Ruger American Rifle very tight chamber

[P220]

I just purchased this brand new 7mm-08 Ruger American Rifle, I clean and lube the rifle and took it to the range yesterday.

I found it's very hard to close/open the bolt to load/unload a cartridge, I have to slam the bolt hardly. The ammo I use are 140gr factory Remington Core Lokt and PPU PSP.

Is this common?

Thanks a lot guys!

Brand New Rifle:

[Divernhunter]

Send it back with a note as to the problem and get it fixed. Call them first and talk to them so they know the trouble and that it is coming in the mail or whatever way you prefer to ship. Be unhappy and they might send you a shipping tag they did me for a new pistol I had trouble with.

PS Nice scope choice! It is mounted a bit too far back for my shooting but I am a stock crawler.

[LynnJr]

How smooth is it when cycled empty?
Did you lube the back of the recoil lugs or the front?
Did you try a second brand of factory ammo?

I am not terribly impressed with some of todays factory ammunition.I was at the range as was asked to look at a kids pistol.He was shooting factory ammo and it would fall right into the chamber and not fire.The cases had no rim or extractor groove of any kind and would slide into the chamber so far they would not fire.

[Metal God]

Most gun stores will send it back for free if the problem is with in 30 days of buying it .

When you extract a live round is there any marks on the bullet it self ?

[thomashoward]

I just purchased this brand new 7mm-08 Ruger American Rifle, I clean and lube the rifle and took it to the range yesterday.

I found it's very hard to close/open the bolt to load/unload a cartridge, I have to slam the bolt hardly. The ammo I use are 140gr factory Remington Core Lokt and PPU PSP.

Is this common?

Thanks a lot guys!

Brand New Rifle:
[ATTACH]309058[/ATTACH]

Don't slam. just push the bolt down, stiff is OK. if it ejects without any problems its OK and now its fire formed. We load to a hard bolt seat (neck size only) for our varmints.
Did you clean it good before firing? bolt lugs and bolt lug race? I have one and plan to get another.If you reload measure to the bullet to jam then measure the cartridge, by collmator. The factory ammo may be a thousanths too long at neck or shoulder for your chamber. if the bolt goes down its OK

[P220]

Thanks a lot guys! Today I shoot the rifle, very accuracy, still feel tight but a little better. 25rounds, feed/eject just fine.

[Varg Vikernes]

You might wanna just lube up the bolt and try and cycle it a few hundred times to wear it in.

[NaturalDefense]

I just purchased this brand new 7mm-08 Ruger American Rifle, I clean and lube the rifle and took it to the range yesterday.

I found it's very hard to close/open the bolt to load/unload a cartridge, I have to slam the bolt hardly. The ammo I use are 140gr factory Remington Core Lokt and PPU PSP.

Is this common?

Thanks a lot guys!

Brand New Rifle:
[ATTACH]309058[/ATTACH]

I have the Ruger American as well, but in .308 WIN, and I know exactly what you are talking about when you mean when you say the bolt is difficult to eject. I actually only have that issue after I take a shot, and trying to eject the brass, so I figured it was most likely due to the brass casing expanding slightly during firing. However, I noticed that if you slowly and smoothly do the ejection sequence, the bolt will get stuck less. If you are rushing to try to eject the brass, I believe it has a higher chance of seizing the bolt due to inaccurate movements.

[autox42]

ok I Also have the Ruger American in .308. I had this same issue and called up Ruger they explained to me the reason the bolt seems tight is the new design of the bolt itself.

the action of you bringing the bolt down to lock is actually forcing the ejector over the lip of the case. after about 150 rounds now through mine it has smoothed out a bunch and is just fine now with anything I have fed through it.

[P220]

ok I Also have the Ruger American in .308. I had this same issue and called up Ruger they explained to me the reason the bolt seems tight is the new design of the bolt itself.

the action of you bringing the bolt down to lock is actually forcing the ejector over the lip of the case. after about 150 rounds now through mine it has smoothed out a bunch and is just fine now with anything I have fed through it.

Yes, mine is better now.

[NaturalDefense]

ok I Also have the Ruger American in .308. I had this same issue and called up Ruger they explained to me the reason the bolt seems tight is the new design of the bolt itself.

the action of you bringing the bolt down to lock is actually forcing the ejector over the lip of the case. after about 150 rounds now through mine it has smoothed out a bunch and is just fine now with anything I have fed through it.

Thanks for the heads up on that issue. I've been trying to find out why this had been happening since I got the rifle back when it first came out LOL

By the way, just out of curiosity if you don't mind me asking, what type of scope are you using for your .308 RAR? Mine is currently running a Redfield Revenge 6-18x. Thanks!

[autox42]

Thanks for the heads up on that issue. I've been trying to find out why this had been happening since I got the rifle back when it first came out LOL

By the way, just out of curiosity if you don't mind me asking, what type of scope are you using for your .308 RAR? Mine is currently running a Redfield Revenge 6-18x. Thanks!

also running a redfield the revolution 3-9x its my hunting rig

[wjc]

Had a similar problem on my brand new Winchester model 70.

It was just "new"...cycled some ammo through it at the range and it is fine now.

[NaturalDefense]

also running a redfield the revolution 3-9x its my hunting rig

Dang thats sweet, I accidently forgot to put weight into consideration when getting my scope, and I should have bought a lighter model to go with a rifle thats already lightweight. LOL, mine is like 29.8 friggen oz, if I got the 4-12X magnification it would have been 15.3oz, but yours at 12.6oz seems like a great setup.

My RAR's chamber though still tight as a virgin as I put her in rotation with the rest, but also cuz .308s will put a hole in my wallet (no pun intended).