Need help with diagnosis - Bolt hard to close

[270guy]

Hi,
I'm having trouble with a trued rem 700 SA, bolt has been sleeved/ faced/ lugs faced..., rebarrelled to 6.5x47L (was a .308 in another life). This is the first 700 action I've owned, I bought it 2nd hand as donor, for this build. I have had it for a little while, bolt has always been a little stiff to close. I put this down to having the work done and being a touch tight.

This what is happening, I chamber a round, from the magazine or single feed, and the bolt is hard to close, once I start to turn the bolt handle. Once the bolt handle is closed, if I open it, move the bolt rearwards a little, and then reclose it, it is fine. If I eject the round, then load the same round into the chamber again, the bolt is hard to close again. This is the same with loaded, fired or freshly resized cases. I have even triple checked if I have the dies set up correctly. I trimmed a case back to 46.2mm to see if that, changed anything. It didn't. It is starting to become annoying, and I'll go back and talk to the smith. But I thought I'd ask if anyone has had a similar problem.

I have noticed the the extractor seems to be shaving brass from the rim of my expensive brass, and wonder if this is part of the problem. Maybe the extractor is not as sprinngy or flexible as it should be, and its not sliding over the rim as it should do? Is it common for 700 extractors to mark the rims of cases or cause trouble? I could always change to a Sako style extractor, but don't see why, unless it will fix this problem.

Any thoughts....?
cheers

 

[Ing. Michael W. Mayerl]

Hi,
I'm having trouble with a trued rem 700 SA, bolt has been sleeved/ faced/ lugs faced..., rebarrelled to 6.5x47L (was a .308 in another life). This is the first 700 action I've owned, I bought it 2nd hand as donor, for this build. I have had it for a little while, bolt has always been a little stiff to close. I put this down to having the work done and being a touch tight.

This what is happening, I chamber a round, from the magazine or single feed, and the bolt is hard to close, once I start to turn the bolt handle. Once the bolt handle is closed, if I open it, move the bolt rearwards a little, and then reclose it, it is fine. If I eject the round, then load the same round into the chamber again, the bolt is hard to close again. This is the same with loaded, fired or freshly resized cases. I have even triple checked if I have the dies set up correctly. I trimmed a case back to 46.2mm to see if that, changed anything. It didn't. It is starting to become annoying, and I'll go back and talk to the smith. But I thought I'd ask if anyone has had a similar problem.

I have noticed the the extractor seems to be shaving brass from the rim of my expensive brass, and wonder if this is part of the problem. Maybe the extractor is not as sprinngy or flexible as it should be, and its not sliding over the rim as it should do? Is it common for 700 extractors to mark the rims of cases or cause trouble? I could always change to a Sako style extractor, but don't see why, unless it will fix this problem.

Any thoughts....?
cheers

Here are some tips:

1) headspace to small: clear it with a chamer reamer or you can turn some material at the face of the sizing die
2) reloading die not ok: It`s possible that the die is little wider than the chamber or the shoulder area in the die is a little bit to deep
3) the chamber is to small in diameter at any point. Can be measured with cerrosafe casting.

All points are a job for a qualified gunsmith.

 

[seanhagerty]

Try removing your extractor and see if the problem goes away.

 

[Cort]

Check the necks on your brass. You may need to turn them a bit.

Cort

 

[270guy]

Try removing your extractor and see if the problem goes away.

Is there a trick to getting the extractor out without breaking it? Its the non-riveted type.
thanks.

Edit - I went ahead and removed the extractor, it made an improvement straight away. Unfortunately, the extractor is now definitely unusable. So I'll have to see if I can find one here in New Zealand or order one from the US.
thanks

 

[dieselten]

Didnt you guys read the part where it closes fine once the rim of the case is under the extractor? Tis means head space is ok. It is your extractor. Fix yours or get a new one.