I took my new LH M70 .375 to the range today, and after warming up with some .30-06, I let 'er rip.

I fired 6 rounds, all fed from the magazine, working the action at "real-time" speed. There were no malfunctions. The controlled feed worked as advertised. There was one strange thing � 5 of the 6 cases had dented mouths, probably bad enough I won't be able to reuse them. In addition, just below each dent (high on the neck), there was a sharply-defined "eyebrow" shaped dent, as though the case had hit something hard and sharp. At first I thought the dents were from hitting the ground (they were really flying, too � about 20 feet), but what are the odds of 5 of 6 cases hitting the ground in exactly the same way? There was also the eyebrow dent to consider.

Any ideas what's causing it? I don't think the mouths are hitting the edge of the ejection port, since they come back quite a ways before they hit the ejector.

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[This message has been edited by Fat Bastard (edited 03-10-2002).]

FB - I'm not sure I have the answer for you, but my RH Mod 70 in 416 dents the cases in a similar way. We inspected the cases and had my son watch the cases as they were forcefully ejected. What we found was that the cases are being ejected out of the loading port and spinning end over end backward. The case mouth would then impact on the outside of the receiver just forward of the safety before falling to the ground. We have a slight brass mark on the receiver in that area. Maybe your rifle is doing the same thing. Good luck.

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[This message has been edited by Guy (edited 03-04-2002).]

[This message has been edited by Guy (edited 03-04-2002).]

My Mauser does the same - if you haul back on the bolt forcefully the case mouth impacts the stock just forrard of the bolt cut out.....leaves a nasty ding.

Cheers

pete

I was just going to say that. I noticed the same thing when I took a closer look at the rifle - brass marks on the side of the rear ring, just ahead of the bolt handle cutout.

Doesn't seem likely that a case could do a 180* that tight, but the marks are there.

I bought my M70 LH .375 about 5 years ago but I must not work the bolt that fast since I've never seen dented cases or brass marks. Maybe you're just too quick? I probably should practice harder!

Don't know what to say, Toomany (BTW, "The 'querque" is my home town. Wish I could get back.) I'm not trying to slam it so hard it breaks, but I'm not babying it. I've gotten into the habit of working the bolt briskly, from the shoulder, during recoil. It may look silly at the range, and I always have to go find my brass, but so be it. I just don't relish the idea of having to take it easy just to preserve my brass.

Maybe it's just a matter of tweaking the extractor/ejector.

FB,
I haven't seen this problem with my .375 or my .470 Capstick, but you can fix the cases with a 3/8" steel punch.
Stick the tip into the case mouth and keep pushing until it's round again. I do this on
all my virgin brass to take the dents out of the case mouths.

George

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Shoot straight, shoot often, but by all means, use enough gun!

You guys need to install a rubber bumper like on the ejection port of a HK91. Hmm...
I bet one could be made to snap over the rear bridge of the receiver or in the case of a scoped gun to snap on to the rear of the scope base.

Doug Humbarger

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NRA Life member

I did some checking, and the neck is indeed hitting the rear ring, at the angle between the top (semi-flat) and the side, right at the bolt handle cutout. That's what's making the eyebrow dent. It seems the case is swinging out so fast it's literally rotating around the rear edge of the ejection port.

I also noticed the ejector isn't bearing evenly across its surface. The mark on the case is very narrow, like it was made with a dull knife. There's a light mark just barely visible where the other edge is. The edge farther from the extractor is the one hitting harder.

Could the uneven bearing on the ejector be contributing to the case coming out the way it is? Should the ejector be bearing evenly across its width, or does that not really matter?

A good gunsmith should be able to adjust the ejector so that the cases claer the action. This is not an unusal problem with new guns. You may even find that after a time the problem will stop when the parts wear in a bit. I would use empty cases and try ejecting them a couple hundred times to "wear in" the contacting parts and then see if it is better at the range with live ammo. If not, see your 'smith.

Both of the M70 .375's I've had have dented the cases like this. It's not something that has bothered me, I consider it normal. I've had no trouble resizing the dents out of the case mouth.

I just acquired a M70 LH .375 and I've got the same problem. The action's nice and smooth, so I'm vigorously cycling the action, as if something nasty was on the receiving end. My case mouths are getting dented exactly as described, and I'm getting brass marks on my lovely (and formerly pristine) finish. They'll buff off, but still it's annoying.

I suspect I'll get a 'smith to have a look when I get done checking out the gun.

Otherwise, the gun's great. This is my first .375 experience, and the recoil's worse than I anticipated. Not unbearable, but closer to my Lott than I expected. Definitely want a long eye relief scope on this one too.

Pertinax

My 416 does the same thing when I work the bolt like I mean it.

I just take a little care on resizing and keep marching.

Joe.