Brand new rifle stuck casings

[Rteague77]

Have a brand new Howa 1500 in 300 win.

First 40 rounds down the barrel and 1/2 of them sticking in the chamber. Stuck so hard had to hit the bolt handle with my palm to get them to release. Ammo was off the shelf new rounds 180gn Federal hunting ammo, Chrome casings.

Got home cleaned the chamber, inspected chamber, no issues I can find. Had some once fired brass casings. Ran about 40 rds in and out to see if they would stick too. About 10 of them stuck but not as near as bad as on the range. Just had to jiggle the handle a little bit and they’d release. The brass ones that stuck were also hard to close the bolt. No issues with tightness in closing the bolt on the new rounds.

Wondering if it’s just because it’s so tight and new? But never had any other rifle act like this.

Thanks for any help!

 

[oldrifleman]

I am wondering if the chamber finish could be a bit rough or slightly undersized.

 

[Aftermath]

When you say you inspected the chamber, how? It should be a mirror finish. It sure would not hurt to clean using an abrasive such as JB or some valve grinding compound to be sure there is no residual preservative coating. I'm not saying to try to hone it larger, just a very thorough cleaning. Be sure to rinse it out thoroughly afterwards, leaving bare metal.

I'd use some go/no go gauges, too.

Were those once fired cases fired in your rifle? If not, they are just fire formed to another rifle, so that's not a great test of anything.

However, now you do have some fire formed brass from your chamber. I'd full length resize maybe 10 of those and see what happens. If those are sticky, I'd send the rifle in to Howa for their inspection and remedy.

If you don't want to send it in, you can use a piece of brass and some valve grinding compound to hone it a little. It's simple. You can use one of the cases that Hornady sells for their chamber gauges, or make a similar. If you can cut threads for a cleaning rod, attach that case to the cleaning rod and apply a thin, even coat of valve grinding compound (800 grit or higher) and simply twist that case about 20 times while applying even, steady, but light pressure. Clean it real good and test. If it's still sticking, do it again. Realize the case you use will be trashed and should be tossed when you are done. A chrome one would be the one I'd use just because it would last a bit longer.

You can also just cut a slot in the case head, across the primer hole, and use a screwdriver.

If you use a sharpie, you can see where the case is rubbing/sticking.

 

[45-90]

Easy button....Try several brands of factory ammo to see if the it occurs with any of those brands and bullet weights.

 

[FuhQ]

It's not because it's new, it's because it's a Howa... Get the case out, send it on down the road, and get something better. Not trying to be a dick, but I did own one many many years ago, and their QC wasn't any better back then...Which is why I only had it for a couple years, then traded it off.

 

[stello1001]

Did you have the ammo in the sun?
I'm thinking maybe the ammo was a bit on the hot side and what you experienced was pressure signs.

 

[Slides]

I have had a similar issue with factory Hornady 300winmag in a custom barrel cut with a Manson reamer. Going to swap the 7PRC barrel onto the action to see if they run OK. I'm thinking I might have to get the Smith to run the reamer a touch deeper.

 

[45-90]

The 300 Win Mag as with all belted mags, they headspace off the belt, so one go gauge fits all the belted mags of the same case head size, example 338 win mag, 300 win mag, 7mm rem mag, all use the same go- gauge...off the belt.
So running the chamber deeper to fit the rest of the cartridge case will put the headspace out of print.
The headspace is set by the belt, so one has to adjust the FL die to size the rest of the cartridge case. Or custom dies for custom chamber not able to be covered by a factory die.
Been shooting belted mags for 50 yrs, 7mm, 300, 338, 350 mag, none has ever given any trouble, with mostly factory chambers and factory reloading dies.
All handloads no factory ever fired in any of them.
Just FL size to set the fired case shoulder about. 002" back from fired case shoulder position.
Most factory rifles are fired with a proof load, so any problems with extraction should be presented to the test shooter.
That's why I suggested trying several factory loads before complaining about the rifles function....after they show the same problem, then it’s time to be concerned and send it back, with fired case samples, that were problematic, from the several brands of ammo. If it turns out only to be one Federal loading....don't use that loading. And don't worry about it.

 

[45-90]

So much miss information on this site.
Here is a belted magnum headspace gauge, next to just 3 of the many .535 " belted magnums its capable of checking headspace on.
Their case bodies are all different but the case head from the back of the rim to the front of belt are all the same.
So nothing can be corrected past the front edge of the case belt, as that IS your headspace distance.
Running a belted magnum finish reamer deeper will take your chamber out of print, with excessive headspace, and out of industry standards for the belted magnum.

 

[ShtrRdy]

It kinda sounds like the primary extraction timing is off.