Have a 243 that the bolt locks back after firing. Removing the magazine and you can see that the bolt has rotated some and is jammed in the receiver. By rotating the bold counter-clockwise, slightly, it will then close. You can see the marks in the receiver where the bolt was jammed. It fires and ejects well, but sometimes it continues to lock back. Is there a fix for this problem? A friend's 30-06 does this too.

There are two pins that the bolt head rotates on and they may be worn. I would suggest letting a gunsmith check that out for you.

The problem is not the bolt head pin.

This is a common problem with the older Remington semi-auto's which have been shot a lot.

The bolt head over-rotates when the bolt slams into the back of the reciever, causing the locking lugs to batter and peen the bolt lug raceway. When the scars become deep enough, they catch the bolt lugs, causing the bolt to hang open.

Complete disassembly and careful stoning of the raceways to remove the burrs will usually get the gun back in action for another couple of hundred rounds before the problem returns.

Then, the gun needs to have the firing pin removed, the hole welded shut, and be retired to the wall with many good memories.

wingnut's got this one. I've repaired several just as he's described. Pleae note he said to stone the burrs--no Dremel tools.

Thanks guys. Stoning it is.

When you disassemble the bolt carefully remove the bolt latch, pivot, plunger and springs. These parts are designed to prevent the bolt from rotating when it reaches it's rearward travel.

These are very small delicate parts and usually fail when they are jammed with trash or from burrs associated with wear.

Actually it is a poor design and is the cause for most 742's troubles. That is why Remington came up the model 4.

If you will carefully clean, deburr and lube these parts they will do their job again and prevent rotation of the locking lugs when the bolt cycles to the rear. Be carefull that you dont get the pivot and plunger location swapped and check for deformed springs.

If you only deburr with out addressing the issue with the bolt latch, the damage will continue.