700 SPS Feed Problems

[planalpha]

Hi Experts-
I recently purchased my first LR rifle, a Remington 700 SPS Varmint in .308, and I'm having a problem with it not stripping rounds off when cycled. Being a newb, I'm not sure if maybe I'm doing incorrectly or if perhaps I'm just missing something. When I stuff the thing full of the 180 grain cartridges I have I notice there is some latitude on where I put them in. Should I be pushing them all to the rear or to the front or does it matter? Thanks in advance!

 

[deadly0311]

Re: 700 SPS Feed Problems

Make sure that they are "pushed" back to the rear of the mag box

 

[Lowlight]

Re: 700 SPS Feed Problems

All the way to the rear.

Try starting off with one round less in the well, with them all the way back and see how it works.

 

[planalpha]

Re: 700 SPS Feed Problems

OK, heading to the range to try it out.
Thanks, all!

 

[Keith Johns]

Re: 700 SPS Feed Problems

You can see how it feeds in your living room.

I had a problem with an SPS not feeding rounds out of the mag.
The bolt would pass right over the top of the rounds.

Is this what your experiencing?

 

[Elxx]

Re: 700 SPS Feed Problems

I had the same problem, bolt would go right over the round. Definitely make sure the rounds are all the way back. You can tell if its too forward if the bullet is touching the feed ramp.

 

[planalpha]

Re: 700 SPS Feed Problems

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: AZPrecision</div><div class="ubbcode-body">You can see how it feeds in your living room.

I had a problem with an SPS not feeding rounds out of the mag.
The bolt would pass right over the top of the rounds.

Is this what your experiencing?</div></div>

Yes, this is exactly what's happening. I tried this out at the range today and made sure to keep them toward the rear and it seemed to help, but the first one is hit and miss. The rest of them catch correctly but it really seems to torque them getting them into battery and it requires quite a bit of force sometimes.
Normal?

Thanks again!

 

[Bigzams]

Re: 700 SPS Feed Problems

I had the same with my Rem 700 but like the others said it was my loading that was causing the issue. I bought me some snap caps 3 packs worth and practiced loading,dry firing,trigger pull,cycling and dumping the mag out till my fingers were raw.

Even now on a rainy day or when I can not make it to the range I still use them at home.
-Z

 

[Keith Johns]

Re: 700 SPS Feed Problems

I was told to try bending the mag spring so that more upward pressure is put on the rear of the follower.

Not sure that alone helped much, but after messing with it over a few months of shooting, it feeds much better now.

I have an idea of how to fix it for sure. Mignt try it if I need to.

 

[Queequeg]

Re: 700 SPS Feed Problems

Don't forget to check the way the mag box is seated in its well. It should be a little loose in there. It's a seperate box that can get bound when reattaching the action to the stock. If it is tight it can be a little mis-aligned and can cause the same problem you describe.

Did this happen before disassembly?

 

[planalpha]

Re: 700 SPS Feed Problems

New rifle. I've never taken it apart to clean it yet. I'll check it out when I clean it which it needs pretty bad.
I'll check it out and see.

Thanks!

 

[CK_32]

Re: 700 SPS Feed Problems

Check out the AGI videos.. He talks about this and several other common problems with easy solutions with the 700. They break the rifle down and explain how everything works and little tweaks you can do to fix problems like these.


They have several other videos on almost all types of guns as well. Look up AGI on Youtube for a quick teaser of a few of the videos.

 

[planalpha]

Re: 700 SPS Feed Problems

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: AZPrecision</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I was told to try bending the mag spring so that more upward pressure is put on the rear of the follower.

Not sure that alone helped much, but after messing with it over a few months of shooting, it feeds much better now.

I have an idea of how to fix it for sure. Mignt try it if I need to.</div></div>
Keith-
I've cycled around 400 rounds through it and it's still very inconsistent. It appears that the rear of the cartridge is too low and the bolt just misses it and contacts the side of the case pushing it down. You said you had an idea how to fix it for sure. Care to share?

Thanks!!

 

[chucknelson]

Re: 700 SPS Feed Problems

Make sure the box is seated in the well correctly and squarely and open the back of the lips on the magazine box slightly working forward if you need to. If the cartridge does not meet the underside of the rails the bolt will ride over the cartridge.

 

[762slinger]

Re: 700 SPS Feed Problems

When I had a similar problem I replaced the mag spring. Solved the problem. Since yours was new, it may be that you had a bad spring.
Hope you get it worked out.

 

[overgunned]

Re: 700 SPS Feed Problems

I have found the spring to be the problem on one also......

 

[popeye089]

Re: 700 SPS Feed Problems

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: CK_32</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Check out the AGI videos.. He talks about this and several other common problems with easy solutions with the 700. They break the rifle down and explain how everything works and little tweaks you can do to fix problems like these.


They have several other videos on almost all types of guns as well. Look up AGI on Youtube for a quick teaser of a few of the videos. </div></div>

+1 I bought this video and you won't believe how much simple but important knowledge you learn. Only 50 bucks. You figure after all the thousands you might spend on your rig isn't 50 dollars worth it to be self reliant on simple fixes. It can be a couple things from improperly formed feed lips to the spring, get the vid well worth the money

 

[planalpha]

Re: 700 SPS Feed Problems

I changed the stock out yesterday and while I had it apart noticed the magbox seam was not even, only touching on one end. I bent it strait and also stretched out the spring focusing mainly on the rear. I put the rifle back together and press out some cartridges without primers/powder and tried it out. Not one misfeed! I ran them through a dozen times and it ran fine. I hope it's fixed but we'll see how she does on the line where it normally malfunctions.

Thanks all!

 

[planalpha]

Re: 700 SPS Feed Problems

Hmmmm. I took it out to the range today and it's still feeding poorly.

The four dummy rounds feed perfectly every time so I'm wondering if the recoil has something to do with it.
Grrrr...

Time to start digging deeper.

 

[LoneWolfUSMC]

Re: 700 SPS Feed Problems

Bending the spring will fix the problem. You need to bend it SLIGHTLY to put the head of the case higher in the mag. Bend in the middle of the spring, NOT in the "elbow".

I had to do this on one of our new LTR's. It's not unheard of.