hey guys, fairly new to actually reading posts here, and i am far from even a bubba 'smith, but i have a question...
Dad's rifle, remington 700 in 7mm RUM. after the shot, if you immediately cycle the bolt, no problems. if you wait a minute and let the case cool, its very difficult to work the bolt. is this a common problem with these rifles, or is this a sign that something isnt' sized correctly in the chamber? we've both been shooting a long time and own several bolt rifles, this is the first time this has happened, and we aren't sure whats causing it. i'm just worried that this could lead to bigger problems down the road. the rifle may have 20 rounds through it, its fairly new.
he shoots factory ammo, and this happens with both 175gr swift a frames and 140gr psp (remington)

also the button to release the bolt in the trigger assembly sticks, is there a preferred way to clean this or to check and see if a spring or something is broken?

thanks for all your help.

Before firing this Rifle , was it cleaned out well ?. Did anyone use a Chamber brush ?.

I've heard of this type of thing happening if there was Oil or case lube in the chamber or on cartridges . How ever not with Factory cartridges .

Do you see damaged primers or dents in the shoulder of the spent cartridges ?.

Shoot Straight Know Your Target . ...

thanks for the reply Dr.K,
but the cases look fine to me. Knowing my pops and his old ways of gun cleaning, it was probably not thoroughly cleaned when he first got it. i'll tell him to clean it or i'll do it the next time i'm in that part of the country.

When you say "difficult to work the bolt", do you mean, opening or cycling?

Safety wise I would tend to be more concerned if the bolt was difficult to open immediately on firing. What does the bolt feel like if you dry fire the gun and give it a minute before working the bolt?

Things only become difficult if tolerances change. As the case cools it shrinks and the only thing I can think of that might change under this scenario would be the firing pin/cocking piece/sear possibly settling a little more forward as the case relaxes perhaps putting a little different pressure on the cocking system.

FWIW, Remington triggers can become sluggish and slow to reset which could cause difficulty in cocking the gun if not given a thorough cleaning when new to get rid of the crap the factory coats the parts with and kept properly maintained. And if it's an old gun and has never been cleaned then the problem will only be worse. Clean it, if for nothing more than peace of mind.

Other than making sure that the chamber is clean, I would remove the firing pin assembly and give it and the bolt a good cleaning followed by a light lube, and maybe put a little lube on the cocking ramp.

sorry i should have been more clear. after the case cools the bolt is difficult to open. once open, i believe it cycles fine, but this is dad's rifle, i've not shot it.

being ignorant of signs of trouble when looking at cases, i just want to make sure the gun is safe for him to shoot. it's fairly new, maybe 4 years old, and has had great accuracy and seems to work fine other than the above issues. I'll get him to clean it real well and we'll go from there.
Thanks for your help.

So this gun was purchased used ?.

Follow Westpac's advise .

I'm not any type of Smith I just look for obvious cartridge case signs and clean chamber and bore bolt face and head spacing problems . Then if it's not something I can fix off too the Smith it goes .

I had a friend of a friend who bought a New gun and never cleaned it before firing it . Something similar happened to him . The Bolt would open no problem but extracting the case was difficult we assumed it was because of Oil or what ever had now accumulated in the chamber . It would almost tear off the head with the extractor . Once it got really clean I never heard of him having any more issues with it .

Shoot Straight Know Your Target . ...

quote:

Originally posted by cooperjd:
also the button to release the bolt in the trigger assembly sticks, is there a preferred way to clean this or to check and see if a spring or something is broken?

These get sticky for the same reason the triggers do. That crap they use as a preservative. The best way to solve this is to remove the barreled action from the stock and give it and the slot it sits in a good scrubbing with a tooth brush and some solvent. I use Kerosene. Blow it dry with compressed air and use a drop or two of a lite weight lube on it. Work the bolt stop several times to make sure it moves freely in the slot. Reassemble, go hunting.