7mm Backcountry Problem

Brad Griffith

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I hope this is the appropriate place for this post. I shot my brand new 7mm BC today for the first time. Weatherby Factory rifle with 307 Action. Beautiful wood, and that is in part why I bought it. Federal Premium 175 grain ammunition with nickel plated cases with advertised velocity of 3150 out of a 24" barrel, and 3000 with a 20" barrel. My rifle has a 20" barrel. I mounted a 4.5-14x Leupold in Leupold Back Country mounts. Bore sighted it. Moved to my 25 yard target. Temperature not over 60 degrees. First shot was with my Titanium Dead Air Nomad Suppressor with a .308 end diameter end cap. Good rest. My shot was close enough to the bullseye that adjustments were not major at all. Yeah, a good bore sight job! :)Also, perceived noise and blast was less than the recoil and blast from my .300 Win Mag Sig Cross for what it is worth. Then, I opened the bolt to load and shoot again. Was not sticky on the upstroke, but I COULD NOT MOVE THE BOLT REARWARD TO REMOVE THE CASE. I called Weatherby today. Spoke with a very nice customer service Rep named Allan. He told me to contact Federal. I had been thinking maybe my chamber was not cut correctly, hence the stuck case. Other wise, I had thought about sending the rifle to Weatherby for a possible re-barrel to .280 AI. Heck, I could (I think? re-chamber it to .280 AI, as the .280 reamer should clean up the 7mm BC chamber completely?) but then, I would only have a 20" .280 AI....which I do not want. Allan went on to say that Federal had some early ammunition that was generating too much pressure, and that he had obviously seen this issue more than once already. Allan mentioned they could re-barrel the rifle for about $680, but that I could not send the rifle until February as they only have one gunsmith doing this type of work.
We will see what Federal says. I gave a Federal Customer Service Rep all the information, but have heard nothing back yet. Since the gun is not going back to Weatherby as of now, and Allan said it was basically Federal's problem, I took a rubber mallet and opened up the action...it was not very difficult, and I know I did not damage anything. Relatively light taps only were required.... Case looked fine EXCEPT for the cratering around the primer itself...photos below....I mean it is cratered. Ex that, case looks fine. Pictures below. WANTED YOU GUYS TO KNOW. Be careful out there.
 

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..unload the gimmick and cut your loses. Life's to short to be dealing with this anxiety on top of everything else.... No animal will ever know the difference whether hit with this promo gimmick or a 7mm rem mag that's been here for 75 years... just not worth the aggravation in my opinion..
 
..unload the gimmick and cut your loses. Life's to short to be dealing with this anxiety on top of everything else.... No animal will ever know the difference whether hit with this promo gimmick or a 7mm rem mag that's been here for 75 years... just not worth the aggravation in my opinion..
Frank, you sir, may be exactly correct! :) I am basically a .30-06 and it's offspring kind of guy. NEVER have I needed more gun. (I do know this is a LR forum :)) I just thought this might be interesting since it is basically a .280AI capacity case made out of steel.....as the post mentioned, I am leaning on simply re-barreling my Weatherby to .280 AI or .30-06 or .30-06 AI. Thank you
 
..that plain Jane ho-hum boring 30/06 will harvest anything that breathes in North America with ease...just use a great bullet and your done.... can you imagine finding casings for the other fake 10 years from now, all fir 200 fps ! NO THANKS, GOT ENOUGH HEADACHES..
 
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1st, you realize the case is steel alloy, not nickel pated brass, right?
2nd, you realize this is an 80k psi cartridge, right?

Only 1 shot?
Is your chamber clean/dry?
Was your barrel clean/oiled?
Did you chrono the shot?
Did you do any measuring of the fired case vs virgin case?
I have seen cratered primers on numerous rifles that were not overpressure. Could be a sloppy loose firing pin hole issue.
How does that .22 cal suppressor look now?
 
..unload the gimmick and cut your loses. Life's to short to be dealing with this anxiety on top of everything else.... No animal will ever know the difference whether hit with this promo gimmick or a 7mm rem mag that's been here for 75 years... just not worth the aggravation in my opinion..
When Frank types in bold, it reminds me of EF Hutton.
Everybody best be listening…
 
What Lance said.
I would be looking at the bolt, firing pin hole. I know a fellow that's had firing pin issues with his 307, that what I would look at. Keep us posted.
 
I never had any Luck with Nickel plated brass, it wouldn't chamber in some chambers. Just a thought.
 

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