Rem 700 SPS problems closing bolt

[tt123]

Just got a Remington 700 SPS Varmint in .308, and took it to the range for the first time yesterday.

It seemed to shoot pretty well, but I had a hell of a job closing the bolt on a round. No issues at all closing on an empty chamber though.

The problem was both with reloads and Remington factory FMJ (though it was slightly less pronounced with the Remington).

I'm pretty sure that it's not the action screws or the rail screws that are fouling the bolt, as I can't feel or see any scratches on the bolt. I think perhaps the problem may be related to the extractor. Anyone here had the same problem?

Either way, I'll be taking it back to the shop
tomorrow so they can fix it, and hopefully soon I'll be able to get back to the range and stretch it's legs, so to speak.

 

[Badfinger]

You might want to try a go & no go gauges to check the headspace. It's sounds to me like it might be too close.

 

[nbutze]

Are you having troubles pushing the bolt forward or closing the bolt down? On the reloads, who reloaded them? Could be a brass sizing issue on those, but it depends.

 

[tt123]

Unfortunately I don't have headspace gauges, but you're right in that it could be a bit short.

It's the last mm or so pushing forward, and the whole cycle of pushing the handle down.

It extracts and ejects fine.

A buddy of mine did the reloads for me, they should be full length re-sized.

 

[spife7980]

Did it extract and eject the once fired easily? Throw a comparator on the fired and compared to factory and see if it grew. If it didn't you just might have a chambers that's in the minimum side of spec. Could be too short though as well.

Well, I need to type faster. Can you extract the unfired round? Can you see if there are scores on the bullet or brass?

 

[tt123]

Extraction and ejection were perfectly normal.

I tried measuring couple of cases, and as far as I could see they were within 0.05mm of new unfired.

 

[spife7980]

That's only .002 (.05mm is .00197") expansion so your chamber is tight. Some might think ideally tight for benchrest and the sort but personally I would rather have a little more wiggle room to make sure a grain of sand doesn't screw my day up. I guess on the reloads you could just bump back an extra .001 and be better but factory could be a toss up on the chamberability (is that a word)?

 

[Gunfighter14e2]

Will the bolt close on a empty chamber easy like other rifles you have fired an owned?

 

[psychosniper]

How many rounds did you run through the rifle? Did every single one of the Remington's act this same way? Or were there some easier than others? How many different boxes of the Remington's have you cycled? I ask these questions because I have a Remington 700 SPS Varmint 22-250 that does this same thing- sometimes. It has only exhibited this problem with factory Hornady V-Max Ammunition but not every one that I have cycled. 14 out of the first box acted this way and then none from the second box but 8 out of the third box. I went through a box of Nosler Trophy Grade Varmint and Federal Premium V-Shok with no issues before I tried the first box of Hornady. I only have 105 rounds total through this rifle and have never had extraction/ejection issues of loaded or fired cases. Hornady V-Max, although has shown these issues has never shot above .5 MOA. Has always gone where I need it regardless of how hard the bolt has been to close.

 

[tt123]

The bolt closes easily on an empty chamber.

I used from two different boxes of factory ammo (same lot though).