Hard Close?

O

OldDominion

Inactive
I really wasn't sure where to post this, so I apologize if this is the wrong place...

I'm very new to firearms (within the last two years or so) so I don't know how common or uncommon this is, but, I have two bolt guns (a Remington 783 and a Savage 11/111, both .308) that will occasionally have what I can only describe as a 'hard close'. I go to push the bolt down and it's noticeably harder to close. It's almost like it's a really tight fight in the bore. This happens intermittently with both rifles, and different brands of ammunition.

I've cycled Winchester, Ultramax, PPU, and Tula through both and they both do this. The rounds are all out of the same box, and I have multiple boxes of each, and out of each box I'll have one or two rounds that will do this. It's never the same round either; like, it's never always the second round or the last round, it's completely random.

I realize there are variances in manufacturing tolerances and I'm talking about factory ammunition, I just didn't know if this was a normal thing or not since I'm so new to scene.

Thanks in advance for any insight you can provide.
 
Is the Tula steel cased?

If so, clean your chamber. The steel cases do not expand like brass to seal the chamber. You likely have powder/carbon built up in the chamber around the shoulder area.
 
I agree with both posts. If your chambers need a good cleaning, I would hope that isn't the problem, then you have to take better care of your rifles. If you do, your rounds are the problem. Eject all the hard ones and check the cases for rub marks. Hard chambering will cause your locking lugs on your bolt to gaul.
 
Thanks for the replies, guys.

The Tula is the cheapo steel cased stuff, and I can see how the 783 could stand a thorough tear down and cleaning, but the Savage is brand new from the factory and never been fired, other than what they shot through it before they sent it out, I've just been cycling the rounds through without firing.

I tried taking pictures of the cases, but the detail just wasn't showing up so they'd be useless to you. But some of them have very obvious scratch marks along the body of the case coupled with slight indents/deformities right at the shoulder.

Is it possible that, as a new shooter, it's just me not consistently manipulating the bolt properly?
 
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Are you loading .308 or 7.62X51mm? I've had that issue when using 7.62 NATO in a .308 rifle before. Has something to do with thicker cases as I remember correctly.

Scratches on the cases indicated something rubbing somewhere. Do both chambers feel smooth to the touch?
 
I agree that it could be caused by all of the reasons already stated. But with a new rifle, it could also be the chamber depth. Normally, I wouldn't even consider that since most factory ammo is sized for OAL shorter than SAAMI recommendations but my most recent purchase changed my thinking.

My latest Savage .308 came from the factory with a short chamber - not by much but enough to make is hard to close the bolt on Fed Premium Gold Match 168 grain ammo. I ejected the cartridge and found marks on the bullet. My shooting buddy also got a new Savage .308 that also had a chamber that was also short. I have had 2 other Savage .308s that had chambers that were deeper. One had a chamber that was 0.070 deeper than SAAMI from the factory.

I measured the chamber on the new Savage and found it had a chamber depth that was 0.007 shorter than the Federal Gold Match 168 ogive. OAL for the Federal Gold Match was 2.794 on average but a few measured 2.796. The bolt wouldn't close easily on any of them.

I reseated the factory ammo back 10 thousandths and they chambered without a problem. I have never had a other rifle that didn't chamber factory ammo that had an OAL shorter than SAAMI recommendations.

I proceeded to hand load at an OAL of 2.775 to 2.780 and got great results.
After over 600 rounds down the barrel, I can now load out to 2.800 OAL with the Sierra Match Kings and camber rounds without any problem.
That barrel is actually my best shooting .308 now that I know how to load for it.
 
"...Savage is brand new from the factory and never been fired..." It absolutely requires a bath before shooting. All new rifles do. Manufacturers ship 'em with a rust preventative on 'em that needs to come off.
I suspect that if you did an indepth test of each brand, you'll find it's not every brand giving you the grief.
"...The Tula is the cheapo steel cased stuff..." Quit using it. Steel cases aren't reloadable anyway.
Ultramax is commercial reloaded ammo. Isn't really factory in that they don't actually make it. Ultramax roll sizes(whatever that is) once fired brass acquired who knows where. I think it's not being sized correctly every time. Quit using it too.
 
Thanks for all the replies/input/suggestions, guys. Gonna tear them both down, thoroughly clean them, and head to the range over the weekend. I'll try and keep reasonably detailed notes and post afterward.

I know Tula and Ultramax are sub-par brands, but I have it and I'm not just gonna trash it; I kinda have to shoot it at this point. Doesn't mean I'll buy it again, but I at least have to burn through what I already have. If nothing else, at least I can resize and reload the Ultramax...

Rimfire5...That's great info on a possible chamber depth/OAL issue, thanks. I'll have to look into that before heading to the range.

Again, thanks to everyone.
 
went thrugh that with alot of wold that my handi 223 didnt like.i just shot through it, never bought it again.
 
Just because the federal round chambered hard doesn't mean the chamber is the problem. Savages have very little free bore. The average for a 308 cal. Is 2.800, May be the max. for that Savage. A store bought brand could have the bullet jammed into the rifling. If your reloading it's not such a bad thing. Is the rub on the bullet or the case.
 
Clean the actions and chambers thoroughly.

Use quality ammo.

I'm not judging you, nor should anyone else here, but Tula and Ultramax are crap.
PPU is generally decent.
While Winchester (other than the "Metrics" line) may be "Made in USA" their budget ammo can also be pretty unpredictable. I've had more problems with American-made budget ammo (be it Winchester, Remington, Federal, or remanufactured like Ultramax) than any other ammunition.


Running Ultramax or cheap import ammo is like playing Russian Roulette:
There dozens and dozens of similar incidents to read about, should you choose to use some simple search terms like, "Ultramax Kaboom" or "Tula Kaboom".

Is saving a couple dollars worth potentially destroying your rifle(s) and suffering personal injury?
 
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