Feeding issues after barrel & stock swap

[Megastink]

I swapped a .22-250 barrel for a .243 barrel on a model 11 and dropped it into a bel and Carlson m40 stock. It’s DBM, The bottom metal and magazine are factory, and it won’t cycle ammo. Looks like the bolt isn’t catching the round, and it closing over the round. Any idea what’s wrong and how to fix this?

for the record, the rifle shoots under 1 minute with factory ammo.

[Apollo117]

Do you have a spare magazine to try? Are you using a full magazine? Will it load if there's fewer cartridges in the magazine?

I had an older model 110 with a blind mag that quit feeding on me randomly. I took the magazine spring out of the stock and lightly stretched it by hand. I put it back and it's been working since.

You may want to try something similar by taking the bottom off your magazine and stretching the spring like I mentioned above.

[mudpig]

Sounds like you might have to change the bottom inletting to the stock. The DBM may not be sitting deep enough into the stock for the magazine to sit where it needs to be in order for the bolt to push the round out of the magazine.......Just something to check. :D

[NicfromAlabama]

Is your magazine specific for the 22-250 or are you using the one for the .243? The 22-250 magazines are a little different than the one for the .243/.308. That may or may not matter, just speculating.

[big honkin jeep]

Sounds like you might have to change the bottom inletting to the stock. The DBM may not be sitting deep enough into the stock for the magazine to sit where it needs to be in order for the bolt to push the round out of the magazine.......Just something to check. :D

Pretty sure mudpig hit the nail on the head with his response. 22-250 mag should be fine it's just not sitting up high enough in the new stock for the bolt to strip a round from the mag.

[LHitchcox]

When I changed my factory 7-08 barrel for a .22-250 barrel, the cartridges failed to feed reliably. It was a combination of the .22-250 having a shorter case and more body taper. The cartridge was nosediving as it came out of the mag and the bullet tip was hitting the bottom face of the barrel. A dedicated .22-250 mag solved the problem. The rifle now feeds flawlessly.

[J.Baker]

Pretty sure mudpig hit the nail on the head with his response. 22-250 mag should be fine it's just not sitting up high enough in the new stock for the bolt to strip a round from the mag.

Not quite BHJ.


When I changed my factory 7-08 barrel for a .22-250 barrel, the cartridges failed to feed reliably. It was a combination of the .22-250 having a shorter case and more body taper. The cartridge was nosediving as it came out of the mag and the bullet tip was hitting the bottom face of the barrel. A dedicated .22-250 mag solved the problem. The rifle now feeds flawlessly.

We have a winner!

The 22-250 (and .250 Savage) uses a specific mag housing because this case has more taper to it from the base to the shoulder than the .308 family of cases. This is why your having feeding issues as the lips aren't allowing the fatter round to sit high enough for the bolt to pick it up. Change it out to a .308 family magazine and you'll be fine (most are just marked STD on the side of the mag).

[big honkin jeep]

Thanks for the heads up on the mag differences Jim.
I didn't have any problem at all going from 22-250 to 308 using the existing mag and factory stock on my last project so I made an assumption based on that.
I have however had trouble a couple of times with the inletting on B&C medalist varmint/tactical stocks on both model 10s and 700 BDLs not allowing the mag to sit up quite high enough to strip a round.