I recently picked up an interesting little gun about which I know nothing. It's a sleek little .410 single shot bolt action made by BSA, marked as having a 2 1/2 inch chamber. The barrel is approximately 24 inches in length, and the gun weighs probably about three pounds. The rotating bolt head is reminiscent of a Lee Enfield .303, and there is a large safety lever at the right rear of the bolt that pivots up for safe, down for fire. The gun cocks on closing and is in excellent condition, aside from a couple of dents and scuffs on the stock.
Upon arriving home with my new little toy I scampered out back with a handful of Federal factory 2 1/2 inch loads, and was disappointed to find that they would not chamber. The brass base barely begins to enter the chamber before becoming too tight to go further. I can see nothing in the chamber that would cause this, and both chamber and bore are clean and rust-free. The single hook extractor takes a good bite on the rim and hauls the stuck cases out, with the help of a couple of taps on the bolt handle. I tried several shells out of the box, thinking that perhaps one of them was out of spec or damaged...no luck. I haven't tried any other brands of shells as yet.
Am I missing something obvious here? I know I will probably have to enter the 21st century and figure out how to post pics, but I thought that I'd throw this out here quickly now. Any ideas would be appreciated.
Upon arriving home with my new little toy I scampered out back with a handful of Federal factory 2 1/2 inch loads, and was disappointed to find that they would not chamber. The brass base barely begins to enter the chamber before becoming too tight to go further. I can see nothing in the chamber that would cause this, and both chamber and bore are clean and rust-free. The single hook extractor takes a good bite on the rim and hauls the stuck cases out, with the help of a couple of taps on the bolt handle. I tried several shells out of the box, thinking that perhaps one of them was out of spec or damaged...no luck. I haven't tried any other brands of shells as yet.
Am I missing something obvious here? I know I will probably have to enter the 21st century and figure out how to post pics, but I thought that I'd throw this out here quickly now. Any ideas would be appreciated.
Whaaaaat?
