new M70 FWT 280 Rem. bolt closes hard on factory ammo, bolt opens and ejects fine. maybe I just ahvent gotten all the packing grease out of it yet?

Same story on multiple brands of ammo?

Just went through this with a Husq 640. Obviously not an identical action to M70, but the hitch on closing wasn't actually an obstruction (junk in chamber) it was the force needed to get the round fully seated under the claw due to an extractor arm slightly bent and creating extra tension on the underside. It just felt like it was chamber friction. No clue if that's your issue, but maybe something to keep in mind if simple fixes don't work.

Make sure the chamber is perfectly clean, even check the bolt face.

I seen anything from a tiny piece of a leaf, a small leaf stem, and even a tiny slice of cardboard paper in a chamber cause it, often what seems a small piece won’t even let you close the chamber at all... it only takes 2-4 thousands for many to not close.

ALL factory ammo? Or just the brand you have now? Try another manufacturer and see if the issue persists.. Then you'll at least have gotten rid of one variable..

I had that happen on a M7 FWT in .260 Rem.. Close inspection of the ammo showed slightly crushed shoulders - from a brand new box of Rem ammo.. Called 'em up, they wanted it back, and then sent me a new box.. Problem solved..

iin fairness, i could only find one brand of ammo when I bought the rifle Winchester Supreme 140 Ballistic Silvertip.

If you can stir up another brand, I'd give that a shot. Maybe related, maybe not. I have a hunch we are going to see some serious QC issues with guns, ammo and shooting related equipment. The increasing demand, the efforts to increase production and the COVID related personnel turnover and new hires, can't spell good news.

I think you're right about QC generally speaking, but I believe this run of M70 FWTs in 280 was pretty limited and predated COVID/riots. (I have one... I think they were made in 2019?)

I'm surprised you even found that. Federal website usually has 280 for sale in Trophy Copper but they're pretty proud of it.

Ran into this issue years ago with some factory Winchester 7mmRM ammo. About 2/3 of the box would not chamber in a factory 700 rifle. Turned out to just be the ammo.

Following

But what about the ammo?

Had that happen on a previously never fired Rem 700 243 with Prvi ammo. My reloads loaded and shot fine. Here is some good readily available fairly priced 280 rem ammo. They are good to go - I got a case from them.

https://ammoshoponline.com/product/in-stock-new-brass-280-rem-160-gr-tipstrike-norma-qty-20/

I have a box of Barnes TTSX .270 Win ammo that is way over on COAL. When I bought it a few years back, only about 3-4 would chamber in my rifle. Fast forward to a few weeks ago, I was cleaning up my reloading cabinet and saw the ammo, so I thought I’d compare it to the Barnes manual and it’s way over the Max COAL in the manual, and this is factory loaded ammo.

Yup. No arguments there. Especially with the TSX/TTSX stuff. Folks seem to have all kinds of weird stories about chambering/fit with them.

Found a box of Federal 140 accubonds. They close very easy

The real question is where the heck you found factory ABs in 280... you should probably buy a lottery ticket this week

Dirty chamber?

I bought a new bag of Hornady 270 WSM. About half of them wouldn’t chamber.

Store has 2-3 more boxes. If it shoots good I'll grab them

Have you tried a more aggressive push up routine?

No seriously, the mauser 18, and sauer 100 in my lineup experience similar issues......hopefully no follow up shots will be required until things are fully broken in.

That's getting to be an oddball caliber. Guessing factory QC ain't on point..

I once had a 700 Classic in .257 Roberts with the same issue. I tried factory ammo, and then new brass run through a FL sizing die, and always a crush fit. I probably should have returned it to Remington but, as it didn't have sights, took the opportunity to have my gunsmith true the action and re-cut the chamber. Always wondered how it got out of the factory like that. Or maybe it was in spec, I don't know.

More recently I bought a Ruger 77 RSI with a burr in the chamber. That resulted in difficulty with closing, opening and extraction, and the problem was immediately apparent when looking at the cases.

I had the exact same thing happen last year.

I have a 700 270 that seems to chamber remington ammo fine but federal blue box and fusion that I've tried tend to be very snug and tight when closing the bolt.