Rem 700 Difficult to close/open bolt

[TxAg93]

I bought a new Rem 700 in 300wm a while back and have been swamped with work ever since and I finally got out to shoot and get zeroed this last week. I gave the rifle a once over and wipe down before taking it out and everything seemed tight and in working order. After bore sighting I shot 4 three shot groups and took only two to get zeroed. The only ammo I tried on this outing was some old Hornady Custom 165gr. Interlock's. This is not the round I intend to use in this rifle I just happened to have some laying around. The groups were not undesirable given the cartridges I was shooting and the first 3 shot group was the worst out of them all. The issue I found was the bolt didn't want to close smoothly and wouldn't want to open after firing the shot. At one point it was so difficult to open I had to crank it with significant force. I was loading one round at the time so I cant speak to how it fed from the magazine but closing the bolt was far too difficult than it should be. Closing the bolt on a cartridge would also leave "bite" mark on the rim of the casing. Has anyone else had this issue with a new Rem 700? Any input would be appreciated. It looks like the rifle has potential so I'm hoping for an easy fix.

 

[eamyrick]

Check action screws and trigger guard screw.

 

[leebr10]

Difficulty in opening the bolt seems like the action may have poor primary extraction. Difficulty in closing the action may have to do with poor sear engagement with the trigger. To test the former, see how well the rear of the bolt handle rides against the 45 degree 'ramp' on the outside back of the action. You want to see contact as the bolt handle hinges up. To test the latter, try working the bolt without a trigger installed. It should close readily and with minimal effort.

 

[Wrench]

Pull the bolt. Hook the case with the extrator and push the ejector in.

What does that do?

I've had some r700 where the firing pin spring binds badly and is tough to close on even an empty case....but you're chewing the rim....so it's either the ejector or extrator.

I'm guessing you have some crap behind the extractor.

 

[rbihunter]

I just had this same issue with my 300 rum. My gunsmith had to retime the bolt handle. The bolt handle was not making contact with the 45 degree ramp so it would not extract the empty case.

 

[weekender7]

Does you bolt open and close with little to no effort without ammo? It's is possible even though it is a new gun that the head space is not correct. I had a Rem 700 7mm mag that had incorrect head space from the factory and it marked the casings similar to what you are experiencing.

 

[Wrench]

Look at the case rim. It's not a cam issue. It's taking place at the rim.

Next time you chamber a round, put a sharpie mark on the case and bolt before it clears the port and repeat a few times so we can confirm the o'clock it's biting.

 

[mtmuley]

Remington's suck. Sell it to me. mtmuley

 

[Cahunter805]

Check the front and rear action screws like stated. Also check the screw length of your scope bases. Check the groove behind the extractor also.

 

[robtattoo]

Just spitballin' here. But could it simple be a head space issue? I'm not familiar with belted magnums, so I'm not sure how it work there, but my old .280ai was a nightmare, until I started bumping my shoulders a couple of thou below spec. I figured it was a slightly short chamber.

 

[TxAg93]

Thank you all for the responses, I took some time to look into this today. My initial research also led me to believing it's an extractor issue. The bolt cycles perfectly when empty.
I started by looking closer at the bolt face which I noticed some wearing on the bottom side (This rifle only has 12 rounds through it). I also noticed a lip where the extractor sets back under the rim of the bolt face. I haven't noticed this on other Rem 700's but I don't have any other magnum 700's here at the house to compare to.

Pull the bolt. Hook the case with the extrator and push the ejector in.

What does that do?

I've had some r700 where the firing pin spring binds badly and is tough to close on even an empty case....but you're chewing the rim....so it's either the ejector or extrator.

I'm guessing you have some crap behind the extractor.

I did this and everything seemed to operate properly. The ejector pushed down with a small amount of force and if I let go it would push the cartridge off the face. I also checked to maker sure there wasn't any grime or build up under the extractor.

I then ran a cartridge through with sharpie to identify if there were any contact areas other than at the base of the case. I didn't find any other marks when doing this.

Lastly I pulled the stock off, made sure everything was clean and nothing apparent stood out. I noticed that when removing the action screws they seemed to be extremely tight. Figured this might have been the issue but after getting back together and re-torquing to 65lb the rifle is having the same issue. Maybe slightly better than before but not by much.

 

[LaHunter]

Sounds like either your chamber may be a bit tight/small or the ammo brass is a little bit too large. Get another box of ammo and see how it chambers. Also, may want to measure the new cartridge base to shoulder with something like the Hornady Lock n Load Headspace gauge kit.

 

[Cahunter805]

The bolt face looks good. The mark on the rim makes me think it’s still an extractor issue. Can you take it back to the store you bought it at and exchange for another?
Does a fired unsized case chamber easily? Slip it under the rim and try to chamber it.

 

[TxAg93]

Sounds like either your chamber may be a bit tight/small or the ammo brass is a little bit too large. Get another box of ammo and see how it chambers. Also, may want to measure the new cartridge base to shoulder with something like the Hornady Lock n Load Headspace gauge kit.

I'm going to try and make it by the store tomorrow and pick up a couple different boxes to test. Unfortunately the worst of it which is opening the bolt after firing a round, requires me to make it to the range to test.

The bolt face looks good. The mark on the rim makes me think it’s still an extractor issue. Can you take it back to the store you bought it at and exchange for another?
Does a fired unsized case chamber easily? Slip it under the rim and try to chamber it.

I just tried this and actually can't get it to chamber a fired case at all.

I doubt it since it's been quite a while since purchasing. It was purchased online and transferred through the websites own storefront, but they don't keep much in store. If I'm unable to solve the issue myself I will likely fork up the cash and take it to Alamo Precision Rifles which is down the road from me.

 

[Wrench]

Did you mark the case and bolt head with a mark so you can tell where the mark comes from?

You can put a layer of tape on the head of the case and that will eat up the headspace. If it still closes with similar force, it's not a headspace issue. If it will not close, it is.

Typically you'll see the whole bolt face/ case head rubbed when it is tight on headspace.

 

[16Bore]

Try different ammo. Some Federals in my 270 were tight. Hornady is fine. 300 WM is gonna headspace off the belt, not shoulder.

 

[Nick6275]

I have had this exact same issue for years as well. Only ammo that this doesnt happen with is Remington Core Lock. I researched this a while back and read that the bolt might need to be polished.

 

[Sekora]

I had the same issue with a 300RUM. It is at the gunsmith now having work done on the extractor. I also did all the testing that was recommended to you and it kept coming back to the extractor.

 

[Hudge]

I have a Rem 700 BDL in .300WSM, that the bolt is hard to open after shooting a round and sometimes the bolt is hard to close. I thought I had a head spacing issue, but the wife bought me a Tikka T3 for Christmas two years ago and when I finally shot the Tikka it did the same thing. I didn't think anything about it as shortly after shooting it, I accepted a contract overseas. When I was home on R&R in January, I looked at the ammunition as it was factory. Holy cow, not one of them were seated the same. I took the shorter ammo and fed it on both rifles no issues. I'll be honest, I have not shot it since noticing this fact. When I get back home for good in August, I'll take it to the range with different ammunition and see how it shoots. If there are more issues, I'll let Remington know.

 

[TxAg93]

Well today I spent a bit of time and pulled the rifle out to continue some of these tests. I tried two other cartridges, a 180gr Federal, and 200gr Remington. I experienced the same difficulty closing the bolt for both of these as well. I then put a layer of masking tape around the head of the case and couldn't get the bolt to budge. It's looking like more than just an extractor issue from what I can tell at this point. Anyone have gunsmith recommendations for the DFW area? I was going to try APR first.