During a recent hunt, I had a failure of one of my 700s, causing me to miss a second chance at a buck. The plunger ejector stuck, causing a double feed when I ran the bolt. I have hunted with 700s for 25 years, they are my go to rifle, and this was the first failure I experienced in the field. I did have an ejector stick once before, 20 or so years ago when I was younger and dumber with a HOT load when developing loads, but I did not think anything of that because it had forced brass into plunger orifice, and shavings of brass plugged plunger.
This time, it was a factory .243 load. I was not ready to give up on my various 700s, but my faith had been shaken. I knew that several AR-10 manufacturers are offering bolts with dual ejectors to boost reliability, and PTG just started offering aftermarket 700 bolts with dual ejectors, but as of now, only with magnum bolt face. I decided to give it a go, and install a second ejector in one of my 700s. It went really well, so I did another. I have tested it, and with only the top ejector I added, it ejects flawlessly. So, if either ejector sticks, the other will still clear case from action. I was a bit worried that the high position of top ejector would force case downward causing problems, but I cant tell the difference in ejection between the top and bottom ejector. With both installed, ejection is definitely more robust.
This time, it was a factory .243 load. I was not ready to give up on my various 700s, but my faith had been shaken. I knew that several AR-10 manufacturers are offering bolts with dual ejectors to boost reliability, and PTG just started offering aftermarket 700 bolts with dual ejectors, but as of now, only with magnum bolt face. I decided to give it a go, and install a second ejector in one of my 700s. It went really well, so I did another. I have tested it, and with only the top ejector I added, it ejects flawlessly. So, if either ejector sticks, the other will still clear case from action. I was a bit worried that the high position of top ejector would force case downward causing problems, but I cant tell the difference in ejection between the top and bottom ejector. With both installed, ejection is definitely more robust.