i have a new rem 700 long action chambered in 7mm stw with a shillen barrel and boyds stock the problem is that no matter what kind of round be it factory or reload the bolt sticks and takes some force to open the head space has been cheacked, chamber polished, and saftey breached cheacked i just cant figure it out there are no pressure signs on the casing or primers the only thing that i notice is that there are extracter marks on the rim of the case. any ideas on what could be causing this problem would be greatly appreciated

Ordinarily this is a sign of excess pressure and until you can discover that it's not, you should cut back on the load several grains until this condition subsides.

I would check the head space again with a different gauge.
Factory rounds should not show this problem.

Could be a twist in the reciever from rebarreling.

Check all screws and make sure there not to long and rubbing the bolt.

Check the lug engagement. Any gauling.

Check the extractor.

Is the problem excessive force to rotate the bolt or excessive force to break the case loose from the chamber?

If the chamber is jugged (any sort of belling greater than the case taper) or has bad reamer marks on it you will have extraction problems.
Is the neck cut with a reverse funnel shape?

Will a fired case go back in the chamber easily?
It should.

If you fire a single shot and wait 5 minutes for the case to cool will it extract normally?

It almost has to be the chamber shape or brass that is too soft, or loads that are too hot.

quote:

Originally posted by morgan8901:
i have a new rem 700 long action chambered in 7mm stw with a shillen barrel and boyds stock the problem is that no matter what kind of round be it factory or reload the bolt sticks and takes some force to open the head space has been cheacked, chamber polished, and saftey breached cheacked i just cant figure it out there are no pressure signs on the casing or primers the only thing that i notice is that there are extracter marks on the rim of the case. any ideas on what could be causing this problem would be greatly appreciated

The case doesn't have to show signs of pressure for a case to stick because of it. A sticky bolt is sometimes a first sign. It may or may not be accompanied by anything visual.

Did the barrel chamberer cut a sufficient length throat? If he cut a minimum throat to your specifications that might explain factory loads sticking. Look at the condition of the lugs. If you dry fire the gun, how easy does the bolt open? How much force are you talking?

quote:

If you dry fire the gun, how easy does the bolt open? How much force are you talking?

New bolt lift mathematics

2 fingers and a elbow = avarage

3 fingers, elbow, and a shoulder = more than average

4 fingers, shoulder, and beer gut = major problems

4 fingers, beer gut, and a fart = run from it

whack with 2x4 = aw shit

I do believe the STW line has a riveted extractor. It could be the rivet was not installed correctly and is causing it to jam against the rim of the cartridge.

You said you polished the chamber. I have best results actually roughing the chamber a little with fresh 320 grit paper. I once chambered a 340 weatherby that did the same thing. I chamber with a flush system and the "as reamed" chambers were coming out too smooth. Since then I do as described above and haven't had any problems.

Make sure it isn't too smooth and you don't have any oil on the cases.

the bolt rotates fine it is just geting stuck when you try to pull the bolt back. it does this with all loads two diffrent brands of factory loads and all hand loads tryed from min to max powder charges also got ahold of a second bolt from another rifle same problem headspace was also within spec with this bolt also. i just dont know were to go from here the gunsmith says he has never seen any thing like this before

Does it have an aftermarket trigger? it might be the relationsahip between the cocking peice and trigger sear not allowing the cocking peice to override the sear on the way back out. Or, the aftermarket stock might be binding the trigger somewhere. Might as well check everything out.

Good luck

Rojelio

Try painting a case with a magic marker first, then when you shoot and extract it, see if you can tell where the hangup is happening.

If you have normal bolt lift, which it sounds like you do, Ireload's suggestion of a belled chamber is a good possiblility. If the lift was hard I'd also agree with westpac's suggestion of too short a throat but I think the easy bolt lift rules that out.

One last question- how far do you have to pull the bolt back before it starts coming out easily? 1/4"? 2"?

quote:

Originally posted by morgan8901:
the bolt rotates fine it is just geting stuck when you try to pull the bolt back. it does this with all loads two diffrent brands of factory loads and all hand loads tryed from min to max powder charges also got ahold of a second bolt from another rifle same problem headspace was also within spec with this bolt also. i just dont know were to go from here the gunsmith says he has never seen any thing like this before

That's a bit different of a problem than what you first posted.

quote:

Originally posted by morgan8901:
i have a new rem 700 long action chambered in 7mm stw with a shillen barrel and boyds stock the problem is that no matter what kind of round be it factory or reload the bolt sticks and takes some force to open

Too me the term "Open" usually means "to lift the handle". "Retract" is probably a more descriptive word for what you are experiencing.

First thing is to make sure the bolt handle is all the way up and that the bolt isn't hitting anything on the way back. It's a belted case so the next place I would look would be to see if there are any indications of a burr at the front edge of the belt. Very common. Usually seen as scuff marks around the forward edge of the belt.

Next I would pour a chamber cast and see how easy it is to remove it. That will verify a jugged chamber. These are both common problems encountered by folks who are fairly new to the practice of chambering barrels.

You mentioned that it is a new action. If you mounted a scope check that the front base screw is not too deep. Also you could unscrew the barrel and check for locking lug damage. Remingtons will fire if the bolt is not seated completly and could cause a notch in one of the lugs. Just a couple of thoughts.

quote:

Originally posted by Pegleg:
Remingtons will fire if the bolt is not seated completly and could cause a notch in one of the lugs. Just a couple of thoughts.

It is true that you can trip the firing pin with the bolt lugs barely engaged, this is true with ALL bolt actions, but the cocking notch has to be aligned to allow the cocking piece to move fully forward with enough force to ignite the primer. This alignment occurs when the lugs are locked.

You can check for a short throat with a dummy case made from long brass. Did you have the bolt lapped when you had the barrel put on? If so, a litlle bit of grease on the back of the locking lugs will help. If not, try roughing the chamber a little, if it is too polished (and especially if there is oil in the chamber), the bolt thrust is increased significantly. You might be able to rough the brass with some emory paper to see if roughing the chamber will be beneficial.

John

More guesses.. Could the counterbore in the rear of the barrel be insufficient? Maybe it is large enough but the bolt and barrel are a bit misaligned. That would show up with some magic marker painted on the bolt head o.d.
Could the chamber polishing effort have resulted in a "bulged" area, making the case larger ahead of the belted area?
If the lugs were lapped and/or a "blueprinting" done on the action, you may have lost some of the extraction effort. If so, that could be corrected by moving the bolt handle forward on the bolt body.
I'll be interested in reading about the cause and correction after you get it corrected.

Before you do any of the above, try cutting back about 3 grs. A mark on the extractor is a definate pressure sign as a rule and the STWs are tempormental calibers that work at very high pressure.

quote:

Originally posted by Atkinson:
Before you do any of the above, try cutting back about 3 grs. A mark on the extractor is a definate pressure sign as a rule and the STWs are tempormental calibers that work at very high pressure.

I would almost bet a small amount of real money that Ray has hit the nail on the head here.

My second guess would be that you mounted your own scope and have too long a screw in the front-most screw hole of the base. (Doesn't matter if the screw was supplied by the base manuafacturer. It may still be too long.)

If so, it can rub against the outside diameter of the front of the bolt body or head. That may very rapidly cause a small groove in the circumferance of the bolt. If it does, you may still be able to lift the bolt without undue effort because of the leverage provided by the bolt handle. But, on trying to withdraw the bolt, you will no longer have the advantage of that leverage and will be trying to tear the point of the screw through the front of the very small groove and the top of the front of the bolt.. Learned about that possibility the hard way, about 40 years ago.

please post pics of the primers.

this is a total guess on my part, but i expect the chamber to be wobbled/egg shaped

my GUT feel is that the chamber is out of round, like ilreload said, like someone used a too small pilot bushing.

Mark had a good suggestion, paint the cases with a marker, and see WHERE IT DRAGS on the way out.. .

there's either going to be a "bulge" or the case is going to have a "reverse" taper.

if you reload, you might try some of the low pressure/low vel loads that are standards in the speer book.

i would be "Scared" of doing a chambercast, as it could STICK from a mechincal lock

Morgan

If I read your symptoms correctly you are saying that the bolt rotates easily but you have a tough time pulling the bolt and case straight to the rear.

If this is correct, you need to observe the root of the bolt handle when rotated almost all the way up. Right before it reaches it's full rotation it should engage the primary extraction cam on the rear bridge of the receiver. This is what breaks the case loose from the chamber so you can pull it straight back. There is no extraction happening on the first 80% of the bolt rotation, only on the last 20% when the root of the bolt handle contacts the primary extraction cam.

If anyone has altered the bolt handle or rear of the receiver bridge, it is possible they screwed up the primary extraction cam or the part of the bolt handle that engages it.

You can also confirm this problem by rotating the bolt all the way open then tapping the bolt handle rearward with something like a leather mallet or nylon tipped hammer. If it comes back your primary extraction cam is not functioning.

I have diagnosed this problem on a couple of Winchester Model 70 Classics but no Remingtons, there is always the first.

there is nothing to worry about with doing a chamber cast. If it gets stuck in there, big deal. All you have to do is heat the barrel a little and it will melt and come out. I had this happen one day and just set the chamber end of the barrel in a pan of water on the stove and got the water up to a boil. THe cerrosafe came right out.

Since factory ammo also sticks, I think it is a hosed-up chamber that is out of round or has a portion of the chamber that is larger diameter than the chamber area behind it.

Did you comission this work? If so, then the gunmaker needs to be contacted and he should fix it. If you bought it second hand, then you are on your own, and I imagine a rebarrel is your only option.