Round won't cycle

German pointer

I have a .270 round that won't cycle with the bolt. The round will go into the chamber and bolt will go forward but when I push the bolt handle down it will stop about two thirds of the way down. I have fired about 300 rounds through the rifle. The round is one of 100 I bought it is Hornady SST Custom 130 gr. but only this one won't cycle. There does not appear to be any marks or imperfections on it. I have seen a lot of rounds fired in my life and have never seen this happen before anyone any ideas an what is wrong with it?

rowa

Is the bullet engraved with rifling marks when you take them back out of the chamber ? have you tried a different brand round.

It wasn't me!

Sounds like the case is badly formed so the shoulder is causing resistance when you try to rotate the bolt into battery. Could be a bulge in the neck but that'd be pretty noticeable. I've had rounds similar to that before but it was pretty noticeable. It's just a factory defect to be honest. I'd just give the round to a dealer for destruction and go on my merry way.

German pointer

rowa wrote: »

Is the bullet engraved with rifling marks when you take them back out of the chamber ? have you tried a different brand round.

There is a tiny almost microscopic mark on the war head. I have fired 80 rounds from this batch no problem it is just this 1 round that won't cycle.

rowa

As it wasn't me said , its a problem with the ammo , return to dealer and get your money back or swap for something different. Have you checked the makers website for recalls ?

German pointer

I know it is the ammo is the problem and I know it is only 1 round it is just that I never came across this problem before, as I said the round looks the very same as the other 99 in the batch with no marks or bulges. And yes I will dispose of it safely.

Thanks anyway

It wasn't me!

If it's a dimensions issue around the shoulder it might not even be visible. The tolerances in terms of headspacing on a good bolt action are tight enough that it wouldn't need to be in order to cause a failure.

German pointer

It wasn't me! wrote: »

If it's a dimensions issue around the shoulder it might not even be visible. The tolerances in terms of headspacing on a good bolt action are tight enough that it wouldn't need to be in order to cause a failure.

It is an off the shelf Remmy 700 SPS. The only modification I did to it was to put in a new trigger

Tommy87

Exact same thing happened me lately, with a .22-250 round. Just 1 round out of 60 Winchester rounds I bought. It's a Remington 700 sps too. Although the bolt will go all the way down but with a lot more force. I've never seen it before either.

German pointer

Tommy87 wrote: »

Exact same thing happened me lately, with a .22-250 round. Just 1 round out of 60 Winchester rounds I bought. It's a Remington 700 sps too. Although the bolt will go all the way down but with a lot more force. I've never seen it before either.

I didn't try to force it too much

Cass

German pointer wrote: »

It is an off the shelf Remmy 700 SPS.

Exact same thing happened with the Father's Remmy 308. Same ammo he has been using all along, and this one round would not chamber.

I took the bolt out, got a cloth, and gave the chamber a good cleaning. I also cleaned the face of the bolt. When i had this done i tried the round, and it cycled perfectly. Just a very, very thin film of carbon was the problem.

I use a shotgun mop or a piece of stick i have shaped to fit the chamber with a cloth on it to clean the chamber.

It'd be a freak if the casing was the problem. An incorrectly necked casing would not cycle. If you want to check you can get a calipers, and check the neck diameter of the casing (outside). It should not be more than 0.346 of an inch. If you know anyone with a shoulder bump gauge they can check the case for you in that regard. Case length should be 2.005 or thereabouts, but i cannot remember of the top of my head what it should be to the datum line. Will try and see if i can find the measurement.


Lastly whatever happens DO NOT try and force the bolt down. Most primers are slightly "sunk" in the primer pocket, but a hard enough force of the bolt could strike the primer, and cause an out of battery firing.

German pointer

I haven't got the gauges or access to them but it is only 1 round so I will just dispose of it properly and pretend that it did not happen, until and if it happens again.

Half-cocked

I had this problem with 1 round of Federal in my Howa .22-250. When I lined the round up alongside some others, I could actually see that the shoulder was different. Never had this problem other than that one time.

Cass

German pointer wrote: »

I haven't got the gauges or access to them but it is only 1 round so I will just dispose of it properly and pretend that it did not happen, until and if it happens again.

My apologies for the above measurements. I'm used to doing .308, and gave you the numbers for it. As your query is about a .270 the numbers will not be the same so disregard them.

My post above about the thin film of carbon is not just down to the fouling, but an imperfection in the casing. However the coupling of the case imperfection with increased fouling caused the round not to cycle. The other rounds that had no imperfections cycled regardless of the fouling so it shows how tight the tolerances can be.


You done the right thing, and just disposed of the round. Chalk it up to a once off, and move on however i would suggest a regular cleaning (which i'm sure you probably do already) of the chamber.