rem 700 police bolt hard to close?

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Kryogen

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I shot a rem 700 police today with some reloaded brass and the bolt was quite hard to close. Brass had been FS resized.
Is the bolt supposed to be hard to close on the rem, like a minspec chamber, or it should easily close on a round?
Might have to try with some factory rounds.
 
Sounds like you didn't size your brass right and need to bump the shoulders back a hair more. Check and see that the bottom of the die is just kissing the shell holder or if you have a headspace gauge like the Hornady LNL to check your headspace length. Tighten down the die 1/8-1/4 turn and run the case through it. Wipe the lube off and chamber the empty case to see if it fits better. If it is still too snug, tighten the die another 1/8-1/4 turn and repeat.
 
die is touching the shellplate + a tad to make it tight.....
maybe something went wrong last time, I reinstalled the die on a new forster coax press and did a test one will have to try to chamber and see.
 
maybe the chamber was head spaced wrong. my CZ 550 had that problem. but most likely improper brass resize. also is check the OAL of the brass. they may be stretching to much after resize and the neck could be jamming in to the throat
 
Kryogen said:
die is touching the shellplate + a tad to make it tight.....
maybe something went wrong last time, I reinstalled the die on a new forster coax press and did a test one will have to try to chamber and see.
Click to expand...

The die is touching the shell plate when under a load?
 
die is touching shellplate with a tad of presure.
co-ax doesnt flex when resizing.

I'll test my new resized-again brass, and it's either the die or the headspace of the rifle.... I'll buy a box of factory ammo to try it. (new die, but usually, lee FS dies have no issues).
OAL is fine within spec, and trim length is also.
 
Get yourself one of these http://w ww.sinclairintl.com/reloading-equipment/measuring-tools/case-gauges-headspace-tools/rcbs-precision-mic-cartridge-headspace-tool-prod33476.aspx

That way you can see exactly how much you are pushing the shoulder back when you resize.
 
Kryogen said:
I shot a rem 700 police today with some reloaded brass and the bolt was quite hard to close. Brass had been FS resized.
Is the bolt supposed to be hard to close on the rem, like a minspec chamber, or it should easily close on a round?
Might have to try with some factory rounds.
Click to expand...

Was the re-sized brass fired in the same rifle? Full length sizer dies do not completely restore original cartridge dimensions. Reloads fired from a different rifle can cause problems.
 
I have a Remington SPS Tactical in 223 and it does the same thing even with factory ammo. It is slightly easier to close the bolt when I shorten the OAL but it is still tough to close. Any idea's on what is going on?
 
Tighten down the die 1/8-1/4 turn and run the case through it. Wipe the lube off and chamber the empty case to see if it fits better. If it is still too snug, tighten the die another 1/8-1/4 turn and repeat.
Click to expand...

Not to pick nits, but once you are touching the shell plate plus an 1/8.......turning it further down isn't going to size it anymore. Unless you're a 3000# gorilla and you are actually crushing the shell holder and die ;)
 
*MALICE* said:
Not to pick nits, but once you are touching the shell plate plus an 1/8.......turning it further down isn't going to size it anymore. Unless you're a 3000# gorilla and you are actually crushing the shell holder and die ;)
Click to expand...

I agree but on my press, without a load and the shell plate touching the die it looked fine but when I size a case, I can see about 0.005" of space between the die and shell plate. I tightened down the die a bit more and the space got smaller and enough to bump the shoulders back where it can chamber easily.
 
spoc said:
I have a Remington SPS Tactical in 223 and it does the same thing even with factory ammo. It is slightly easier to close the bolt when I shorten the OAL but it is still tough to close. Any idea's on what is going on?
Click to expand...

My bet is either the scope base screws are to long or your bedding screws need to be shortened by a thread or two.
 
"...with some reloaded brass..." Who did that? It has to be full length resized to be used in a rifle it wasn't fired out of. Factory should be fine.
"...maybe the chamber was head spaced wrong..." Chambers don't get headspaced. Rifles do and there's no way a commercial factory will let a rifle out with bad headspace. They're terrified of law suits.
 
spoc said:
I have a Remington SPS Tactical in 223 and it does the same thing even with factory ammo. It is slightly easier to close the bolt when I shorten the OAL but it is still tough to close. Any idea's on what is going on?
Click to expand...

Is the bolt hard to close when there is no round in the chamber? If NO, then the scope base screws are not the issue. If YES then the scope base screws are the problem.

If the bolt closes easily on an empty chamber then the hard bolt closing is related to the ammo. Not all factory ammo is created equally. If it is crap Norinco ball then maybe try something else a bit better quality. Just because "factory" ammo chambers tightly is not an indication of an out of spec chamber.

As long as the bolt closes without excessive effort, it will be fine. Headspace is not a specific measurement, it is a range and it is certainly possible to run into minor issues with a minimum length chamber and maximum length ammo. A minimum headspace chamber is fine as long as it does not require a ton of effort to chamber the round. Even then a short chamber is not dangerous to shoot. It is only considered "unsafe" from the point of view that a live round cannot be removed from the chamber if need be. A minimum length chamber will not cause excessive pressures unless you have to beat the bolt handle down with a hammer.

A long chamber can be dangerous to shoot because it can cause a case head separation or split case during firing which will result in high pressure gases being vented out the back of the rifle into the shooter's face.
 
The bolt closes fine without a round in the chamber. When I chamber a round its fine until I start to push the bolt into the down position. I takes a fairly hard push to get it down into position. There have been no signs of high pressure in any of my reloads. I've tried trimming the cases slightly shorter and I've played around with the seating depth. The only thing that makes it a little easier to close the bolt is seating the bullet a bit deeper in the case.

Suputin said:
Is the bolt hard to close when there is no round in the chamber? If NO, then the scope base screws are not the issue. If YES then the scope base screws are the problem.

If the bolt closes easily on an empty chamber then the hard bolt closing is related to the ammo. Not all factory ammo is created equally. If it is crap Norinco ball then maybe try something else a bit better quality. Just because "factory" ammo chambers tightly is not an indication of an out of spec chamber.

As long as the bolt closes without excessive effort, it will be fine. Headspace is not a specific measurement, it is a range and it is certainly possible to run into minor issues with a minimum length chamber and maximum length ammo. A minimum headspace chamber is fine as long as it does not require a ton of effort to chamber the round. Even then a short chamber is not dangerous to shoot. It is only considered "unsafe" from the point of view that a live round cannot be removed from the chamber if need be. A minimum length chamber will not cause excessive pressures unless you have to beat the bolt handle down with a hammer.

A long chamber can be dangerous to shoot because it can cause a case head separation or split case during firing which will result in high pressure gases being vented out the back of the rifle into the shooter's face.
Click to expand...
 
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