Problems From Ammo Lube

[CharlieNC]

Shooting my new PTG 40X clone with Shilen ratchet barrel using Eley, which is what is available. This is greasy stuff! After around 30 rounds the lube buildup causes ejection issues as the brass tends to stick to the bolt face, and an occasional misfire (fires upon recocking). A quick cleaning remedies the situation, which is certainly detrimental if competing. Any suggestions?

 

[Gibby73]

Have you tried wiping the lubricant off say a hole box of ammo and see if that prolongs the cleaning cycle

 

[CharlieNC]

Have you tried wiping the lubricant off say a hole box of ammo and see if that prolongs the cleaning cycle

Something to considrer, but I have been concerned that would lead up the barrel too quickly.

 

[Gibby73]

Something to considrer, but I have been concerned that would lead up the barrel too quickly.

The shilen ratchet is a hand lapped barrel so it should be smooth and not be a problem with leading up

 

[1Merlin]

My question - how is it shooting?

 

[CharlieNC]

Just found this article by Eley that states the lube is not for the barrel, but only for feeding the round? That surely bursts the bubble for many of the posters I've read!

Waxing lyrical about .22LR lubricants: beeswax or paraffin wax? | ELEY

All of ELEY’s .22LR rounds have some form of lubricating wax applied. The two main 22LR lubricants being beeswax and paraffin wax. But what’s the difference?

eley.co.uk

 

[CharlieNC]

My question - how is it shooting?

Shooting good so far Merlin, better than my capability but still learning.

 

[JimSC]

Lots of people shooting Eley through 40X's that don't have this issue. In the OP you did not mention if it ejects other brands reliably. So first thing I would do is to isolate the problem to either the ammo or the rifle. However, to narrow the problem down try some different ammo or a different lot of Eley. If you can find some sort of Biathlon ammo that would be great since Biathlon stuff generally uses lighter or dry lube. If that cures the problem then you have the issue isolated to the ammo.

If it turns out to be a bolt issue I would disassemble and clean the heck out of the bolt. Might just be some crud in the ejector slot or a tight fit. Could be that the rifle needs more of a break in. I had a Savage MkII that would not reliably extract or eject CCI SV worth a darn until it had 300 or so rounds through it. Any other ammo was fine but it would choke on CCI SV one out of every five or six rounds. Then one day it saw the light and I have not had any such issue since.

just my 2 cents, my 40X throws Eley or any other cases out and forward two or three feet. I would have to superglue a case to the bolt face for it to stick.

good luck
Jim

 

[CharlieNC]

Lots of people shooting Eley through 40X's that don't have this issue. In the OP you did not mention if it ejects other brands reliably. So first thing I would do is to isolate the problem to either the ammo or the rifle. However, to narrow the problem down try some different ammo or a different lot of Eley. If you can find some sort of Biathlon ammo that would be great since Biathlon stuff generally uses lighter or dry lube. If that cures the problem then you have the issue isolated to the ammo.

If it turns out to be a bolt issue I would disassemble and clean the heck out of the bolt. Might just be some crud in the ejector slot or a tight fit. Could be that the rifle needs more of a break in. I had a Savage MkII that would not reliably extract or eject CCI SV worth a darn until it had 300 or so rounds through it. Any other ammo was fine but it would choke on CCI SV one out of every five or six rounds. Then one day it saw the light and I have not had any such issue since.

just my 2 cents, my 40X throws Eley or any other cases out and forward two or three feet. I would have to superglue a case to the bolt face for it to stick.

good luck
Jim

Shooting several brands, the majority is Eley. All eject fine until the lube builds up on the bolt face (and of course the ejector slots) and have the same problem until cleaning. The chamber and HS are match tight, but extraction is not the issue. I do imagine the ejector fit is also very precise, and a bit of break-in wear will help some. For a test a box of ammo was cleaned and sprayed with dry lube to evaluate.

 

[Bill K]

Why not try a few cartridges and wipe the lube off the lower 1/2 to 1/3 including the rim and see if they feed well and don't build up the lube on the bolt face.

 

[CharlieNC]

Why not try a few cartridges and wipe the lube off the lower 1/2 to 1/3 including the rim and see if they feed well and don't build up the lube on the bolt face.

Will do. No problem feeding because it's a single shot.

 

[JimSC]

Shooting several brands, the majority is Eley. All eject fine until the lube builds up on the bolt face (and of course the ejector slots) and have the same problem until cleaning. The chamber and HS are match tight, but extraction is not the issue. I do imagine the ejector fit is also very precise, and a bit of break-in wear will help some. For a test a box of ammo was cleaned and sprayed with dry lube to evaluate.

so all ammo causes the rifle to malfunction? I would think that would raise a flag.

That narrows it down though. It could be ejector spring tension, ejector plunger height, or the clearance between the extractor and the bolt face. If any one of these areas is out of spec it can cause ejection problems. You need to take it to a qualified gunsmith familiar with Remingtons.

 

[doclu60]

As for the 'wiping the lube off' comments, fine I guess......but don't get caught if shooting that ammo in a sanctioned match. There are rules against tampering with ammo by the major sanctioning bodies, and wiping off lube definitely would be considered tampering, or modifying factory ammo.

Scott

 

[VLNBYR]

Hundreds of custom benchrest rifles with match chambers never have a lube problem shooting hundreds of cases of Eley. You have a rifle problem.

 

[MrG52D]

Charlie, are you hand loading the rounds into the chamber or placing them on the loading tray? Sounds like your scraping the wax off as they are being chambered.

 

[CharlieNC]

Everything shoots fine for 30 rounds until the lube builds up on the bolt face. And is immediately fine after a simple bolt face cleaning.

 

[CharlieNC]

Charlie, are you hand loading the rounds into the chamber or placing them on the loading tray? Sounds like your scraping the wax off as they are being chambered.

I lay the bullet onto the loading ramp and push it 3/4 into the chamber with my fat fingers as best as I can.

 

[JimSC]

only 3 solutions seem to be available

1. get a gunsmith to look at your rifle and determine why it is susceptible to lube buildup
2. remove the lube , rendering the ammo ineligible for competition
3. Petition all the ammo manufacturers to alter their manufacturing process to accommodate your rifle

I think solution #1 would be the route I would pursue

 

[CharlieNC]

only 3 solutions seem to be available

1. get a gunsmith to look at your rifle and determine why it is susceptible to lube buildup
2. remove the lube , rendering the ammo ineligible for competition
3. Petition all the ammo manufacturers to alter their manufacturing process to accommodate your rifle

I think solution #1 would be the route I would pursue

Well I do like to play gunsmith and see no reason to reinvent the wheel and hoped to learn a solution from those who have experienced this problem, which I read occurs at some rate with tight match chambers/actions.

 

[JimSC]

Well I do like to play gunsmith and see no reason to reinvent the wheel and hoped to learn a solution from those who have experienced this problem, which I read occurs at some rate with tight match chambers/actions.

My 40X wants some ammo to be fired before extraction. It depends on the base to ogive dimension of the ammo but that never stopped it from ejecting a fired round. To me it sounds a bolt/ejector issue but have fun figuring it out