Remington 700 HELP Hard To Open Bolt

[dieselpower65]

Alrite so i have a remington 700 sps in .300 win mag I went out to the range to sight in my scope which went well so I'm happy about that! But when I fire a shot and then go to open the bolt, the bolt is real hard to pull back to unload the empty cartridge. What could cause this? Ive already cleaned it to see if that was the problem which it wasn't.

[CobraRed]

Are they handloads?
Sounds like a hot load.

[thomashoward]

Wait a few before trying the bolt. Its hot and waiting lets it cool down and then should be an OK bolt lift.
That being said ,that is a sure sign of an overload.also check for primer extrusion, and a shiny spot on the case head stamp.
Might want to back off a grain

[pacrat]

But when I fire a shot and then go to open the bolt, the bolt is real hard to pull back to unload the empty cartridge.

Time to answer a question with questions for clarity sake. Is the bolt hard to open or pull back, or both?

Different symptoms require different answers.

[dieselpower65]

Im using factory federal 180 grain ammo that i bought from walmart and LGS.

Its hard to pull back the bolt. It opens easily! Just pulling the bolt back can be really hard and other times its not as hard and thats all with the same federal 180 grain ammo

[sjb269]

OK, anything out of the ordinary when cycling the bolt W/O a cartridge? What do you mean hard? Like binding or hanging up?

[bsumoba]

easy to open, hard to pull back...interesting. if i get a hard to open, its usually accompanied by hard to pull back as well and its usually hot ammo, or high pressures.

180gr bullet...could you be jamming the round into the lands, causing higher pressures?

[baih777]

my vote is just a tight chamber. try and shoot another brand ammo. if the other brand does the same thing, them you need to take it to Randall.

[dieselpower65]

Without a bullet in the mag or chamber you can cycle the bolt easily it works like it should and its smooth.

After you shoot a round I lift the bolt up which is easy, then go to pull the bolt back to eject the round and rite as i go to pull back its just real hard like its almost stuck on something but from what i can see its not, there was a few times that i could barely get the bolt to slide back i had to pull on it quite a few times to get it to slide back to open.

I will try a different brand ammo next time I'm out unless I can figure something out with all of your guys help.

[dieselpower65]

easy to open, hard to pull back...interesting. if i get a hard to open, its usually accompanied by hard to pull back as well and its usually hot ammo, or high pressures.

180gr bullet...could you be jamming the round into the lands, causing higher pressures?

When you say jamming a round into the lands. Do you mean when loading a round into the chamber like slamming it closed real hard?
If so I do not do that I just close it smoothly.

[LynnJr]

If you look closely just in front of the belt the cases will have rub marks or tiny scratches running from the belt forward for about 1/4 inch.
This area of the brass swells and causes tougher than normal case extraction.

[pacrat]

Time to answer a question with questions for clarity sake. Is the bolt hard to open or pull back, or both?

Different symptoms require different answers.

Which leads to another question.

Is bolt hard to pull back for entire lenght, or just the first little bit and then becomes quickly easier?

If the latter. The 700 remmy has a very small extraction cam on the bolt root/reciever bridge that only engages when the root is almost at 12 o;clock. Unlike say a military Mauser with a large extraction cam on the bridge and a claw extractor.

If ammo is "hot" the case web will expand and stick a bit until the bolt is jerked back some to pop the case loose. On other actions the larger extraction cam offsets this.

IME, Federal and Hornady "Frontier" ammo is loaded hotter than most OTC factory stuff.

JM2c.....YMMV

[russ69]

Without a bullet in the mag...

Why would you put bullets in a magazine?

[ar15barrels]

Why would you put bullets in a magazine?

Duh.
You put the bullets in the clip...

[G-Man WC]

Sticky bolt syndrome, not just for Mosin's anymore?
-g