Model 700 extraction issue

[Lefty7mmstw]

Lefty- Was yours sticking in the bolt, or the chamber? Once mine "breaks free from the chamber" it ejects fine. It doesn't stick in the bolt that I can tell. Are you referring to them milling the extractor river on the inside of the bolt or the bottom of he outside?

I was having issues with previously fired brass (couple times fired in another rifle) entering and exiting whether fired (either rifle) or sized. New brass would chamber and extract just fine. I milled the extractor rivet a bit and things improved ( they left the rivet looking like a button)... I milled it a bit more and the issues went away entirely. I was able to use another bolt in the rifle to chamber and extract without issues (never did touch one off with the borrowed bolt) so I knew it was in the new bolt. There is a tool to flatten the rivet without removing material; my 'smith has one and I'll borrow it if I ever need to rework a remmy bolt again.

 

[dfanonymous]

Could be a couple of things. Like you said, a poor finish in chamber, excessive pressure or most likely...

This^

I never even put a single reload in mine but i ran a lot of superformance in my .300 win mag in some pretty hot weather....115f in the summer...in the evening. anyways....brought into a local smith and he said the same thing....there were scrapes and issues in the chamber and blamed it on my cleaning....however im one of those guys that after a barrel break in....doesnt clean the bore....so i highly doubt a coated one piece rod and a parkerhale jag and reasonable wet and dry cleaning clothes are what caused it...

 

[Deviant]

First off - great forum lots of knowledge here.

Here's my issue- Remington 700 long range, purchased new. Never fired Norma Brass FL resized, cycles fine loaded and unloaded before first firing. First firing occurs, no stiffness in bolt lift but the cases are hard to extract (some harder than others). I do not have to hit the bolt handle or use a cleaning rod, I just have to pull hard on the handle. There are no pressure signs visible. Once fired brass is hard to chamber, bolt hard to close etc. same after FL resize again. Brass could stand to be trimmed but is not to long per case specs. I have blacked the neck and shoulder with a sharpie and really don't see any indications in that area. The only thing I see at all are a few slight marks that are so shallow I would hesitate to call them scratches on the OD of the case body. These are loacated on the upper half of the body. They are longitudinal.

Some of my research has pointed toward some sort of imperfection in the chamber that needs to be removed. If this is true why are the once fire cases hard to chamber even after they have been resized?

Anybody run into this before? Thoughts?

I had the same issue a while back when breaking in a new 6.5 Creedmoor. About 50% or more of my cases were hard to extract after firing factory Hornady match ammo. It got worse every time I ran a patch with oil down the barrel then a dry patch to follow. After the break-in I have been firing Nosler brass and have had no issues whatsoever.

 

[brentc]

First off - great forum lots of knowledge here.

Here's my issue- Remington 700 long range, purchased new. Never fired Norma Brass FL resized, cycles fine loaded and unloaded before first firing. First firing occurs, no stiffness in bolt lift but the cases are hard to extract (some harder than others). I do not have to hit the bolt handle or use a cleaning rod, I just have to pull hard on the handle. There are no pressure signs visible.

This is absolutely lack of primary extraction. This is too common especially with newer Remington 700s. Your camming surfaces at the rear action bridge and the top of your bolt handle for primary extraction are not engaging each other. Send your bolt to Dan Armstrong at Accu tig and have the bolt handle removed, moved forward, and tig welded back into place. It's an easy fix and well worth the $70 it costs to have done.

If you want more information, do a google search for Remington primary extraction.

 

[Washam71418]

It's lack of primary extraction. This is too common especially with newer Remington 700s. Your camming surfaces at the rear action bridge and the top of your bolt handle for primary extraction are not engaging each other. Send your bolt to Dan Armstrong at Accu tig and have the bolt handle removed, moved forward, and tig welded back into place. It's an easy fix and well worth the $70 it costs to have done.

If you want more information, do a google search for Remington primary extraction.

I've looked into the primary extraction and it's makes sense until I got to thinking about rechambering a case once it had been fired for the first time. Would the bolt being out of whack cause the cases to be hard to chamber as well?

 

[brentc]

I've looked into the primary extraction and it's makes sense until I got to thinking about rechambering a case once it had been fired for the first time. Would the bolt being out of whack cause the cases to be hard to chamber as well?

No. It will only address the extraction portion of your problem.

Rechambering is a separate issue. Are you having problems chambering resized cases?

 

[Washam71418]

No. It will only address the extraction portion of your problem.

Maybe it's lack of primary extraction and resizing die issue combined

 

[brentc]

Maybe it's lack of primary extraction and resizing die issue combined

Yes. You have two separate problems. Take care of the primary extraction first and move to the next problem.

 

[AZShooter]

It appears you had two issues.

One is possible irregular shaped chamber and second is a die that may not be sizing the brass enough.

If you have any virgin cases left to fire try this: make a mark on case body with permanent marker. Carefully load cartridge with the mark in the vertical position. After firing place that case in same position and see how it chambers. Then rotate it in small increments to compare bolt closure effort. You experienced difficulty placing a round back in chamber without sizing but I am certain you had a random position when you put the case back into the chamber.

I'll bet your chamber is not perfectly round or has a low area where brass is flowing causing the difficulty in removing the fired case. You mentioned some scratches on case body. If any brass flowed into low area in chamber removing the fired case would show a shiny area where the irregularity is located.

As to fired and sized cases not fitting, you didn't mention if you have experimented with the depth of the die in the press. Have you reached the point where you are slightly camming the die against the shell holder? If you have sized it as much as you can, cover entire case with layout fluid or a sharpie and carefully place in chamber then close bolt. Remove and look for any contact areas. If entire web area is shiny then your die is not sizing the base enough. This is common with some of the thicker brass cases like the RUM. A custom die from someone like Whidden could with that issue.

When you get back from work and try some things let us know what you find out.

 

[Washam71418]

It appears you had two issues.

One is possible irregular shaped chamber and second is a die that may not be sizing the brass enough.

If you have any virgin cases left to fire try this: make a mark on case body with permanent marker. Carefully load cartridge with the mark in the vertical position. After firing place that case in same position and see how it chambers. Then rotate it in small increments to compare bolt closure effort. You experienced difficulty placing a round back in chamber without sizing but I am certain you had a random position when you put the case back into the chamber.

I'll bet your chamber is not perfectly round or has a low area where brass is flowing causing the difficulty in removing the fired case. You mentioned some scratches on case body. If any brass flowed into low area in chamber removing the fired case would show a shiny area where the irregularity is located.

As to fired and sized cases not fitting, you didn't mention if you have experimented with the depth of the die in the press. Have you reached the point where you are slightly camming the die against the shell holder? If you have sized it as much as you can, cover entire case with layout fluid or a sharpie and carefully place in chamber then close bolt. Remove and look for any contact areas. If entire web area is shiny then your die is not sizing the base enough. This is common with some of the thicker brass cases like the RUM. A custom die from someone like Whidden could with that issue.

When you get back from work and try some things let us know what you find out.

Yes, I screwed my die down until it touched the shellholder (ram fully extended) then retracted ram and screwed in another 1/8-1/4 round. Would that be sufficient?

 

[AZShooter]

Generally light camming would be enough. I had a custom rifle chambered locally and the gunsmith had the headspace on the tight side. Had to grind off some metal from the shell holder which could also be done by removing some metal from end of die. Shellholder is a cheaper way to see if it helps.

My 300 RUM I have now uses a custom reamer. I did the work myself. After a couple of firings the base doesn't size down enough.(same thing happens with my friend's factory Remington 300 RUM) I took a RCBS FL die and using a carbide tool bit I cut through the case hardened surface and removed both ends of die. Polished the openings and now I have a custom small base die. I can adjust it to size the base down enough for easy feeding and extraction. Liked it so much made another for a 338 RCM. IMO some of these cases, WSM included, don't have the right sizing dies to match up with chamber dimensions. The thicker brass won't size down easily and springs back. That is why I suggested if you still have issues with tight brass you could get Whidden or some other company to make you a specialized sizing die to suit your needs.

 

[Washam71418]

Ok, so I'm sure there are 2 issues. The once fired shell not wanting to chamber was solved by screwing my die down another 1/4 turn for a total of 1/2 turn past contact with the shellholder with ram extended. It doesn't cam all the way over but it was enough to make the cases chamber and extract as they should. The issue of extraction after initial firing looks to be a primary extraction problem. From what I can tell the cam surfaces don't even touch when the bolt is lifted. With the bolt down there should be a max of .010 clearance between the front of the handle and the back of the action, mine is about .014. I guess I'll just have a Smith fix that. I'd rather not deal with Remington.....

 

[Edd]

With the bolt down there should be a max of .010 clearance between the front of the handle and the back of the action, mine is about .014. I guess I'll just have a Smith fix that. I'd rather not deal with Remington.....

I don't know where you got those numbers but your issue isn't .004" too much clearance. If you have .014" clearance and your handle will move to the top of the stroke without any rearward movement, your cams need to be recut.

I have actions that have more than .014" clearance and still have about .060" cam movement.

 

[Methow Packer]

New cases chamber fine and fired cases don't whether resized or not.

Check your FL die adjustment to make sure the ram cams over not just touching the die at the top. Surprisingly you'll find it will move the shoulder back more if the ram cams over. My guess the case is resized OK but the headspace is too long