Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Gunsmithing Weatherby Feeding problem

I have a new Vanguard in .300 Weatherby, and it won't feed the last round in the magazine. It feeds the others just fine, but when the bolt face engages the head of the last round, the round pops up and the bolt face loses contact, so when the bolt goes forward the round is semi-sideways and doesn't feed.

I've contacted their shop and they're sending a new follower and spring. Has anybody else seen this, and is there an easy DIY fix?

That's a typical follower problem. Unless it's a center feed system, the job of the follower is to guide the last round into the chamber.

Or bounce and toss it along its way...

Any suggestions on how to adjust or fix it? It almost seems like a weaker spring would help because when the magazine is full, with more weight on it, the rounds don't pop up like they do with just one round in there.

Probably more the follower than the spring. The fuller the mag the more pressure on the rounds as the mag spring is compressed more.That last round has the least upward pressure.

Not without looking at it. You have to watch how and when the round emerges from the feed rails, how it is guided into and up the ramp towards the mouth of the chamber. If the Magazine box is not seated correctly that can throw the round off track as well.

You would be surprised at how many folks take their rifles down and reassemble the magazine boxes incorrectly resulting in feeding problems.

If the new follower doesn't do it, I'd try the original follower with a stronger spring.. Many times a weaker spring will not hold the first round (bottom) tightly enough against the feed rail and allow it to jump up early..

Basically, you're seeing this in person when you note that a full mag doesn't exhibit the problem..

The box and spring are seated right, I've taken it apart twice. As you know in that rifle the fit of the box is pretty tight and the spring is held in place on the bottom metal and follower pretty tightly by metal tabs so it's hard to put it all back together cock-eyed.

What happens is, with the last round on the right rail the bolt face pushes it forward and the bullet slides up the feed ramp, so far so good. Once the bullet clears the top of the ramp, the round pops up and the case head moves up and to the right--if I do it fast the round pops out the port case head first. If I do it slow just the head pops out.



That's what I'm seeing, thanks to both of you guys.

I had the same problem with a 300 WSM follower on the Vanguard. The replacement Weatherby sent worked like a charm

You can remove the spring from the floorplate and use your hand to increase the spring tension to see how increased tension affects the feeding of the last round. If the increased tension keeps the head of the case from emerging too soon, allowing it to feed without any problems, then replace the spring. Avoid stretching the spring. Unless you have the replacement in hand so afterwords you can replace it. Stretched springs don't have a good track record.

Got it, thanks for the tip.