M98 Problem with spent shell stuck in chamber

[BenTerrible]

Took the Barrett out for the first time today and had an issue with extracting spent shells. The action works very smooth without any hang ups. I did notice when chambering the first round the bolt was slightly stiff.

Fired the very first round, went to chamber a new one and the bolt was locked up pretty good. Difficult to rotate and impossible to pull back and draw the spent casing out of the chamber. I wound up putting a cleaning rod down the barrel and tapping on the end to push the case out of the breech. I have never had this issue before.

Again, brand new rifle. My ammo has me a bit concerned at this point, Hornady 285 gr BTHP.

After the case was removed, I inspected the bolt, chamber, and bolt guide. They all seemed perfect. Added some lubricant and went for another shot. Same result.

I wound up lubricating one of the unfired cartridges prior to loading and this seemed to do the trick. Successfully fired 15 rounds without issues after each cartridge was lubricated.

Any help is greatly appreciated!

-BT

 

[seanh]

Re: M98 Problem with spent shell stuck in chamber

clean out the chamber, lug area, carbon in the throat and try again.

 

[buffybuster]

Re: M98 Problem with spent shell stuck in chamber

You're not suppose to lube the cartridge cases. The case is suppose to expand and grip the chamber. If you lube the case, this cannot happen and you greatly increase the bolt thrust load.

Clean the chamber and investigate what load you are shooting. Maybe too hot for your rifle.

 

[rockdoc]

Re: M98 Problem with spent shell stuck in chamber

Was the first round lubricated? You are greatly increasing backthrust and will damage the rifle if you continue to lubricate cases prior to firing. You may be increasing backthrust so much that the bolt locking lugs are setting back and locking up. I would have the rifle checked by a gunsmith.

Lubricating cases is often done when testing a rifle for "proof", by a competent authority.

Cheers, Chris

 

[BenTerrible]

Re: M98 Problem with spent shell stuck in chamber

First round was dry.

Roger that on not lubricating the cases. After a total of 3 lubricated shots fired I tried another dry cartridge and it did the same thing.

Looks like this rifle is going back to Barrett. This thing is brand spanking new!!!

 

[BenTerrible]

Re: M98 Problem with spent shell stuck in chamber

Some more good info on this, I have 4 boxes of Hornady 338 lapua mag ammo. 2 boxes of 285gr, 2 boxes 250gr. Both are BTHP.

Before going to the extent of pulling a bullet from the box of ammo I was having trouble with, I opened up a box of the 250gr to shake one of the cartridges. BINGO! The 250gr from Hornady is NOT a compacted load, the 285 gr seems to be compacted. Significant difference in the charges due to the bullet weight of course, but the charge in the 285 just might be too much for my rifle to handle, which was stated by a few of you from the start.

Thank you for all the help. I will give the 250gr a shot and report back!

-BT

 

[BenTerrible]

Re: M98 Problem with spent shell stuck in chamber

An update on this, Hornady has had a problem in the past with their .338 cartridges. I decided to research the ammo as opposed to my rifle and found there are many others out there who have had the same problem with other rifles, same ammo.

Long story short, Hornady brass is cheap stuff. Looks like I need to kick it up a notch and order some Lapua brass and a set of dies.

 

[BenTerrible]

Update:

Ordered box of 10 Lapua rounds, rifle ran flawless today. Very happy with this! Lapua brass it is!

Thank you to all who replied!

-BT

 

[Country]

It sounds to me from your description that your rifle has a slightly tight chamber for the size of the ammo .
If you had tightness closing the bolt the case can not expand up and shrink back to aid extraction.
If the chamber or case is a bit dirty then it makes it worse.
New ammo varies in case specs and can cause issues in tight chambers , that is why Lapua works and another don't .
You could try a Redding Body die , product number 75594 and learn the unusual ways in which it can be used .