Goober inside Rem 700 bolt: problem or not?

[carbonbased]

So, I have this 223 Remington 5R that I bought new on a whim a few years ago and haven’t shot much. Maybe 200 rds. 300 tops, all range shooting. No problems up until this point.

A couple of weeks ago I was shooting outside at 5°F. I had about 10 light primer strikes on a range of cheap brass-cases ammo. Winchester 55gr white box, Winchester M855, and Federal 5.56 FXM193X was the ammo. On some I tried recocking and shooting them again and nada.

So, I laid them aside and later that day I used them in my AR. All but one fired.

So, I figured it was oil/grease thickening up in the cold. I’ve disassembled the bolt (except the plunger) degreased it entirely. Inside the bolt body, I saw some “goobers” that aren’t present in my other Rem 700, but this is the first time I’ve ever disassembled a bolt and firing pin.

Here is the view inside the bolt body:

On the firing pin itself I saw a mark whose size corresponds to the big goober, but I forgot to eyeball if it lined up with the goober once installed. The mark is a finish sort of mark, with perhaps the very slightest indentation. Can’t feel it with a fingernail, however.

The firing pin assembly and bolt interior did not have any grease present, and in fact the firing pin had a little rust! Keep in mind this gun has never been used in the field, it’s just a range toy at this point.

So is this a problem? If so, how does a gunsmith fix this? Just want to know so some loser ‘smith doesn’t blow smoke up the unsuspecting Wha-Wha and ruin the bolt.

Apologies if I should’ve posted in the Armory forum…

 

[BLEE]

Have you tried lightly scraping them off with a pick? Sure look like weld splatter, or lead.

 

[carbonbased]

Have you tried lightly scraping them off with a pick? Sure look like weld splatter, or lead.

Tried with a pick, but the only long pick I have obscures my view. I “think” I got it into correct position once and felt it. But it’s so hard to get in there…I need to buy slender dental picks.

Do they have a weld in there?

 

[BLEE]

Tried with a pick, but the only long pick I have obscures my view. I “think” I got it into correct position once and felt it. But it’s so hard to get in there…I need to buy slender dental picks.

Do they have a weld in there?

Not that I'm aware of. That area is cut with the reamer, upon chambering. I bet someone here has seen that exact issue, though.

 

[Zuul]

I have a 223 SPS (2005 ish build date I think), that was put together at the height of REM’s meth built madness. Action had chunks of shit in it that scored the top of the lugs the first time I cycled it. I’m glad to see the party didn’t stop then. Give it the old college try with a pick/flat head and see if you can’t pop the AIDS out of it.

 

[carbonbased]

I have a 223 SPS (2005 ish build date I think), that was put together at the height of REM’s meth built madness. Action had chunks of shit in it that scored the top of the lugs the first time I cycled it. I’m glad to see the party didn’t stop then. Give it the old college try with a pick/flat head and see if you can’t pop the AIDS out of it.

Well, I think I’ll try the gun shop I bought it from first. They offer a lifetime warranty, and it has previously paid off in spades.

Guns, even most new ones, are like old mechanical watches, always needing some damn tune-up! Grumble grumble

 

[Shooter71]

One of them is the bottom of the ejector spring.

 

[carbonbased]

One of them is the bottom of the ejector spring.

Is that the small or big lump? I think I saw a small lump in my other Rem, but it was not clean and I thought I was imagining things.

 

[supercorndogs]

Big lump, you can see your ejector from the front too. Its opposite of the bolt handle so it ejects brass from the port, instead of the inside of the action.

 

[FALex]

Do you have the factory trigger in your Remington? The ammo you listed does use a hard-cupped primer.

Unfortunately, you don't have pics of the primers. Did you look at them? If so, did you compare the indentation made on those rounds vs rounds that fired?

Does the firing pin assembly screw in smoothly?

Anyhow, I'm certainly no gunsmith. Just a ding dong who has been shooting and reloading for a few minutes.

 

[FuhQ]

I have a 223 SPS (2005 ish build date I think), that was put together at the height of REM’s meth built madness. Action had chunks of shit in it that scored the top of the lugs the first time I cycled it. I’m glad to see the party didn’t stop then. Give it the old college try with a pick/flat head and see if you can’t pop the AIDS out of it.

I'm a lifelong 700 fanboy, and this is just funny! I have seen some shit rifles they've put out over the last 10-15 years. Like QC/QA is non-existent.

I hope this new Vista buyout will fix all that. They turned Savage around from shit to desirable. If they can do that with those crappy designed ripoff actions, i'm sure they can do that with original (Remington 700), too.

 

[carbonbased]

Do you have the factory trigger in your Remington? The ammo you listed does use a hard-cupped primer.

Unfortunately, you don't have pics of the primers. Did you look at them? If so, did you compare the indentation made on those rounds vs rounds that fired?

Does the firing pin assembly screw in smoothly?

Anyhow, I'm certainly no gunsmith. Just a ding dong who has been shooting and reloading for a few minutes.

I don’t have pics, but can get them. Shot rounds have a deep FP indentation and the duds have light dents.

After cleaning the bolt and receiver with acetone to strip out any oil (there was no grease, even inside the bolt), I lightly lubed it up with Mobil One 0W-20 and went out yesterday at 10°F. The firing pin assembly does screw in and out smoothly.

Same darn thing, only I paid a bit more attention to what rounds didn’t work and which did.

Winchester 55gr white box and Federal 5.56 FXM193X had problems, whereas Fiocchi 40g Vmax and 77gr match ammo with SMK (forgot the brand) worked fine. Forgot to use that M855 stuff.

I appreciate the guess on the trigger. The trigger is one I pulled off a Bergara Premier when I upgraded that gun to a Bix ‘n Andy. It’s a Trigger Tech Primary, I believe, but it’s not meant for regular Rem 700’s because it doesn’t have bolt release ability. It was just lying around and I installed it, thinking I could add the bolt release afterwards. Found out later, after a call to TT, nope!

Anyway, that’s the prime culprit now. I’ll swap that out before I haul the gun back into the shop.

Appreciate the help, everyone.

 

[308pirate]

I hope this new Vista buyout will fix all that.

Vista didn't buy Remington's firearm business. Just the ammo.

 

[Pappasniper]

I have that exact rifle and is one, if not my favorite rifle and shoots sub Mao all day long with multiple ammo types. Shoot to 1,000 yards weekly and is the best trainer on planet earth IMHO. Hopefully the rust was preventing the firing pin the velocity it needed. I put in some of those shitty light weight firing pins and got light primers strikes out the ass in my other Remmy builds. You didn't put a lighter firing pin assemble in did you?

Good luck with your LGS and maybe another scrape fest. Get that rifle up and running, it is a jewel.

PB