This is the bolt from a Remington 700 ADL 300WM that I purchased new in 1998. Up until a year ago I was a sight it in with factory loads and go hunting kind of guy so this rifle has seen less than 200 rounds in its life. I mainly shot 150gr Winchester Pwr Pts and did not re-load so every round was factory. Last year I took it to the range and the first round was hard to eject and by the 4th round I had to beat the bolt handle open. At the time I
was ignorant of pressure signs so I shot 3 more rounds and put it up. I didn't notice the bolt issue until the other day when I was talking with Mickey Coleman about re-barreling this action for me.

Any ideas what could have caused this?

The rilfe was teflon coated the year that the problem started...I assume that the bolt face was coated as I know that the bolt body was. Here is the chronology of events.

1) Bought the rifle new in 98.....Shot sub MOA with factory Win Pwr Pts.

2) My wife had a smith mount it in a B&C Premiere Thumbole,Bed,Trigger Job and Teflon coat in 2004.

3) First range trip after getting the rifle back I tried Hornady 150gr SST's....it split my lip and seemed to KICK like never before. I decided that it was the stock.

4) Bought a Boyd's Laminated Thumbhole and installed the action and bedded.

5) The first trip to the range with the SST's and Power Points the hard bolt throw occurred. The recoil was now back to normal but the bolt was almost impossible to lift.I took photos of the cases and posted them on www.forum.gon.com and someone there stated I had a head space problem. I put the rifle up until a few weeks ago when I bought an Obermeyer 5R 300WM Barrel and contacted Mickey Coleman to do the work on it. While we talked I explained the head space problem and he had me examine the bolt...That's when I noticed the gouge in the bolt face and the "patch weld" looking V shape on the side of the bolt face.

Based on the photo it looks like a bad mitre joint too me.

Oh, you mean the bolt? It looks like it was done at the factory. As long as it isn't causing you trouble, I wouldn't worry about it. Frankly I would be more concerned with the ammo you were using. As a rule of thumb, when a bolt sticks, STOP, and find the cause.

Not sure if it's my eyes or the picture but I can't see the extractor. Could a broken piece of it got between case head and bolt prior to firing?

Pack the whole thing up and return it to Remington. See what they say/do about it.....

Something is causing serious pressure trouble and it's not clear that the photos are related to that problem however it probably is!

It possibly has a partially obstructed barrel or some chambering defect.....

My guess:...the pressure is barrel related and the damage to the bolt IMO requires replacemnent. Let Remington do what they can for you and go from there.

I wouldn't rebarrel that action until you know what is going on and then not using that bolt.

Stocker's comments (above) are noteworthy.....The indentation in the bolt face are likely caused by a broken extractor.....

It's gone....I shipped it to Remington today. These are the only other pics that I had....The .473 bolt is from my LVSF.