I know most people here shoot bolt guns, and so do I , but I am having a problem with a friends Rem 7600 pump in 30/06. He lent me the gun and gave me some once fired brass so that I could work up some loads for it. I full length resized the brass (almost:- the die was not quite touching the shell holder). The bolt would not close as easily as with an empty chamber, but I figured that was because of the spring loaded ejector pushing on the case as the slide is move ahead, and the bolt must rotate with this additional spring pressure.

After firing the rifle I noticed the bolt was open slightly. Since I was firing off sandbags I thought that it might have something to do with the bolt opening so I tried holding the slide ahead at the same time. Still the bolt would open.

Can someone tell me if this rifle can fired if the bolt is not 100% closed? After firing I could not close the bolt on the fired case.

Can someone familiar with these Remington pump guns tell me what is happening here?


Thanks Hart

I'm new here, but here goes. That can be a dangerous situation. To reload for for Remington pump and autos, you need to get a set of RCBs "small base dies".
On that 7600. The rifle could possibly fire if the bolt wasn't fully closed. If the round doesn't chamber easily don't fire it. Either use factory, or get the "small base" dies.

It is common for these rifles to open a little when they are fired. My 760 does the same thing.
Don't worry they are locked up when they fire. If you fire over a bag without touching the forend
it will stay shut. Because of recoil you are pulling the forend back.
Small based resizing hasn't a thing to do with it.
Good Luck!

I agree with Irv. They can open a bit on firing.

I would check to see if the rifle will fire with the bolt slightly open.

The small based dies are a good idea, by the way. The pumps and autoloaders don't have the extraction power of a bolt gun. You may get away without the small based dies for a while, but one day at the most inopportune time you will get a case jammed in the chamber.

Take the bolt out and you will notice some play between the bolt carrier and the bolt head before there's any rotational movement of the bolt head. This play can fool you into thinking the bolt unlocked when it did not. Also while you have the bolt out rotate the bolt head to the unlocked position and push the firing pin through with a punch, it should not protrude until the bolt head is locked. As stated above you should use small base die's.

When you pull the trigger on a 7600, the slide "unlocks" to allow you to chamber the next round. When you have a cartridge that generates a lot of recoil, this recoil can kick the bolt open a bit. This is nothing to worry about. My 7600 in .35 Whelen does this to no negative effect.

Actually, when shooting from the bags, and resting the forearm on a bag, my rifle becomes an "auto-unloader". The reaction of my body coming back to my starting position after its kicked back from the recoil works the slide backward and ejects the spent casing.

Short story.

At that time,early50s, inspecter Dick Wagner Cleveland PD., later to become chief of police was going to fire his new mod. 760, 30-06,first one I had ever seen. He fired it with the magazine out. There was a distinct click and than BAHRUUM. Between the click and the sound he must have started back on the slide. The bolt was slammed back and the frame split. The deformed brass from the cartridge went through the magazine area,through Wagner's shirt, along his belly, and into his pants. His married life was not impared.
Another chunk of brass went out the side hitting a tree not far from Ralph Villoni's head.
The tummy scare, some jarred nerves,a little damaged pride, a wounded tree and a torn shirt were the only casualties.
Somehow Remington saw fit to replace that rifle. When you think about it, the rear end of that slide action rifle must be pretty strong. roger