Gunsmithing HELP Please- bolt closing issue

[Cat64]

I went to the range today and after a few rounds I realized in order to close my bolt all of a sudden requires increasingly more effort. I did not have this issue before. Shot maybe 800 rounds with this Savage Target Action single shot RBLP. I tried cycling the spent cases and could not even close the bolt on those. This are brand new Lapua cases at the first firing. Came home and put in the receiver my Go Gage I used recently to mount/headspace the new barrel on this gun (6.5x47 Lapua). I can't even close the bolt. When I left for the range I tried a few loaded cartridges and the bolt closed fine. What is more ironic is that I have an exact replica of this action waiting to be mounted on a new build. I tried the bolt assembly from this other action and it works just fine. Please help. What must I do to fix this problem.

 

[Service_Shooter]

Check the barrel nut, sounds like it may have come loose on you. Especially since you state that the barrel has just been newly attached to the action.

 

[Cat64]

I thought so. But it is in place just fine and tight. My dilemma is increased by the fact the other bolt I have -identical - closes just fine.

 

[Cat64]

When I finished assembling the new barrel I made a witness mark on the barrel and nut. They are aligned perfectly. The barrel did not move.

 

[Mike_in_FL]

That's all fine, however if it isn't closing on your go gauge you need to reset it. When I installed a pre-fit I did it twice due to similar results. I ended up torquing the barrel nut with the go gauge in the chamber, no more problems.

 

[agbm]

The barrel has just moved in some, just reset it like Mike_in _ FL said above. Make sure to leave go gauge in when re-installing it. Thank God three were no accidents, to much head space and Bad juju happens. To little head space bolt does not close or you close it and can't get back open after firing. If it takes you 30 minutes to get correct setup so be it. Barrel swaps are so easy with the nut, but it's got to be precise!!!!! If you have a wrench that fits your nut it really helps.

 

[BoilerUP]

Nut might be tight...but see if you can hand-twist the barrel all the same.

 

[jonaddis84]

Check make sure your ejector can be pushed all the way down to/past the bolt face, also make sure no chunks of carbon got in there anywhere.

If none of those, as stated, reset headspace.

 

[Cat64]

I will re headspace tomorrow morning and report the findings. Thank you all.

 

[anon]

I thought so. But it is in place just fine and tight. My dilemma is increased by the fact the other bolt I have -identical - closes just fine.

It would be interesting to know if the extractor moves freely. It slides 90 degrees to the bore. Don't lose the detent ball.

I had bought a 223 bolt face action and a bare 308 bolt head to use with another barrel while I wait for the 223 barrel that was not in stock. I noticed that the bolt baffles were different but missed that the 223 extractor was longer. Some of the rounds chambered fine then they got tight. In mine the longer extractor was pushing to the outside of the lug, binding. There was the expected mark on the bottom of the brass rim where it was galled by the extractor getting forced over the head. Closing the bolt, it felt just like a round that needed a shoulder bump.

 

[Cat64]

Update report. I re head spaced the barreled action and run into the same problem. Then it all became clear....I remembered that I had previously changed the original detent ball with a ball with slightly larger diameter. I did so because ejecting my 6mm BR cases (the caliber I run before in this rifle) was not working great. Swapping the balls fixed the problem then but it seems it created a problem with the 6.5x47 Lapua cases. After I swapped back to the original ball the cases are cycling just fine.