Remington Chamber Size Questions

Wolfsburg1

New member
I recently purchased a 700 ADL (pre Rem Arms) in 30-06. I had the action/barrel/bolt Cerakoted and converted to a BDL with a H-S Precision stock. I reloaded a handful of test loads and headed to the range:

-Remington and Norma factory ammo functioned fine
-Two of three handloads shot great. Bolt was a little tight closing but no big deal
-Eventually I got to a few handloaded cartridges that I could not get the bolt to close on

When I got home I checked the rounds with a headspace gauge and all were fine. My fired brass chambered tightly or not at all. I sized a bunch of brass on my Forster FL sizing die and they chambered ok.

I did some research and found that perhaps Cerakote on my bolt face and lugs was the issue so I sanded them down and It seemed to help a bit.

I ordered a Forster go gauge and my my bolt will NOT close on the go gauge. The gauge is for 30-06, 270 and 25-06. I tried it in my Rem 700 270 and the bolt will not close. I also tried it in a Rem 783 270 and the bolt will not close.

I have not removed the extractor in any of the guns but from what I have read that should not be an issue. Extractors are hard to find right now and I'd rather not risk removing them.

Does anyone have any thoughts/suggestions as to what is going on? Perhaps there's some Cerakote in my 30-06 chamber? But what about the other guns? They are factory as-is. Should I be losing sleep over this?

Thanks,

Wolfsburg1
 
I had the same problem with a model 788 in 6mm. I had a gunsmith look at it and he said he couldn’t figure out why. He’s a pretty good Smith. I’m interested in hearing some fixes.
 
First remove the firing pin from the bolt body. Use a black marker and color the neck and body of a fired case that WILL NOT chamber. Need to know if there is a neck or case body fit problem. This may require repeated partial opening and closing the bolt. If the marker is not removed at either location you will need to adjust the full length sizing die 1/16 turn at a time until the case will chamber with no resistance to the bolt body. I always adjust the die without the expander/decapping rod. Make sure the case is properly lubed. Once you have cases sized properly, any fit problems after will be bullet seating adjustment issues or proud primers. If any of the hand loaded brass was fired in a different rifle, that brass may require additional work.
 
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Originally Posted By: spotstalkshootFirst remove the firing pin from the bolt body. Use a black marker and color the neck and body of a fired case that WILL NOT chamber. Need to know if there is a neck or case body fit problem. This may require repeated partial opening and closing the bolt. If the marker is not removed at either location you will need to adjust the full length sizing die 1/16 turn at a time until the case will chamber with no resistance to the bolt body. I always adjust the die without the expander/decapping rod. Make sure the case is properly lubed. Once you have cases sized properly, any fit problems after will be bullet seating adjustment issues or proud primers. If any of the hand loaded brass was fired in a different rifle, that brass may require additional work.

I was going to suggest something very similar but the part about the bolt not closing on the go gauge has me a little puzzled. The OP has three rifles and the go gauge won't work on any of them if I read correctly. Almost sounds like he got a funky go gauge or one that got marked wrong.
 
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Wolf,

Have you called Forster about this? That would be my 1st step.

Would you consider a bullet comparator/bump kit? and or a RCBS Precision Mic?

Others don't, but i need to know the case dimensions of a new fired case in all my rifles. Then i set the shoulder back a certain amount depending on if it is a gas, bolt or lever rifle case. Taking the time to do these steps has eliminated all chambering problems for me.

I have also seen short throated factory barrels. Any chance you where jamming the lands with the bullets?

Where you using multiple fired brass? Brass with many firings springs back, requiring more adjustment of the die. I suppose in some cases it could require a small base die.

With the shoulder bump kit you could see what length factory ammo is. This would give you so much info.

Comparator

Sinclairs

Bump Gauge Body's
 
Use new brass or brass only fired in your rifle, this may help. Brass fired in another rifle maybe springing back out after sized or you can not size it down enough in the Web to get to function properly.

Spotstalkshoot's diagnosis is spot on, I use soot from a Bic lighter or a candle....have a magnifying glass handy if you have one.

Cerecoat in the chamber is a REAL BAD THINg. Bolt lugs should have wiped off the ceracoat in a hurry.

The fact that the factory ammo chambered and fired just fine, indicates to me that you:

A. are using brass fired in another rifle, and this brass needs special attention on sizing, perhaps small base sizing

B. your full length sizing die was not set properly to begin with. Shoulder length is one issue, web diameter is another issue. Often you have to bump shoulder back further than you like to in order to get the web dimension down to where the brass will function in the chamber.

C. your go gauge is out of spec. not unusual, especially if it is PTG

Remember that range pick up brass and/or brass fired in a semi auto can be very problematic
 
All,

Good advice/info from everyone and I wanted to provide additional details:

-I called Forster and left a voicemail. No response so far.
-I ordered the bump gauges from Brownell's and plan to measure/investigate the shoulder bump dimensions. I already had the Hornady kit for base to ogive measurements so it was a small investment
-I am not that familiar with the brass I started with so I guess I should not be that surprised that I had issues. It was Lake City that was given to me and assumed it was FL sized (never assume)
-It was not a "bullet touching the lands" issue. I measured with Hornady OAL gauge and got measurements way longer than my initial handloads
-From here on out I will stick with new brass only fired in my gun

Wolfsburg1
 
You will like that bump gauge. When i set up a FL die for the 1st time i take the expander ball/de-cap pin assembly completely out. Otherwise you will ruin a piece of brass with the back and forth trying to adjust to .001

Then when it is all set, put the assembly back together, and run the case through. Some folks like to tighten the assembly for good on the down stroke while the expander ball is inside the case mouth.

When you get your bolt rifle set to .002 set back on once fired brass you will notice on the 3rd or 4th firing it may only set the shoulders back .001 if that! Different brands of brass will spring back with less or more firings. It is really amazing to see it.
 
Since you have a comparator and a go gage, when you get some new brass use the spent primer method to get an accurate chamber measurement you can use to set you FL size die. Take a comparator measurement of the new brass, partially seat a spent primer and chamber and close the bolt, take a comparator reading. Your sized brass should be 0.0015-0.0025 less than the seated spent primer case comparator measurement. Those three measurements need to be saved for future reference. Checking the go gage with your comparator will help you if you need to replace the comparator body as they vary quite a bit.
 
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I figured I'd provide an update. I plan to FL size new brass and will experiment with the shoulder gauges for my 30-06.

I decided to buy Forster go/no gauges for 308/243/7mm-08 and do a test on several other rifles I own. Here are the results:

-Rem 700 243: can't close bolt on the go gauge
-Rem 783 7mm-08 1: can't close bolt on the go gauge
-Rem 783 7mm-08 2: can't close bolt on the go gauge
-Rem 783 7mm-08 3: closes on the go gauge: can't close bolt on the no go gauge
-Rem 783 308: can't close bolt on the go gauge

So out of 5 Remington bolt action rifles, I can only close one bolt on the go gauge.

All of these rifles operate fine with factory ammo and my reloads and all are more than sufficiently accurate (< MOA).
 
When using the gages the bolt should be at minimum firing pin/spring removed. Make sure on Rem that you place the gage under the extractor, against the bolt face. NEVER use more than 1 finger to close the bolt. The go gage is Minimum SAAMI. You could have sizing die/brass fit issues(die unable to properly set shoulder) if the rifles truly will not close on a go gage. The inverse, no go bolt closes could mean case head separation, especially if a field gauge will close. All barrel nut rifles can have headspace adjustment, that's the good news. The gages are easy to damage so be careful, handling and trying to chamber and remove them. There should be about 0.004 between the gages. A field gauge is the Max SAAMI chamber and is 0.010 longer than a go gauge. I like my rifles, close on GO gauge, less than 1/2 bolt travel before stopping on the NO GO gage.
 
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