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Without seeing the rifle, I would guess at a couple things. First, there is some roughness in the chamber which may have been caused by some grit on a cartridge. Second, it is likely that your rifle is short on primary extraction. When the bolt is raised the extraction cam should engage and move the bolt back by close to 1/10 inch. I have seen many Remington 700's which don't move back at all. This means, if the spent case sticks, even a little, you have to pull it out by hauling back on the handle and this is difficult at best. The cure is to relocate the handle forward on the bolt body or, alternatively, counteclockwise on the bolt body. Which way the handle is moved can vary case to case. It sounds to me as if your problem stems from a combination of the two; chamber roughness (for whatever reason) and a lack of primary extraction.
 
I do believe that Leeper has nailed that.
The fact your bolt lifts easily and the case is still stuck sounds like primary extraction.
Did you have the action and bolt trued? Sometimes too much metal is removed from the locking lug recess and bolt lugs which causes the bolt handle to sit too far back to engage the camming lug.
 
I would just add to what Bill said... this isn't a factory chamber and it could have tighter specs which would raise pressures and contribute to a factory round sticking hard after firing... but initial extraction seems to be lacking ... careful with pounding on the bolt handle...
 
From your description I would suspect you have a "ringed chamber". Your quote : the case is a few thou larger near those marks than it is just below the marks. But is it possible for a chamber to actually expand??...Yes it is The fired case then takes on a "bell in the middle" shape that you basically have to re-size down pulling the bulge back thru the un-bulged section of chamber (the marks you see on your case that you characterize as "die marks" are exactly that, the die being your chamber that is resizing the brass) . I have seen bulges were the case has to be pounded out with a range rod,. Yours doesn't sound that severe but it will remain a problem until fixed... unfortunately the only fix is to set the barrel back a turn or two and re-chamber.

Lots of reasons for bulged chambers to materialize and one of those is fireforming cases with a projectile with a light charge and no filler between the bullet & powder. Personally I never use a projectile when fireforming brass ( I know, I know, lots of people have done so with no problems...but some have and it's a $400 fix). I use a few grains of fast pistol powder (9 or 10 gr of Unique usually) and fill the case with corn meal or anything similar (cream of wheat, Grex shotshell filler, etc. ) and top off with the neck sealed with a spot of cheap ol' carpenters glue.
 
fingers284 said:
From your description I would suspect you have a "ringed chamber". Your quote : the case is a few thou larger near those marks than it is just below the marks. But is it possible for a chamber to actually expand??...Yes it is The fired case then takes on a "bell in the middle" shape that you basically have to re-size down pulling the bulge back thru the un-bulged section of chamber (the marks you see on your case that you characterize as "die marks" are exactly that, the die being your chamber that is resizing the brass) . I have seen bulges were the case has to be pounded out with a range rod,. Yours doesn't sound that severe but it will remain a problem until fixed... unfortunately the only fix is to set the barrel back a turn or two and re-chamber.

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If the larger diameter is just forward of the web of the case, the chamber doesn't need to have a ring... this expansion can be normal when the lower part of this extremely heavy case, the web area, does not expand. It would require a chamber casting to determine if there is a 'ring'.
 
Leeper said:
Without seeing the rifle, I would guess at a couple things. First, there is some roughness in the chamber which may have been caused by some grit on a cartridge. Second, it is likely that your rifle is short on primary extraction. When the bolt is raised the extraction cam should engage and move the bolt back by close to 1/10 inch. I have seen many Remington 700's which don't move back at all. This means, if the spent case sticks, even a little, you have to pull it out by hauling back on the handle and this is difficult at best. The cure is to relocate the handle forward on the bolt body or, alternatively, counteclockwise on the bolt body. Which way the handle is moved can vary case to case. It sounds to me as if your problem stems from a combination of the two; chamber roughness (for whatever reason) and a lack of primary extraction.
Click to expand...

This man knows his stuff.
 
Have seen a barrel on an fclass rifle stretch the chamber. Turned out to be a bad barrel that was too soft. A picture of your brass and where its expanding would likely help.
 
guntech said:
If the larger diameter is just forward of the web of the case, the chamber doesn't need to have a ring... this expansion can be normal when the lower part of this extremely heavy case, the web area, does not expand. It would require a chamber casting to determine if there is a 'ring'.
Click to expand...

I could agree with you if it wasn't for the fact that every thing he shoots in it now sticks even ammo that worked previously. I realize the scenario you mention is quite common but usually in a string of rounds that spike the pressure for some reason or another and when you go back to previously working ammo the problem disappears , that's not happening in this case...nope... I still would put money on a ringed chamber.

I agree the best way to locate a 'ring would be a chamber cast however not everyone has a brick of Cerosafe at home, luckily there are other ways. If you measure the ring on the brass and find the corresponding spot on the outside contour of the barrel and it is an a spot that has a flat plain to it, ie. before the barrel radiused contour starts, you can look down the outside plain in a bright sunlight area and look for a slight (and I mean slight in some cases) bend in the reflection coming off the bluing. It is easier to see in the reflection than the actual barrel. Barrel bulge's are a cinch to find this way.

The other way I have used (and this is best if you don't have Cerosafe) is to tape a wood match to a thin rod and smoke/soot the inside of the chamber ( the minor bit of heat from the match won't hurt a thing in the barrel). Make sure you rotate the gun when smoking the inside so you have a complete coverage, some rings are more pronounced on one side or the other sometimes so you need to see the complete circumference. Now fire a cartridge that was safe in the gun before...when you extract the cartridge and look in the chamber with a good bore light, guaranteed you will see where the ring is if it's there.
 
Possibly ringed but it could also be a sizing problem with the FL die. It will be interesting how this plays out... if we get to know...
 
EHG said:
I'm beginning to wonder why actual smiths even reply to these threads. You give good advise then the OP deletes his post with no resolution.
Click to expand...

I deleted it because the seller took the gun back.

It turned out that the chamber had bulged somehow. My guess is that the steel was actually bad in the barrel somehow, as it had never had anything hot fired through it at all, and the problem started showing itself with factory ammo.

I didn't see a point in continuing the thread if I no longer had the gun in my possession.

Thanks to the ones who offered help. Considering I had traded my gun for a gun that was supposed to be a great shooter, and that i expected to give me a decent service life, and I ended up with a gun I couldn't shoot, I didn't see any point in keeping it, especially when the seller was offering to take it back.

Thanks
 
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