Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Gunsmithing rem 700 troubles

yesterday I went to shoot my rem 700 sps for the first time
I have put it in a manners stock the first thing is that I really have to slam the bolt closed or the handle won't go down
also the bolt does not pick up last cartridgein the magazine any ideas ?

A whole bunch of things could be wrong with your assembly...

First, take a look at the starboard lug on your bolt, is it scratched about the middle of the lug? That would be from a front action screw which is too long. That usually is the bolt closing problem with new stocks. Just shorten it a thread or so with a file.

The magazine box is probably not lined up in the well cut-out for it. Or the lips of the box are too tight and not letting the cartridge come up high enough to get picked up.

Start by opening the lips toward the front gently after ensuring the assembly is correct.

You should rename this thread "Manners stock fitting issue and my inability to properly seat the mag box trouble."

I'm guessing everything worked good before you swapped stocks.

If you are having a difficult time closing the bolt, by all means, apply more force! Seriously, back the front guard screw off and try closing the bolt in a normal manner. If it still won't close easy, then look to see if there is any interference between the bolt handle and the stock. If so, carefully trim the stock where the contact is. Check to make sure the action isn't bound by tightening and then loosening first the front and then the rear guard screws while checking for any movement of the barreled action within the stock.

Report back what you have discovered.

OK I have taken the barreled action off and put it back together
it feeds good now

the bolt closes fine until there is a cartridge being chambered if I slide the bolt in a normal fashion it does not go far enough forward for the handle go down .
but if I slide it more aggressively the bolt will go down easily
it seems like the cartridge is a tight fit in the chamber
I tried factory cartridges from 3 different boxes and some once fired (from this rifle) empty brass

Michaln: sometimes on older guns when the plunger ejector gets crudded up and has problems as you describe - hard chambering. take the bolt out and use a punch to depress the ejector - does it go all the way in and pop out smartly? if so, then you got other problems.... maybe you should put it back into the original stock and take it to your nearest remington warranty repair place?

Before you get into this storm of ideas as there will be many..I suggest that you try factory ammo first of all, you may have a chamber thats a bit short and just need to bump the shoulders back on your cases..are you handloading?

Ray,

Read his last post AGAIN! Maybe slower this time.

I talked to another 700/257 wby owner and he said his is tight also so I guess this is normal ?