tight bolt

C

creek chub

New member
Hey guys,

I need your guys help.

I have remington 700 ss, 300 win mag. It is a shooter. Problem is, the bolt is extremley tight when chambering a round. I'm talking you have to lean into the rifle to close the bolt.

I bought the rifle some years back on a whim with idea of going out west to hunt elk. The "dealer" said the tightness would work out. Ten years later, it is still tough to cycle a round.

I am kinda embarassed to take it a gunsmith but I am at a standstill with what to do. Any suggestions?

Creekchub
 
Could be a headspace problem. I bought a new Rem. 700 in 270wsm and had a similar problem. One call to rem. and it was on its way to one of their repair shops. When I got it back it was fixed. The guy at the repair shop said the headspace was way off.
 
Or you could try working the action with some lapping compound on the bolt to smooth up the action, but
if it's only when you load a cartridge in, and factory rounds at that, I'd have a gunsmith check the headspace too
 
Ridge Runner,

I haven't shot any factory loads thru the rifle. A friend loaded 40 shells for me when I got the gun and I still have a few left to shoot.

I guess I will have gunsmith look at gun. It shoots too good to sell and with the cycling problem no one would or should consider buying it anyway.

Thanks for the help.

Creek Chub

P.S.,

Where abouts do you live in WV? Gonna miss the WVU vs VA Tech football aren't you?
 
If you have never tried any factory rounds, and are only shooting someone else's reloads, there is a 99.9% chance that the problem is simply that the bullets are seated out too far for your rifle. The ogive is jamming right against the landsThe fact that they may chamber smoothly, with easy bolt closure in some other rifle is totally irrelevant. You need to try some factory ammo - if they chamber smoothly with an easy bolt closure, then that verifies the solution. If the problem persists with factory ammo, then send it back to Remington.
 
Quote:
If you have never tried any factory rounds, and are only shooting someone else's reloads, there is a 99.9% chance that the problem is simply that the bullets are seated out too far for your rifle. The ogive is jamming right against the landsThe fact that they may chamber smoothly, with easy bolt closure in some other rifle is totally irrelevant. You need to try some factory ammo - if they chamber smoothly with an easy bolt closure, then that verifies the solution. If the problem persists with factory ammo, then send it back to Remington.



I agree. I wouldn't do anything without trying some factory ammo first.Let us know.
 
The cases that your friend loaded for you may not have been resized right. Even a new case must be resized in order to make a new load.

Try a factory round in your gun. This will be the quickest way to find out if you have a problem with the gun. Also, using someone else's reloads is not the best thing to do. He has probably loaded for his own gun and you are taking a risk by using them in your gun. All chambers are different in measurement, even the same make, model, and caliber. Try factory, then if problem persists, take your gun to a gunsmith...JOHN
 
creek chub,
Try some factory ammo in your rifle. The rifle your friend is shooting has more head space than yours. I have had the same problem when trying to shoot the same reloads in two different rifles of same exact caliber.
 
did your pard use your fired brass to set his dies??? if not,..look no further,..99% chance that is the problem. If some of them were fine, and his die got loose during the process,..that can cause it too.

Take a headspace guage, and see if your shoulder is as far fwd as the shells that are hard to chamber. As stated, I'll bet his loads have the shoulder some .005" or more fwd from your fired case from your chamber. An ackley chamber allows .004" "crush" on a shoulder and it still closes fairly easily,..so I bet your stiff rounds are longer by more than that. This is from the datum line,..not an OAL measurement.

HTH
 
Guys,

Thanks for the info. Out of desperation I was gonna buy some factory ammo just to have something to shoot. Now, I have an excuse to buy ammo without my better half complaining alot.

Keep it real in the field.

Creek Chub
 
standard mags are famous for different makes to have a little different sized chamber, bet your buddy's die wasn't set properly for your rifle, try a box of factory loads. My bro in law borrowed my 7 mag die once and re-adjusted it and didn't tell me, I loaded 100 rounds that wouldn't quite chamber.
RR
 
I may have gotten into this a bit late as I haven't looked at the Forum in the past several days...but I need to comment on two things.
First...is for you to do as the majority here suggest and try factory loads (the surest, cheapest solution). If the bolt STILL closes only with "significant force applied" get in touch with Remington Customer Service immediately. Because of their potential liability, and consumer safety issues involved, they should repair it for you at no cost, and work closely with you to get the rifle back for repair ASAP.
Second, I must point out that the 300 Win Mag is a belted magnum and headspaces on the belt, not the cartridge case shoulder as standard rimless cartridges do...but it could still be a case length problem IF your buddy used fired cases and only neck sized or partially resized them instead of full length resizing. Good luck with the factory fodder.
 
Guys,

Yaw are way too smart and nice to boot. I hope to git sum factory ammo tomorrow and see how the ammo cycles.

Just wondering, my buddy did use fired brass, what do yaw think about how factory ammo will shoot as far as accuracy? On a rest this gun shoots "keyhole" groups at 100 yards with my buddy's reloads. Best rifle I ever shot, hands down. I ain't even a good shot.

Keep it real in the field.

Creek Chub
 
Never be embarrassed to take a gun to a smith. The very first thing I did with a recently purchased used Remington 721 chambered in 6.5x55 was take it to a gunsmith. He found the headspacing was off a bit, installed a new recoil lug, refaced the action, cut the shoulder back a couple thousands and gave it a final reaming, all better now. Someone had put a new stainless steel barrel on it and never finished the build properly.

I'm sure the factory ammo will get you back on track.
 
Well its buy the bullets day.

If the bolt works without a case in the chamber and is smooth your buddie most likely did not full length resize the fired cases well enough.
As with the others buy the factory rounds and see if the bolt closes without much effort.
If so, you are in, if not then it's time to see the smith.
If its OK save your brass, and if it shoots good with the factory go buy a few box's and shoot them.
OR bite the bullet and go buy a 100 rounds of brass and you will have enough for reloads for a long time to come.

LEN
 
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