I have owned my rifle for the past 14 years and until last fall have not had a single issue. Disclaimer i only use factory ammunition. I shot my rifle and the bolt would not open. Took it to the gunsmith and he polished the chamber. Got it back took it to the range fired 6 slow shots bolt wont open. Take it back gunsmith says the handle seperated from the the rest of the bolt welded back in place. Go to the range and it freezes again. Back to the gunsmith and he opens up the chamber a bit. Back to the range and after 3 shots bolt freezes again. I can pull up the handle up but the bolt wont come back. No trouble chambering any of the rounds from the beginning. I'm stumped and apparently so is the smith who I will mention is well respected in the Denver area. What could cause this?

Is it a Winchester model 70?
If so make sure the bolt is fully rotating......the whole bolt including body.
I had this issue last year.
Don't fire it either, it could be the bolt body does not rotate along with the handle.
If that happens you could actually fire it (because it thinks it's in battery) and send the bolt back through your head.

Issue

Make and model, etc.?

Is this a specific lot number of ammo that you have used before? Also, I believe that the polishing of the chamber would only increase bolt thrust which would make the problem worse

It would help a ton to know what make/model this rifle is..

Remington 700

Check to be sure your bolt handle is positioned properly on the bolt. If it was welded on too far back you will have lost primary extraction. The bolt will open but it is not cammed back by the extraction cam on the rear of the receiver bridge ( 10:00 O'clock). Measure the gap between the front of the bolt handle flange and the rear edge of the bridge when the bolt is closed and locked. The closer the better. Max gap of 0.050" is tolerable. If it is near 0.100, you have no appreciable primary extraction to break the fired cartridge case loose.

RAN

RAN the bolt would not open or come back on any of the occasions.

Let Remington figure it out.

+10 but they may say you messed with it and are screwed.

Extraction never a strong suite w/700s but:

Find a different bolt that headspaces correctly (most 700s are within specs interchangable) and try it.

Try different brands of ammo.

Do a chamber cast to see if chamber has defects.

All of these your, "well respected" smith should have already tried.

I'm sure folks on here can suggest a top drawer 700 smith that can analyze and fix your problem.

That's why when it comes to Remington, I stick with 721/2/5 rifles.

I think I'd stop using that factory ammo and find another smith to look at it.

REALLY!

I wouldn't bet the farm on that.

Play it safe, send it to a reputable 'smith.

Larry Root strikes again. And still wonders why everyone tells him GFY! What a dipchit.

That... The primary extraction cam on the 700 is pretty 'Mickey Mouse', IMHO - compared to other rifles which have a much more beefier system..

Why did he polish the chamber?

Why did he open up the chamber a bit?

If your gunsmith didn't figure this out but fooled with the chamber, time to get another gunsmith.

Handle separated from the bolt and you didn't notice??

Pretty amazing to me...

Yeah right, the 700 is so inferior to the 721...

Properly timed it is not a terrible system...