Whether it's bolt or chamber, I liked your closing phrase, Wv. And I wish the whole bunch of LRHunting readers the same: Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and God bless.And I say it is a ruff chamber and as you haven't shot it in a while it may have oxidized in the chamber I think you had it polished the last time try polishing it again I bet is clears up this has happened to me in the past it can't hurt Merry Christmas and God bless
Hey Chadp82, I also reload and have been having major issues (see my 2 replies above). I have done the following to try and fix the problem, but have resigned myself to not using the specific bullet causing the jamming - Federal 150 gr Power-Shok softpoints.Hope you can figure this out.
I have an A-Bolt 280 Remington and it shoots great! I will say I reload. First time loading for it, checked fitment and cycling with a couple of seated bullets, no powder or primer, and everything was good to go... or so it seemed. I had two issues, which seemed to be related. First issue was at the range, shot through 10-15 reloads, then I would get an occasion where I couldn't get the rifle to load from the magazine. Everything was fine if I loaded as a single shot, so determined something with OAL or something with the feeding. Then as single shot it started to do what you mentioned. When I got home I checked OAL, was right at the max. Removed the magazine and pushed the round forward with my finger and realized the edge of the case was hanging up slightly. A little polishing on the edge of the magazine at the point it was catching seemed to resolve this but the tight bolt/extraction after shooting was another issue. I was not loading hot but thought maybe a pressure issue. Loaded some up at lowest level with another powder (that would yield lower pressure). Went to the range again. magazine issue resolved, but occasional tight bolt. I tried some factory ammo and same thing. I cleaned thoroughly and inspected some unfired cases. I found some of my reloads were .001-.002 over trim length, but still within the range for case length. Since then I have made sure to run them right at trim length and double check deburring. I inspected the factory loads and noticed there were very slight deviations in length of case as well. I did two things to resolve my issue. Slightly polished ramp and feed area with a scotch brite pad, as I did not see any burrs or irregularities, cleaned chamber very thoroughly, and I do a more through check to make sure the case length is dead on trim length. Since this, no issues. I think part of this is due to break-in and another part was my attention to detail on the trim length. Since you don't reload, if you have a friend that does, it may be worth borrowing a caliper and checking the ammo you are using for case length irregularities. This solved my issue, but not sure if it will help you. Mine is sensitive to case length it seems. Now that it is well broken in, I have not had any issues resurface. Good luck!