chamber chamfer.
 

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Well.... I picked up my rifle today after a 14 day wait to allow the wonderful state of CA to make sure I'm worthy of a firearm. After re-assembling everything, I tried out my brand new receiver by loading a few rounds into a magazine and running the bolt.

Same fucking problem. Bullet tips still strike the barrel before feeding into the chamber. What a waste of time. I give up..... I'm not going to waste any more effort on this. I guess I just have to accept that I'm stuck with a $3K lemon and learn to love the taste of lemonade.

I've attached a picture of the bullet tip hitting the junction between the barrel perpendicular and chamber chamfer.

I haven’t followed your initial issues. Is your barrel an early Tooley Bartlein? 6.5 or .308?
 
Well.... I picked up my rifle today after a 14 day wait to allow the wonderful state of CA to make sure I'm worthy of a firearm. After re-assembling everything, I tried out my brand new receiver by loading a few rounds into a magazine and running the bolt.

Same fucking problem. Bullet tips still strike the barrel before feeding into the chamber. What a waste of time. I give up..... I'm not going to waste any more effort on this. I guess I just have to accept that I'm stuck with a $3K lemon and learn to love the taste of lemonade.

I've attached a picture of the bullet tip hitting the junction between the barrel perpendicular and chamber chamfer.

This is one of the reasons I hate SR25 mags for bolt guns. If Q's rifle used AICS mags you'd be able to tune the feeding. In your case I'd probably try some cheap metal mags and bend the lips as much as possible to try to fix the feeding problems.
 
I haven’t followed your initial issues. Is your barrel an early Tooley Bartlein? 6.5 or .308?

It's a Proof barrel but this is not a barrel problem. It's the combination of barrel extension, magazine, and receiver geometry. A 308 feeds fine because the thicker round has the center point of the bullet riding higher when gliding up the feed ramp. 6.5mm rides lower (mine is 6.5). I can only assume that the problem is worse on a 6mm.

Totally agree with the other post that using AICS mags would have solved this.
 
On bending the magazine lips... I tried this with a Lancer mag. I found that with even slight bends, the bolt starts dragging on the lips.

The Fix is broken by design.
 
It's a Proof barrel but this is not a barrel problem. It's the combination of barrel extension, magazine, and receiver geometry. A 308 feeds fine because the thicker round has the center point of the bullet riding higher when gliding up the feed ramp. 6.5mm rides lower (mine is 6.5). I can only assume that the problem is worse on a 6mm.

Totally agree with the other post that using AICS mags would have solved this.

This is my 6.5CM Proof. The chamfer is far larger than yours. My rifle feeds perfectly. Proof is currently on the rifle.



my .308 Tooley feeds as does my 6.5 Tooley.

The .308 is on the left.
 

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This is my 6.5CM Proof. The chamfer is far larger than yours. My rifle feeds perfectly. Proof is currently on the rifle.



my .308 Tooley feeds as does my 6.5 Tooley.

The .308 is on the left.

Super interesting to see the inconsistency. Yup - a larger chamfer would definitely solve this problem. I was thinking about using a dremel to increase the chamfer at the spot where the bullet tip impacts. I think I'll do this. Your picture makes me believe that an increase in the chamfer won't reduce chamber support of the round in any material manner. Thanks for sharing.
 
Super interesting to see the inconsistency. Yup - a larger chamfer would definitely solve this problem. I was thinking about using a dremel to increase the chamfer at the spot where the bullet tip impacts. I think I'll do this. Your picture makes me believe that an increase in the chamfer won't reduce chamber support of the round in any material manner. Thanks for sharing.

increasing the chamfer won’t relieve support on the cartridge. It believe it will sort the feed issue and I’m surprised we didn’t pick up on it sooner.
Do not take a dremel to that barrel.
 
Anyone have a picture of a FIX with a AMG on it?
I’m thinking about moving my MK5 to another rifle and going with a AMG on the FIX if it doesn’t dwarf the rifle.
Like this? 16” proof barrel in 6.5, trash panda on the end. Turned in my jumbo shrimp paperwork last week.
 

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It's a Proof barrel but this is not a barrel problem. It's the combination of barrel extension, magazine, and receiver geometry. A 308 feeds fine because the thicker round has the center point of the bullet riding higher when gliding up the feed ramp. 6.5mm rides lower (mine is 6.5). I can only assume that the problem is worse on a 6mm.

Totally agree with the other post that using AICS mags would have solved this.

Could have been an issue with the bolt body clearing between the feed lips without the round presenting so low in the action is has to angle up significantly. But I'd have loved to been able to shoehorn a 6.5SAUM in this action in an AICS

Re: metal feed lips, if opening the front is dragging try bending the tears in slightly. Itll accomplish the same thing but the round will present lower to the bolt face. So dont bend too far as you'll get the bolt riding over the rim.
 
Id argue the barrels put out in the beginning had more Issues than later barrels.

After looking at as many as I have—the distance from lug to barrel face seems to be larger in early barrels.

Early barrels also have no chamfer
 
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Id argue the barrels put out in the beginning had more Issues than later barrels.

After looking at as many as I have—the distance from lug to barrel face seems to be larger in early barrels.

Early barrels also have no chamfer
All the barrels I did from day one had a chamfer and the end gap on the bolt was the same.
 
All the barrels I did from day one had a chamfer and the end gap on the bolt was the same.
Tooley.

I gain nothing by arguing with you. I was warned not to trust your work and that you would f up whatever I sent your way. You then failed to produce what I specifically hired you to do. So you discounted your fees and I off loaded them upon arrival. Would I use you again for work? Would I recommend your services to others? I don't know anything about your interactions with KB or Q. But I am familiar with your work firsthand with barrels you made for the Fix. In my own Bart/Tooley 6.5 barrel experience---2 caused incipient case head marks with factory Hornady ammo ruining the brass for reloading. The later Q 6.5 barrels do not--or I have not seen or heard of one that does. My FACTORY Proof 6.5 Fix barrel does not. My hypothesis is the gap from bolt face to barrel was larger on those problem barrels. Thus leaving the case unsupported in the rear of the case. Maybe I'm wrong. It's such an easy thing to check. But this idea that your work is flawless is not a narrative that we will continue pretending as it does everyone in this thread a disservice.

Many guys on here own more than one barrel. I'd guess many also have micrometers.

I posted this as something worth everyone going and checking in their own armory. Not to dog you. Tooley. I haven't posted anything about you and my experience having you spin Fix barrels for me. Frankly put--you are unimportant and another name on vendors I will avoid for services going forward.
 
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Have 3 Fixes, 6.5 Fix, 224V minifix, 300Bo minifix and 2 Honey Badgers (and no not a fan boy i just dont buy shit guns - own Noveske, Larue, AI, HK, Nighthawk, WC, JP, Volquartsen, half a dozen GAP bolts, bunch of ARC bolts), Beretta and Krieghoffs - and Mr Tooley has spun up a few barrels on my AI for me, as well as two of my Fix barrels are Tooleys - but yet i have had no issues with Mr Tooley (AI or fixes) nor Q gear (well i did send in my bolt as the trigger pull was stiff, got it back at 2.5lbs and never an issue since). Everything just works fine. I run H ammo in all my fixes - 6.5, 300BO and 224V .. all the H ammo fields smoothly. I am not usually the "lucky" one ... but it seems with all the bitching here I finally am :) Good for me i guess.
 
Tooley.

I gain nothing by arguing with you. I was warned not to trust your work and that you would f up whatever I sent your way. You then failed to produce what I specifically hired you to do. So you discounted your fees and I off loaded them upon arrival. Would I use you again for work? Would I recommend your services to others? I don't know anything about your interactions with KB or Q. But I am familiar with your work firsthand with barrels you made for the Fix. In my own Bart/Tooley 6.5 barrel experience---2 caused incipient case head marks with factory Hornady ammo ruining the brass for reloading. The later Q 6.5 barrels do not--or I have not seen or heard of one that does. My FACTORY Proof 6.5 Fix barrel does not. My hypothesis is the gap from bolt face to barrel was larger on those problem barrels. Thus leaving the case unsupported in the rear of the case. Maybe I'm wrong. It's such an easy thing to check. But this idea that your work is flawless is not a narrative that we will continue pretending as it does everyone in this thread a disservice.

Many guys on here own more than one barrel. I'd guess many also have micrometers.

I posted this as something worth everyone going and checking in their own armory. Not to dog you. Tooley. I haven't posted anything about you and my experience having you spin Fix barrels for me. Frankly put--you are unimportant and another name on vendors I will avoid for services going forward.

Sadly, I've kept quiet on a similar issue. Back when like 3 Smith's would turn AW barrels I had Dave do one in 6mm XC. It went back twice for failing to chamber live rounds although it would pass a go and no go gauge. Both times it was sent back and all comms said it must be something wrong on my end or simply "have you tried firing it". Had another smith take a look, the barrel had no chamber past the neck. No throat/leade at all. All it took was inserting a reamer by hand to diagnose.

When my original Tooley fix barrel didnt shoot it went in and came back with a green mtn. It shot very well.

I picked you for a rep of stellar quality and didnt get it either. I dont usually go in for drama and e-arguments but seeing as I'm not alone I'll share.
 
E

All the barrels I did from day one had a chamfer and the end gap on the bolt was the same.

so I went back and look and there is a small chamfer on it. but it doesn’t look near as big as scotch eggs. Was there a spec on the chamfer?
 
Man I’m glad I held out on buying the fix. I hop all this bs gets ironed out one day cause I love the idea of a 5 lb bolt gun