Help with WSM feeding/ejection problems - 12/02/05
Could use some help! I also posted this topic in the "Ask the Gunwriter" forum, so this is a repeat. This may have been addressed before, but I did a search and found very little discussion on the subject.
I just had a custom rifle built on a Rem 700 SA, chambered for 7mm WSM. The rifle shoots great, but it has feeding and ejection problems in the WSM chambering that it obviously didn't have back when it was a 7mm-08. It won't eject a live round at all (which is not really a big issue, since it pivots the round out of the ejection port where I can pluck it out rather than pick it up off the ground), BUT about 30% of the time, it won't eject an empty case either, which IS a problem. In addition, if you don't work the bolt fast when pushing a round into battery, the round will generally pop out from under the magazine rails, causing the case head to spring above the bolt face! The last round in the magazine can be especially difficult to chamber. 160gr. 7WSM factory rounds are at absolute max OAL for the magazine box and the short fat WSM case has to tilt up at a severe angle in order to slide across the feed ramp and chamber. I do handload, so I'll be able to tweak OAL which may or may not help some, but being a new rifle, I've only used factory ammo so far. Prior to having the gun built, it never dawned on me that the short fat cases would present a feeding problem, especially since the majors all offer new rifles in the various short mags. I did an internet search and found that mine isn't exactly an isolated problem, however. I noticed Brownells has a magazine box and follower for the WSM cases, but by using it, magazine capacity drops from 3 rounds to 2, which I don't really want. I definitely don't want to convert the rifle to a single shot either.
Does anyone have any suggestions for fixing these problems? What, if anything, do the manufacturers do differently with their short magnum actions vs. their standard short actions for proper functioning of WSM / SAUM cartridges?
For the record, other than enlarging the bolt face for the WSM case head, my bolt has had a Sako-style extractor installed, and it uses a modified magazine box for the WSM cases. Nothing else has been modified inside the action. It has the original plunger ejector from when the rifle was a 7-08. The new extractor works flawlessly, but is it possible something about it may be contributing to the ejection problem? A couple of buddies have had the Sako extractor mod done to theirs with no problems, but theirs are also chambered in standard short action cartridges.
Thanks in advance for any and all advice you can give!
I just had a custom rifle built on a Rem 700 SA, chambered for 7mm WSM. The rifle shoots great, but it has feeding and ejection problems in the WSM chambering that it obviously didn't have back when it was a 7mm-08. It won't eject a live round at all (which is not really a big issue, since it pivots the round out of the ejection port where I can pluck it out rather than pick it up off the ground), BUT about 30% of the time, it won't eject an empty case either, which IS a problem. In addition, if you don't work the bolt fast when pushing a round into battery, the round will generally pop out from under the magazine rails, causing the case head to spring above the bolt face! The last round in the magazine can be especially difficult to chamber. 160gr. 7WSM factory rounds are at absolute max OAL for the magazine box and the short fat WSM case has to tilt up at a severe angle in order to slide across the feed ramp and chamber. I do handload, so I'll be able to tweak OAL which may or may not help some, but being a new rifle, I've only used factory ammo so far. Prior to having the gun built, it never dawned on me that the short fat cases would present a feeding problem, especially since the majors all offer new rifles in the various short mags. I did an internet search and found that mine isn't exactly an isolated problem, however. I noticed Brownells has a magazine box and follower for the WSM cases, but by using it, magazine capacity drops from 3 rounds to 2, which I don't really want. I definitely don't want to convert the rifle to a single shot either.
Does anyone have any suggestions for fixing these problems? What, if anything, do the manufacturers do differently with their short magnum actions vs. their standard short actions for proper functioning of WSM / SAUM cartridges?
For the record, other than enlarging the bolt face for the WSM case head, my bolt has had a Sako-style extractor installed, and it uses a modified magazine box for the WSM cases. Nothing else has been modified inside the action. It has the original plunger ejector from when the rifle was a 7-08. The new extractor works flawlessly, but is it possible something about it may be contributing to the ejection problem? A couple of buddies have had the Sako extractor mod done to theirs with no problems, but theirs are also chambered in standard short action cartridges.
Thanks in advance for any and all advice you can give!