Bolt won't close on with shell/guage inserted.

Hi all,

Before you jump to the conclusion that the barrel is on too tight let me give you the rundown (because that is what when through my mind first).

I have a Stevens 200 .223 that I am converting over to .308. This is my 3rd conversion.. but from from .223 to .308 boltface (or alike).

I purchased the box magazine, follower, baffel and bolt head for the .308 platform for push-feed model Savage short actions.

I used the small parts out of my .223 bolt head and put them in my stripped .308 bolt head and reassembled using the shorter .308 baffel. The bolt inserts an works fine.

Problem was when I went to install the factory .308 barrel.

I put the barrel on the reciever and screwed in with a GO gage in the chamber. I then put the bolt in and closed the bolt. I then screwed the barrel till I felt the GO gage hit the bolt face.
I opened the bolt and did about another half turn and tried the bolt to see if it would close on the gage. Nope.. too tight. So I backed it off and it worked. But when I went to open the action the extractor was not holding the gage. So my thought is that the bolt never really closed on the gage.. but just the gage and bolt touched (not engaging the extractor).

So this time I put the gage in and closed the bolt.. then screwed the barrel in till I felt the gage hit the gage on the bolt face. I then tightened the barrel till I felt the gage seat under the extractor against the bolt face. I opened the bolt and the gage came out. I then put the gage back in the barrel and tried the bolt again.. wouldn't close even with decent force.

I then backed the barrel off a small bit and still wouldn't close.

Then I tried with a sized piece of brass.. wouldn't work with that either.

I've done two other rifles and never had this problem. I even removed the extractor and checked it.. and it moves.

Do I need a new extractor for the .308 cartridge? I thought the extractors were all the same.

Thanks for the help ahead of time.

John

yep 223 is longer than a308
i always headspace w/ a bare bolthead

http://savageshooters.com/SavageForu...c,33254.0.html

Right after I posted this a lightbulb went on! Hey, go check your .260 bolt/extractor.. and wouldn't you know it.. yep.. smaller. So i just filed down the .223 one to match the .308 one and wa'la! It worked.

Thanks for the posts everyone.