The Firing Line Forums - View Single Post - Problem With 7mm REM MAG Reloads in Browning A-Bolt: Action Will Not Close

snowdog650 · October 11, 2011, 11:11 AM

Hey, all. I had a bit of a curious problem yesterday at the range with some new 7mm REM MAG reloads that I was working up.

The bolt of the Browning A-Bolt in question would not lock down on several of the cartidges. The cartridge would easily make its way down to the lands, but right before locking the bolt down, the bolt would sieze -- thereby requiring considerable force to extract the brass. Similarly, some cartidges would allow the bolt to lock down with a little force, but would require significant force to back the bolt back out to extract the brass.

Test-firing some Remington Cor-Lokt resulted in zero issues.

The brass is once-fired Remington factory out of this rifle. Brass was trimmed to trim length and neck-sized. Bullet is 160GR Sierra GameKing HPBT. Federal 215 primers. OAL is within specs published by Sierra.

I am at a loss here. Taking a couple of the un-firable handloads, I compared measurements with the factory Core-Lokt, and could not find any discrepancies on any measurement on the brass. OAL on the handloads is about 0.010" less than the Core-Lokt.

My guess is if I did a FL re-size, the problem may go away; however, I am not entirely sure, since this brass was identical in dimensions to the Remington factory brass. But I shouldn't have to do that.

Anyone have any clue W in TF is going on? I have never seen anything quite like this, and it was quite embarassing at the range.

October 11, 2011, 11:11 AM	#1
snowdog650 Member Join Date: February 27, 2009 Posts: 74	Problem With 7mm REM MAG Reloads in Browning A-Bolt: Action Will Not Close Hey, all. I had a bit of a curious problem yesterday at the range with some new 7mm REM MAG reloads that I was working up. The bolt of the Browning A-Bolt in question would not lock down on several of the cartidges. The cartridge would easily make its way down to the lands, but right before locking the bolt down, the bolt would sieze -- thereby requiring considerable force to extract the brass. Similarly, some cartidges would allow the bolt to lock down with a little force, but would require significant force to back the bolt back out to extract the brass. Test-firing some Remington Cor-Lokt resulted in zero issues. The brass is once-fired Remington factory out of this rifle. Brass was trimmed to trim length and neck-sized. Bullet is 160GR Sierra GameKing HPBT. Federal 215 primers. OAL is within specs published by Sierra. I am at a loss here. Taking a couple of the un-firable handloads, I compared measurements with the factory Core-Lokt, and could not find any discrepancies on any measurement on the brass. OAL on the handloads is about 0.010" less than the Core-Lokt. My guess is if I did a FL re-size, the problem may go away; however, I am not entirely sure, since this brass was identical in dimensions to the Remington factory brass. But I shouldn't have to do that. Anyone have any clue W in TF is going on? I have never seen anything quite like this, and it was quite embarassing at the range.