I have been wanting to write this post for quite some time now. It's been nearly 2-1/2 years since I purchased my Cheytac M-200 Intervention sniper rifle system. Sadly, the rifle that I was hoping to be the centerpiece of my collection, fizzled out before it even began, so to speak.
When I first received my new rifle, I cleaned it according to the manufacturer's instructions to the letter. After firing nearly 12 rounds or so, I encountered several problems almost instantly. First, everytime that I would eject a spent casing, the magazine would fall out of the magazine well. On top of that, the bolt also locked up about mid-way through cycling a round and became severely stuck on top of the magazine itself. It took me several attempts to gently tap the stuck bolt back to the open position with a series of different rubber mattets. At this point, I was beyond upset and for good reason, considering what the whole package deal cost me (around $16,000.00). Also, I couldn't get the gun to pattern for nothing, even if it was only twelve shots.
As a result, I then contacted Cheyenne Tactical (Cheytac) and told them what had happened. I got several different answers, but nothing could really explain it. I finally got in contact with Cheytac's "Master Armorer", Dave Durham. He instructed me to send him back the rifle and he would try to repair it and send it back to me within a couple of days (Everyone was getting ready to leave for that year's Shot-Show. Anyway, a few days later, I was able to pick up my "repaired" rifle from my local FFL dealer and take it home and try it once again.
When I attempted to test the rifle again, this time instead of the magazine falling out of the magazine well with only one bullet in the gun, I could now cycle the gun almost three times when firing and then the magazine would fall out of the magazine well. It was like this when using either one of the two supplied magazines. The next problem, was that I couldn't get the M-200 to group any better than three to three and half inches at best at 100 yards for zero. At this point in time, I didn't feel like dealing anymore with Cheytac or their experts. Instead, I ended up purchasing a total of three cases of Cheytac ammo (198 rounds per case at around $1,300.00 per case), thinking that it had to be a problem with the ammo. It took me almost three years to find out that I was wrong about the ammo.
Recently, I sent an email to the ammunition department of Cheytac, inquiring as to what would be the best way to purchase a bulk supply of the 419 grain bullets, so that I could possibly try to work up a handload for my M-200. A day later, I received an email reply from the folks at Jamison International, who manufacture the ammo for the Cheytac instead. Little did I know, this would in fact, turn out to be the best thing that I ever did for my Cheytac rifle.
I was put in contact with the owner and president of Jamison International, Mr. Marc Jamison. He and I discussed on the phone the problems that I was having with my Cheytac M-200 system, and he told me that if I were to either bring it up to his place of business in Sturgis, South Dakota or send it to him through my local FFL dealer, that he would take care of the matter for me personally. You can only imagine the relief that I felt at this point. As it turns out, a week later, me and my best friend and long-time shooting partner, headed out for South Dakota with my M-200 in tow. It took us around 12 hours or so of driving, but the trip turned out to be well worth the effort. Let me say this; Marc and Chris at Jamison International are a wealth of information when dealing with anything in either the ammunition and or the firearms industry. I sat down with these gentlemen and explained the entire history of my problems with my Cheytac rifle and then that's when Marc and Chris went to work, doing what they do best!! Below, I am going to try to give a complete list of everything that Marc and Chris at Jamison found wrong with my rifle and what they did to rectify and repair the problems that were found:
__________________________________________________
ITEMIZED INSPECTION:
-Removed optics.
-Verified chamber, bore and rifling were free of obstruction or debris.
-Checked barrel for locking position, and ring tightness.
-Checked bolt for serial number. No serial number present. Wear marks on under-side of bolt. Customer verified wear caused by improperly fitted magazines.
-Checked receiver and chamber against Go gauge. Bolt closed smoothly on GO.
-Checked against No-Go gauge (+0.005). Bolt closed smoothly on No-Go.
-Checked against field gauge (+0.009). Bolt closed smoothly on field.
-Checked again JI plus headspace gauge set to (+0.015). Bolt closed smoothly on +0.015.
-Re-checked against JI plus headspace gauge set to (+0.017). Bolt locked at 2 o'clock position. No-Go = +0.017.
-Checked chamber against .408 Cheytac minimum chamber function gauge. Gauge will not close in chamber.
-Color coated .408 Cheytac minimum chamber function gauge. Markings on gauge indicated chamber neck undersized for minimum chamber. Minimum neck internal diameter - 0.442.
__________________________________________________________
ITEMIZED REPAIRS:
-Rifle disassembled. Barrel removed.
-Barrel placed in fixture and indicated (0.0003).
-Chamber cleaned and bore cleared .408 Cheytac minimum chamber function gauge. Dropped in Barrel. Ok.
-Barrel re-fit to receiver and locked down.
-Re-check headspace JI plus headspace gauge set to (+0.018). Bolt locked at 2 o'clock position. Re-cut chamber No-Go = +0.018.
-Barrel removed and re-fixtured for refitting.
-Barrel face cut (-0.017).
-Barrel step cut (-0.017).
-All sharp corners de-burred: Chamber lightly polished, wiped clean and bore cleared. Barrel re-attached to receiver.
-Checked receiver and chamber against Go-gauge. Bolt closed smoothly on Go.
-Checked against No-Go. Bolt locked at 2 o'clock position. Proper headspace established.
-Receiver and chamber checked against .408 Cheytac minimum chamber function gauge (color coated). Bolt closed on gauge with ease, gauge extracted with minimum disturbance to color coat. Minimum chamber established.
-Muzzle crown checked-Ok.
-Magazine #1 set up parallel. Magazine ears cut at (-0.025) an de-burred. Magazine locked in action and held under pressure in the up-most position. Drag still present on bottom of bolt.
-Magazine #1 returned to machine shop and re-cut additional (-0.020)and deburred. Magazine locked in action and held in up-most position under pressure. Magazine ears clear of bolt completely. No drag on bolt.
-Magazine #2 set up parellel. Magazine ears decked down (-0.045). Magazine ears clear of bolt. No drag on bolt.
-Bolt was now inscribed with matching serial number.
-Complete re-assembly of rifle.
-Rifle sent for live-fire testing. New factory match-grade .408 Cheytac ammo. Customer verified rifle accuracy. Witnessed by Marc Jamison, owner of Jamison International.
As you all can see by everything stated above, it's no wonder that my M-200 was never able to pattern descent groups at 100 yards. At this point, the only other thing that I need to do, as per instructed by Marc and Chris, is to replace the factory trigger with a Jewell trigger, pre-set to around 2 pounds for pull. The order is already in and I should be receiving my new trigger in about three weeks. Also, my rifle now cycles ammo flawlessly, without jamming and I am also now able to load a full magazine of shells, without the magazine falling out of the magazine well. I am really looking forward to getting my Cheytac M-200 back into the game!! It would never have been possible without the superior knowledge, experience and expertise of Marc, Chris and the whole crew at Jamison International.
So, boy and girls, let it be known, that if you already own a Cheytac M-200 Intervention and are experiencing problems, do yourselves a huge favor and call up the crew at Jamison International and set up an appointment with these guys. I was fortunate enough to not only get my gun repaired correctly, but I also made some really good friends and a friendship that I can enjoy for a long time to come.
In closing, a heart-felt thanks and apology goes out to Jamison International. As it turns out, the problem was the rifle itself, not the ammunition.
Until next time, KEEP YOUR POWDER DRY!!
When I first received my new rifle, I cleaned it according to the manufacturer's instructions to the letter. After firing nearly 12 rounds or so, I encountered several problems almost instantly. First, everytime that I would eject a spent casing, the magazine would fall out of the magazine well. On top of that, the bolt also locked up about mid-way through cycling a round and became severely stuck on top of the magazine itself. It took me several attempts to gently tap the stuck bolt back to the open position with a series of different rubber mattets. At this point, I was beyond upset and for good reason, considering what the whole package deal cost me (around $16,000.00). Also, I couldn't get the gun to pattern for nothing, even if it was only twelve shots.
As a result, I then contacted Cheyenne Tactical (Cheytac) and told them what had happened. I got several different answers, but nothing could really explain it. I finally got in contact with Cheytac's "Master Armorer", Dave Durham. He instructed me to send him back the rifle and he would try to repair it and send it back to me within a couple of days (Everyone was getting ready to leave for that year's Shot-Show. Anyway, a few days later, I was able to pick up my "repaired" rifle from my local FFL dealer and take it home and try it once again.
When I attempted to test the rifle again, this time instead of the magazine falling out of the magazine well with only one bullet in the gun, I could now cycle the gun almost three times when firing and then the magazine would fall out of the magazine well. It was like this when using either one of the two supplied magazines. The next problem, was that I couldn't get the M-200 to group any better than three to three and half inches at best at 100 yards for zero. At this point in time, I didn't feel like dealing anymore with Cheytac or their experts. Instead, I ended up purchasing a total of three cases of Cheytac ammo (198 rounds per case at around $1,300.00 per case), thinking that it had to be a problem with the ammo. It took me almost three years to find out that I was wrong about the ammo.
Recently, I sent an email to the ammunition department of Cheytac, inquiring as to what would be the best way to purchase a bulk supply of the 419 grain bullets, so that I could possibly try to work up a handload for my M-200. A day later, I received an email reply from the folks at Jamison International, who manufacture the ammo for the Cheytac instead. Little did I know, this would in fact, turn out to be the best thing that I ever did for my Cheytac rifle.
I was put in contact with the owner and president of Jamison International, Mr. Marc Jamison. He and I discussed on the phone the problems that I was having with my Cheytac M-200 system, and he told me that if I were to either bring it up to his place of business in Sturgis, South Dakota or send it to him through my local FFL dealer, that he would take care of the matter for me personally. You can only imagine the relief that I felt at this point. As it turns out, a week later, me and my best friend and long-time shooting partner, headed out for South Dakota with my M-200 in tow. It took us around 12 hours or so of driving, but the trip turned out to be well worth the effort. Let me say this; Marc and Chris at Jamison International are a wealth of information when dealing with anything in either the ammunition and or the firearms industry. I sat down with these gentlemen and explained the entire history of my problems with my Cheytac rifle and then that's when Marc and Chris went to work, doing what they do best!! Below, I am going to try to give a complete list of everything that Marc and Chris at Jamison found wrong with my rifle and what they did to rectify and repair the problems that were found:
__________________________________________________
ITEMIZED INSPECTION:
-Removed optics.
-Verified chamber, bore and rifling were free of obstruction or debris.
-Checked barrel for locking position, and ring tightness.
-Checked bolt for serial number. No serial number present. Wear marks on under-side of bolt. Customer verified wear caused by improperly fitted magazines.
-Checked receiver and chamber against Go gauge. Bolt closed smoothly on GO.
-Checked against No-Go gauge (+0.005). Bolt closed smoothly on No-Go.
-Checked against field gauge (+0.009). Bolt closed smoothly on field.
-Checked again JI plus headspace gauge set to (+0.015). Bolt closed smoothly on +0.015.
-Re-checked against JI plus headspace gauge set to (+0.017). Bolt locked at 2 o'clock position. No-Go = +0.017.
-Checked chamber against .408 Cheytac minimum chamber function gauge. Gauge will not close in chamber.
-Color coated .408 Cheytac minimum chamber function gauge. Markings on gauge indicated chamber neck undersized for minimum chamber. Minimum neck internal diameter - 0.442.
__________________________________________________________
ITEMIZED REPAIRS:
-Rifle disassembled. Barrel removed.
-Barrel placed in fixture and indicated (0.0003).
-Chamber cleaned and bore cleared .408 Cheytac minimum chamber function gauge. Dropped in Barrel. Ok.
-Barrel re-fit to receiver and locked down.
-Re-check headspace JI plus headspace gauge set to (+0.018). Bolt locked at 2 o'clock position. Re-cut chamber No-Go = +0.018.
-Barrel removed and re-fixtured for refitting.
-Barrel face cut (-0.017).
-Barrel step cut (-0.017).
-All sharp corners de-burred: Chamber lightly polished, wiped clean and bore cleared. Barrel re-attached to receiver.
-Checked receiver and chamber against Go-gauge. Bolt closed smoothly on Go.
-Checked against No-Go. Bolt locked at 2 o'clock position. Proper headspace established.
-Receiver and chamber checked against .408 Cheytac minimum chamber function gauge (color coated). Bolt closed on gauge with ease, gauge extracted with minimum disturbance to color coat. Minimum chamber established.
-Muzzle crown checked-Ok.
-Magazine #1 set up parallel. Magazine ears cut at (-0.025) an de-burred. Magazine locked in action and held under pressure in the up-most position. Drag still present on bottom of bolt.
-Magazine #1 returned to machine shop and re-cut additional (-0.020)and deburred. Magazine locked in action and held in up-most position under pressure. Magazine ears clear of bolt completely. No drag on bolt.
-Magazine #2 set up parellel. Magazine ears decked down (-0.045). Magazine ears clear of bolt. No drag on bolt.
-Bolt was now inscribed with matching serial number.
-Complete re-assembly of rifle.
-Rifle sent for live-fire testing. New factory match-grade .408 Cheytac ammo. Customer verified rifle accuracy. Witnessed by Marc Jamison, owner of Jamison International.
As you all can see by everything stated above, it's no wonder that my M-200 was never able to pattern descent groups at 100 yards. At this point, the only other thing that I need to do, as per instructed by Marc and Chris, is to replace the factory trigger with a Jewell trigger, pre-set to around 2 pounds for pull. The order is already in and I should be receiving my new trigger in about three weeks. Also, my rifle now cycles ammo flawlessly, without jamming and I am also now able to load a full magazine of shells, without the magazine falling out of the magazine well. I am really looking forward to getting my Cheytac M-200 back into the game!! It would never have been possible without the superior knowledge, experience and expertise of Marc, Chris and the whole crew at Jamison International.
So, boy and girls, let it be known, that if you already own a Cheytac M-200 Intervention and are experiencing problems, do yourselves a huge favor and call up the crew at Jamison International and set up an appointment with these guys. I was fortunate enough to not only get my gun repaired correctly, but I also made some really good friends and a friendship that I can enjoy for a long time to come.
In closing, a heart-felt thanks and apology goes out to Jamison International. As it turns out, the problem was the rifle itself, not the ammunition.
Until next time, KEEP YOUR POWDER DRY!!
