KIRK J Posted August 17, 2015 Share Posted August 17, 2015 I'm having trouble getting my 338 brass to eject after being fired. I have already sent the rifle back to Remington and they swapped out ejectors, but the problem still exist. The problem is that Remington factory shells have about a 10% failure rate, while WW has 100%. The brass pictured is a piece of Nosler that was loaded with 64 gr of RL 15 and a Nosler 210 partition. Not a hot load. Tried several lower powder loads and had the same issues. Just to check I loaded the fired Remington brass with the above load and had the same issues. These same loads fired flawlessly a month or so back. If I take the empty fired brass and reinsert into the chamber is sticks again without even firing. The aggravating part is that it takes just a gentle tap of a cleaning rod to clear the action but it won't open by hand. Any help is appreciated. Long time shooter and lifelong reloader but not sure what's happening here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CHARLES D Posted August 18, 2015 Share Posted August 18, 2015 Buddy of mine had the same problem with his 300 win mag. Tried several things including sending it to Remington as you did. Found a gunsmith in South Lake Tex (ADM Gun) Had them take a look at it. They fixed it and has worked like a charm since. Forgot to mention the rifle is around 10 years old with several hundred rounds through it before the problem started. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wgj3 Posted August 18, 2015 Share Posted August 18, 2015 What's the failure? Bolt not opening easily after firing? Or case not ejecting when you cycle the bolt back? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KIRK J Posted August 18, 2015 Author Share Posted August 18, 2015 Bolt handle turns but won't pull back. This happens when I reinsert a fired case also and try to operate the bolt. Like I said, it takes the easiest tap of cleaning rod to release the casing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Postal Bob Posted August 19, 2015 Share Posted August 19, 2015 Could you have a head spacing problem, or a loose fitting bolt? Sounds like your brass is expanding too much, which is why they don't fit back in the chamber easily. How hard is it to resize the brass? And are you getting any signs of case head separation on the cases? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wgj3 Posted August 19, 2015 Share Posted August 19, 2015 Is the line just above the extractor groove/base a result of the swelling from some kind of fitment issue? Chamber, headspace, bolt face, etc...? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KIRK J Posted August 19, 2015 Author Share Posted August 19, 2015 Not sure what the lines are but they are on once fired brass both factory and reloads. I have checked RP, WW and Nosler Brass and all 3 have the same streaks above the base. I haven't shot any of the brass more than twice so I haven't had any case separation to this point. I think it's time for another return to Remington to see if they can correct. Not sure really what to do at this point. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lwink Posted August 22, 2015 Share Posted August 22, 2015 Any marks of interest on the base of the fired brass? Would be interesting to see what the primer looks like and if there are ejector marks. Post or send me a picture of that if you can. It is not an ejector problem I and doesn't sound like an extractor problem either. Could be a sizing die problem, that's usually where I've seen those marks before, especially on belted magnums. Have you tried sizing brass and then inserting it into chamber and closing/opening the bolt to see what the resistance is like? Be gentle and slow. If the brass once sized goes in and out easily it's probably not a gun or sizing issue. You may not be bumping the shoulder enough for the chamber or there may be the belted mag "donut" of brass around the base if this test is hard on freshly sized brass. Then load a full (or dummy I should probably say) round to the same lengths as the ones you have been using and see if there is any increased resistance to chambering a round or groove marks on the bullet upon extraction. The only times I've had the bolt open but stick was from loads that were borderline too hot for some reason, could be too much jam in the lands. Anything look strange or different about the bolt face or recoil lugs? Stupid Question Time: Your powders didn't get switched somehow right? Either by leaving something else in your hopper and putting this on top or getting other powder in this container or just a wrong pour - I've almost done all of this before. Once I was working on a rifle and somehow a piece of bedding material got into the chamber right around the shoulder area. My brass didn't chamber very smoothly and was always coming out with a dent and hard. I finally figured it on and after cleaning the chamber with a pick found the foreign object and problem solved. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lwink Posted August 22, 2015 Share Posted August 22, 2015 Ha, just saw you're in Lexington, I'm also there this weekend! pm inbound Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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