Prefit barrel question

[SierraCharlie]

I need to draw on the collective wisdom of the Hide. I have a shouldered prefit in 300 PRC that’s been sitting on the shelf since Christmas. In early April I finally got around to assembling the action. Using a PMA vise and an inside action wrench, I applied my anti-seize and torqued the barrel to the action at 75ft/lb. Afterward, I grabbed a factory round of Hornady 225 to check the headspace but the bolt wouldn’t close. A little confused, I grabbed a piece of virgin ADG brass but got the same result.

I contacted the manufacturer who sent me a call tag and requested I send the action with the barrel. I sent everything off about four weeks ago. Last Friday the barreled action shows up. I enthusiastically opened the package, assembled the rifle and tried to chamber a round, still no dice.

I have several other prefits and have yet to run into this issue but I’m definitely not ruling out operator error. Is there something I’m missing here? Thanks for the help.

 

[wade2big]

What did the manufacturer tell you when they shipped it back? Did they do anything to the barrel? It seems like nothing was checked.

 

[Ledzep]

Verify the rim is under the extractor.

 

[spife7980]

Get a go gauge

Compare the loaded rounds to the go gauge.

 

[KnowNothing256]

Definitely check the extractor first. You can do that for free.

If you slot the case rim under the extractor manually then run the case into the breech and it chambers fine, you have an extractor issue.

 

[SierraCharlie]

What did the manufacturer tell you when they shipped it back? Did they do anything to the barrel? It seems like nothing was checked.

They didn’t say anything, it just showed up. I know they definitely took apart the bolt because it wasn’t completely reassembled but other than that I don’t know that anything was done.

 

[SierraCharlie]

Verify the rim is under the extractor.

I saw this in the Bighorn thread and gave it a shot but no such luck.

 

[Evintos]

Possible your barrel manufacturer does a multi-step process with the neck/throat reaming separate from the chamber/body/headspace reaming and you have an undersized neck/throat. This could explain how it could pass headspace but fail actual case chambering.

 

[SierraCharlie]

Possible your barrel manufacturer does a multi-step process with the neck/throat reaming separate from the chamber/body/shoulder reaming and you have an undersized neck/throat. This could explain how it could pass headspace but fail actual case chambering.

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If they use this multi-step process how would they fix the issue? Would it have been possible to do while they had the action in hand?

 

[Evintos]

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If they use this multi-step process how would they fix the issue? Would it have been possible to do while they had the action in hand?

General procedure for headspace checks on any firearm is to remove extractor and ejector from the bolt before doing this which would also explain your partially disassembled bolt.

So with your action in hand, all they probably did was check headspace between the bolt and the barrel using headspace gauges (headspace gauges have no neck) but didn't bother to inspect to see if they actually had cut the neck/throat properly. If the headspace is correct for your action, all they need is the barrel back to cut the neck and throat and they can cut it either to SAAMI spec or custom spec.

I would message them and let them know you're still having issues and you suspect that the neck or throat might be undersized.

 

[SierraCharlie]

General procedure for headspace checks on any firearm is to remove extractor and ejector from the bolt before doing this which would also explain your partially disassembled bolt.

So with your action in hand, all they probably did was check headspace between the bolt and the barrel using headspace gauges (headspace gauges have no neck) but didn't bother to inspect to see if they actually had cut the neck/throat properly. If the headspace is correct for your action, all they need is the barrel back to cut the neck and throat and they can cut it either to SAAMI spec or custom spec.

I would message them and let them know you're still having issues and you suspect that the neck or throat might be undersized.

Thanks, this was very helpful and compelling explanation of what might have happened. I’ll contact them again.