Bergara Rifle

[M14AMU]

Young fellow brought me a Bergara rifle in 300 Win Mag to check out for him as it has a NF scope and he was not familiar with how to check it out and how to set the zero stop. He had found him two boxes of 180 grain TSX cartridges from somewhere over in Mississippi. Rifle is equipped with a suppressor also. In checking out said rifle...the bolt lugs were of course as dry as most folks bank accounts these days so after getting lube on them I took rifle to the 200 yard line to check the zero as I was advised he thought it was on at 100 yards. First shot was 20" low! When I went to extract the fired round...uh oh....bolt did not want to open! Chamber was clean as the barrel. I had run through a dry patch before firing just to remove any dust, etc. I tapped the bolt with a plastic hammer I have in my tool box lightly and the bolt moved rearward. Checked the chamber/bore all looked good and the fired cartridge case showed no signs of excessive pressure. Next three shots was same way...no signs of pressure but but would not retract without use of hammer tap! What's your assessment? I'm thinking just that this TSX ammo is just a bit hot for this chamber.

 

[laangler]

Could be the ammo but what temperature were you shooting in or was the ammo sitting in direct sunlight to increase the temperature of the cases?

 

[M14AMU]

Could be the ammo but what temperature were you shooting in or was the ammo sitting in direct sunlight to increase the temperature of the cases?

65F and ammo not exposed to sunlight or heat!

 

[Kracken McGraw]

Sounds like he better switch ammo if he needs a follow up shot when hunting.

 

[M14AMU]

I informed him to switch calibers! A 6.5 with factory ammo ideal for deer hunting and especially for a non-reloader!