I was at the range a few days ago trying my latest and greatest Apache-powered experiment. Things were going pretty well. The gun went together beautifully and looked simply sublime in its coyote laminate stock. I loaded a round and closed the bolt. A little stiff, but I knew the bullets were loaded to the lands, so maybe one ventured into the leade.

The shot went off without a hitch. The gun rocked in the sandbag cradle and spectacularly failed to explode. A good sign! I then went to open the bolt. The handle lifted and then stopped. I couldn’t bring the bolt back. A few minutes, a range rod, and me stomping on the handle later, the bolt came back. On the ejected casing, I saw two bright marks near the base of the brass with a small burr in the middle. An empty, unfired case was similarly frozen when closed in the chamber but was held with less tenacity.

Getting the gun home, I immediately probed the chamber with dental picks and could not find any burrs in the steel. I tore the gun apart and examined the breech end of the barrel. Based on the where the marks were in the brass, I concluded that the problem was in two areas. Both of these corresponded to marks stamped in the steel by Apache.

Anyway, I sent an email to Jim about this problem on Sunday, and I’m still waiting to hear back him. I hope he’s willing to make it work.