Rifle problem

S

Scottish Highlander

New member
Hi everyone, hope your all well and shooting lots. I have had a problem start with my 308 Tikka T3 rifle. I was out hunting recently for red deer stags and have had a good winters shooting up till now !!

I've included the stag picture that I shot that day that the problem started.

I have been reloading my own bullets and had no problem at all with pressure problems but that afternoon I shot the stag when I went to reload just in case he rose to his feet the bolt stuck.....

Ohh dear I thought ..

There was a fair amount of upward pressure needed to release the bolt then a few knocks with my palm of my hand on the bolt to extract the brass.

So today I fired 3 shop reloaded ammo ( Sako ) brand and there standard 123 grain soft point straight from Sako.

I've had the same problem with all 3 shots I fired tonight. There is no sign of pressure signs on the ammo I've fired.

I've just cleaned the rifle extensively and the barrel is squeekie clean but the chamber that the brass inserts into had the looks of rust residue that I could see with a torch.

I have a hunch but would just like to ask everyones opinion and if you have had any experiences like this ??

My hunch is that the chamber where the brass is inserted is gunked up possibly with a dusting of rust in the chamber. When I say dusting it is very much a surface orange look in the chamber. I'm wondering if this is causing the brass to grip to it when its just fired and the brass has got hot and expanded. The reason for this rust look is 2 or 3 days before I shot that stag I was out hunting and got soaked right through and so did all my gear including the rifle :( and I thought I'd been very perticular with drying everything but I clearly missed that bit of the rifle.

When I load the rifle there is no problem at all its just when its fired.

Any help is very much appreciated

Jamie
 
Rough chamber can certanly cause difficulty to extract. I would polish up the chamber and try again. If it is really rusting in there, you may want to do it asap. It would be doubly difficult to fix if there is pitting in the metal. When firing, brass just flows into the pits and you will be quite stuck.

-TL
 
Hi tangolima,

as I say the rust residue I can see is very much a new thing and pitting wont have had chance yet. I'll go into my local gun shop and see if I can get a tool to thoroughly clean the throat of the rifle. I have a bore snake but its just not reaching the correct place that i'm needing to get to.

thanks for your reply

Jamie
 
I experienced the same issue with one of my fathers guns. You need a 45 caliber brass or bronze brush and a short cleaning rod section. Chuck it in an electric drill and run it into the chamber through the bolt opening. Some oil of some sort should be on the brush. Light gun oil or mineral oil will work. Clean until you can't see the rust. Test fire, repeat the cleaning if needed.
 
If I had to de-rust a chamber, I'd take an el-cheapo cleaning rod and cut the handle off. I'd use a copper brush with a bore cleaner, and chuck the rod into a drill motor. Run it briefly and then use a clean patch to see what is maybe left to do. Lights, mirrors, whatever, to examine the chamber.

Test by shooting. Repeat as necessary.

FWIW: If a rifle of mine were soaked from rain, I'd remove the stock, scope, bolt, whatever. Spray the bolt, receiver and barrel with WD40. Water Dispersant. Then, air blast. Then, BrakeKleen or equivalent. Then, gun oil. I'd wait 24 hours before re-assembly.

Note: There are chemical rust removers, but they will remove bluing as happily as they'll remove rust. For a chamber? Use a Q-Tip and lots of judicious caution.
 
Thanks for all the reply's and input on how to solve the problem. I thought I had dried it out but clearly not that area. I'm going to have another hour cleaning it tonight and see if the rust look had disappeared. If not then a copper wired brush is on the shopping list to clean out the area. It was that wet that day that parts of the walnut oiled stock was all rubbed back to the wood and the oil was gone....it was very wet that day ...ridiculous...really. I couldn't even see out of my binoculars they were that steamed up. I got into 400 yards from a big red stag but the weather was so dismal I aborted the stalk....

Thanks again Jamie
 
Only if the bronze brush doesn't remove all the rust: Take an old brush and wrap 000 steel wool around it, soak it with gun oil and with a section of old cleaning rod chucked in a drill, use slow speed and in-out motion on the drill until it's free of rust. Stay away from the leade area of the bore by keeping the wad of steel wool too large to enter that section. Also, be sure to use a brush with a closed tip.

The rust has to come out and 000 or 0000 steel wool shouldn't cause noticeable dimensional changes.

BTW: I'd throw that bore snake away...hate them for rifle bores.
After cleaning bores, with solvent, I use a dry patch to remove most, then a patch with Break-Free CLP. Works for me!
 
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