New model 11, hard to close bolt on round..
So I just got my action back from SSS, its hog hunter. I had a true and time and a new recoil lug and barrel nut installed. Ive never fired it or chambered a round before sending it off so I can't speak to anything about before. I can say it is very smooth now that the work was done. I want to emphasize this has nothing to do with the work I had SSS do as Fred did excellent work in my action.
Anyways I finally bedded my stock and assembled it with the bottom metal dBm to find that when chambering a round, the bolt is hard to close at the last little bit before locking it down to the right. I have to push in on it a bit to get it to lock down. This was with 175g hornady hand loads, and when extracting them there were rifling marks in the bullet. They all extracted.
I tried some 168g factory atomic match ammo that I bought and while a bit easier it did happen still. If I closed it with a bit of speed I didn't really notice it as much but when I went slow or normal I could notice it. Its only at the very end of the chambering right before locking bolt to right/down. It cycles perfectly smooth and effortlessly with no round. I noticed the recoil lug is much thicker and therefore the old iron sight holes on my.barrel are off to the left a 1/4 turn from center as when SSS installed the barrel with new nut and lug.I assume he had to compensate for the lug being thicker to headspace it.. I don't know for sure. I sent them an email to make sure it was head spaced properly. Since I never fired it and this is my first rifle I bought no go and go guages and a nut wrench and action wrench so I can check it in a day or two when they arrive. However I'm not sure if this is normal for a new rifle? Does.it.just need.to wear any little burrs or break in? Is it normal for the bullet to be touching the rifling? I will note that the atomic factory did.not have rifle marks on it. I will thoroughly clean the chamber and see again. I'm thinking maybe the headspace is just too tight? I can adjust for it when I get tools.
Anyways, the only other rifle I fired was a custom built Remington 700 and it was effortless to chamber and extract so I have nothing to base this against.
Also the hand loads were given to me so they aren't specific for this rifle or anything.. Suppose to be close to ggm specs I dunno.
Any advice? Warranty is ****ed now that I sent it in and got work done by SSS so I can't send to savage..
Also I backed off action screw to ensure it wasn't hitting and it did work fine without a round, and there is no scope mount yet so no scope mount screws hitting either.
New model 11, hard to close bolt on round..
Paint a round up with a sharpie then cycle it a few times. It should show you where it's making contact with your chamber. The round may need to be resized a few thousandths shorter to fit a chamber that's bored on the small side of tolerance. My 10p does the same thing with some factory ammo. I had to adjust the die to fix this issue. If your planning on 1000 yard competition, are you gonna reload ?
Get a set of calipers and measure the OAL of the hand loads. From what I've read rem 700 have a longer throat in their chambers allowing for longer than spec OAL on hand loads. Whereas savage does not chamber like this. May need to seat the bullet lower to account for this. Not all 175 grain bullets are the same shape either.