Aarrrggg ! ! ! I etched the bolt face on a new BAT action

[gene pool]

Aarrrggg ! ! !

I etched the bolt face on a new BAT action today. I was using new Remington 7mm SAUM brass and “starting charges” of IMR 4350. No signs of pressure. It was the third time both cases had been fired when gas blew back past the primers and etched the bolt. The first case blowback was very slight -- I thought it must be a fluke. Then the second case blowback was greater making a large etch. That is when I stopped (should have stopped after the first blowback).

I am using Winchester large rifle magnum primers and noticed they loaded easily from the beginning. I switched to Federal magnum primers and they loaded easily too. So I discount the primers as being the culprit.

My suspicion is the brass has out-of-spec primer pockets. Whatever the case, I really did screw up a nice (and expensive) piece of equipment.

Anybody else ever have a similar situation? If so, did you discover to be the cause?

Thank you,
Gene Pool

 

[Steve Blair]

I blew a primer in a 6mm Remington 788 around 1983 in hot weather while the crows were thick. Didn't notice until I got home and found the bolt face etched similarly to yours. I carefully smoothed that specific area with a low speed Dremel rubber emery. I still have and shoot the rifle. More careful now about temperature and loads.

 

[jonbearman]

Some of the magnum cases seem to loosen after 2 or 3 firings and you have to use a wolf or cci primer to stop the blowback.My nosler .260 brass did it and I changed to the thicker cci primer and problem solved for many firings and some are now ready to be junked after only 10 firings.I now use the .260 lapua brass. It is a shame they dont make some other mag cases like the wsm chamberings.

 

[alf]

Looks like you took out your frustrations on your thumb.....

 

[gene pool]

I have ordered some Norma 300 SAUM brass to neck down to 7mm, hoping it is better than the Remington. The guy who made the rifle for me, Tommy Shurley, is contacting BAT to see what suggestions they have for repair.

This is the first time this has ever happened to me in the 45+ years of reloading...and it had to happen on a new BAT action. Aarrrggg ! ! !

Gene Pool

 

[tenring]

I had exactly the same etching on a Sako Forester .244 rifle I bought used. I suspect loose primers were used by the previous owner. But it still shot well. I would be careful about changing the headspace by removing the etching.

 

[expiper]

the primer didnt fail,,,the case head has swollen because of pressure,,,(measure everything--the reamer could be too large at the .200 line also)whatever charge you are using is too much for that particular brand/type of brass....measure the case heads at the .200 line for stretch...you will have to either reduce the charge or replace the brass after 2-3 round count,,try other brands ,,good luck..Roger
PS...dont worry about the bolt face ,,especially till you get your brass/primer/charge wt figgerd out...

 

[Phil]

Gene,

Can the bolt face be welded,then machined???????


P.S....I realize that cutting a weld is hard on tooling,even HARDER with Stainless Steel,just curious as to the fix...


Phil.

 

[tenring]

I don't know. My point is that the rifle shot well with the etching, so I did not worry about it.

 

[bricktop]

Gene,

Can the bolt face be welded,then machined???????


P.S....I realize that cutting a weld is hard on tooling,even HARDER with Stainless Steel,just curious as to the fix...


Phil.

You can have the bolt drilled out on the face and then bushed. Some do this just to get a smaller firing pin diameter. Gre-tan is one place that does it.

 

[Scott Harris]

How bout you take some steel wool and rub out the etching? it's cosmetic, what's the big deal?

 

[Millsaps75]

How bout you take some steel wool and rub out the etching? it's cosmetic, what's the big deal?

looks like its actually cut in to the face pretty deep. I wouldn't think it could really hurt anything though. Just looks crusty.

 

[.260 james]

I have a rem 700, i bought used about 25 yrs ago. It had a big gas blow out when I was a younger less careful person. The head looks alot worse then yours and It still shoots just fine. Have not had another problem. The loads through the current barrel are warm but not excessive and the primers show alittle of the cratering imprint of the boltface but otherwise no trouble with futher primer blowout of any kind. I meant to have gre tan redo it before the last rebarreling, but it slipped my mind !!!

 

[SierraCJ5]

Greg Tannel (think I spelled it right) can fix your bolt. Check with him. He bushed a bolt for me and it turned out great; his turn around time is immediate.

http://www.gretanrifles.com/main.jsf

Good luck

Jeff

 

[Beau]

Now that you've etched it maybe you can enjoy it.

 

[gene pool]

Now that you've etched it maybe you can enjoy it.

Excellent point. I always enjoy handguns and rifles more after the first ding is put on them. This SAUM is a sweet rifle. You can see a picture of it on Tommy's website. It's listed as Bill Sebastian 7mm SAUM.
http://www.shurleybrothers.com/new-rifles.html

Thank you for the reminder.

Gene Pool

 

[BigHorn WBY]

"My suspicion is the brass has out-of-spec primer pockets."

My "suspicion" (sic) is that the load is too hot......"starting" load or not. It leaked because there was more pressure than it could hold.............

 

[rhbrink]

Aarrrggg ! ! !

I etched the bolt face on a new BAT action today. I was using new Remington 7mm SAUM brass and “starting charges” of IMR 4350. No signs of pressure. It was the third time both cases had been fired when gas blew back past the primers and etched the bolt. The first case blowback was very slight -- I thought it must be a fluke. Then the second case blowback was greater making a large etch. That is when I stopped (should have stopped after the first blowback).

I am using Winchester large rifle magnum primers and noticed they loaded easily from the beginning. I switched to Federal magnum primers and they loaded easily too. So I discount the primers as being the culprit.

My suspicion is the brass has out-of-spec primer pockets. Whatever the case, I really did screw up a nice (and expensive) piece of equipment.

Anybody else ever have a similar situation? If so, did you discover to be the cause?

Thank you,
Gene Pool

A completely different game I shoot the Scheutzen game a lot using some ball powders, myself and a couple others have had the same exact problem with Winchester Mag Primers. they have been blowing out the side where the back flat face of the primer rolls over to the edge that then drops into the primer pocket. And it ain't max loads with a plain base cast bullet. It is the primer, I think that they are too soft. I've had two different lots do the same one worse that the other. Some people using older lots of primers have not had any issues. These were loaded into Winchester brass.

 

[spclark]

Bummer.... I'd have Greg T. bush the bolt for you, costs maybe ~ $75 & takes about a week.

Then change brand of primers. Wolf are on the larger side of spec, might work better with that R/P brass. Winchester's QC has gotten awful the past couple years.

 

[Scott Harris]

I'm trying to figure out why people are recommending to bush the bolt? He did not pierce a primer with the firing pin, he had/has loose primer pockets in the brass. What am I missing?