Failure to eject.

[Tack]

Hi All, just fitted a new scope to axis this morning and sent six shots through to sight in. I noticed that they were hard to withdraw from chamber after firing an the last two came out minus the primers??? Now my ejector knob thingy (not the claw on side of case) is jammed back into bolt and wont come back out to play. I have learnt that reloads done in middle of winter and fired in middle of hottest summer for 20 years is not a good idea but I still need to get it so they spent rounds will eject.
Thanks,
Tack

[thomae]

It sounds to me as if your loads were way too hot. Do you have pitting in a circular pattern on your bolt face around the firing pin hole? That is caused by gas leakage around the primers, usually a sign of either overpressure loads or loose primers.



Either way, not a good show.
Here's a picture of some of the classic signs of overpressure that you might see on your brass:

Did you anneal your brass? If the annealing was not limited to above the shoulder, perhaps the bases of your brass got too hot and thus too soft.

There is no easy solution to fixing the ejector problem. Your ejector was likely forced back to far that it kinked the spring inside the hole and it is stuck there. Either that or it is stuck by a bit of brass that got in there with it and then was sheared off when you opened the bolt. Try gently tapping it with a pin punch to get it to move. It can't hurt to squirt some penetrating oil (such as Kroil or Liquid wrench)in there.

If it is really stuck, I suppose you could try drilling it out, and then replacing with the new style ejector. (http://www.savageshooters.com/showth...l=1#post212961)

If that does not work, you could replace the bolt head, but remember to check your headspace if you do that.

Smarter members will perhaps have better solutions.

[Tack]

Thanks Thomae, all good now. Found your article and pulled it to pieces. Took some getting ejector out but just jammed with carbon. No pitting on the bolt face.
Yes, my primers are cratered and fallen out. Only the first time the brass has been used. The loads are a good one grain under max but they were loaded in the coolest part of winter. All powder weighed individually. But the heat we have had here in last six weeks has been extreme. 15 days above 40 Celsius. Apparently that can have some adverse effects on reloads. I have learnt something today so it wasn't wasted. Now to pull my loads and back them off a little.

[thomae]

Glad to hear that the repair was reasonably easy.

[lotusboyrulz]

Heat affects how much pressure your round produces. for snipers to get extra range they will leave their rounds in the sun . So I think that is your problem .