wsm feeding problem

[awinn]

I am having feeding problems with .270 wsm loads. Factory ammo feeds with a little resistance, and a tiny bit of brass shaving, resized cases are way worse, they'll feed, but I have to snap the bolt on my model 70 classic. One of the reasons I bought it was the smmoth action, which the feeding problem totally takes away. Does anyone have a suggestion?

[700xcr]

Are you full sizing or neck sizing? I have heard on the wsm you have to full size and make sure press cams over center. They say it is called bump the shoulder. It sounds like you need to adjust the die a little. Others my have more info for you.

[awinn]

I'm full sizing.

[700xcr]

I would play around with the die adjustment.

[StevenL]

Factory ammo feeds with a little resistance, and a tiny bit of brass shaving,

. . .a little resistance ? at what point of insertion? brass shaving . . . where?
Sounds to me as if your chamber might not be to spec, especially if you're having troubles with factory ammunition.

[awinn]

The brass gets a Very thin layer scraped fom the case from behind the shoulder about a quarter of an inch, then it is less until it gets close to the rim, where it happens some more. I almost think that it is that the angle in which the cases are fed is too steep. This gun has had very few rounds through it. (40)

[Beowulf]

I ran into this same issue with two win M70 one in 270 WSM and another in 300 WSM. The issue is usually that the feed ramp is in need of some polishing and there is a sharp burr in the bottom mouth of the chamber and because of the steep angle of entry it scrapes a little brass sometimes. I took out my dremel tool and went to work polishing things up and its just fine now. I have the same issues with a 6mm Ackley as well and again some polishing did wonders. Also too I found polishing the bolt face and extractor did wonders too. With all WSM's and mauser extractors you'll need to do some fine tuning to get a smooth feed.

[BigBoreDan]

I have a cousin who went on an elk/mule deer hunt in Colorado this year. He shot two borrowed guns one was chambered in 300 WSM and the other was a 325 WSM. I don't know what brand of rifle they were but he complained of a similar problem with the 325 WSM. He said that it wouldn't feed properly if you tried to close the bolt slowly it would bind. He said he had to aggressively close the bolt basically slamming the round home to get it to chamber. I don't know if they were factory or reloads though.

[awinn]

Beowulf,

Is that something I should trust to my gunsmith, or could I do it myself without fear of messing the rifle up? If it is just the very backedge of the chamber, you are right, it is very sharp all around!

[Mark]

The rear chamber edge should have a .010 to .015 radius all the way around. There is NO WAY this should be a sharp edge.

Fishing in there with a dremel just sounds like the scene of a disaster. This sounds like a gunsmith job. If I were going to do the job, I would need to remove the barrel. I'm sure you're glad I'm not on this one. LOL
Mark

[gdbraham]

I had a similar problem with my 300 WSM. My problem stemmed from using Federal Brass. I purchased the brass about 4 years ago at a gun show, where the seller told me that the Fed. brass was fired once. I brought it home, resized (full length) and loaded all 50 brass to my current specs. At the range, I noticed that a better part of the brass showed significant resistance when opening and closing the bolt. I have no idea why this happened with the Federal Brass. I currently use Winchester brass and have never once had the same problem with this brass. Some of the Winchester brass has been reloaded upwards of 10-15 different times (inspected of course) and they still cycle just as smooth as they originally did. So basically, I don't have an answer, just a comment to your problem. If you are using Federal brass, try Winchester brass, maybe it will be the same as my gun.

[Beowulf]

Beowulf,

Is that something I should trust to my gunsmith, or could I do it myself without fear of messing the rifle up? If it is just the very backedge of the chamber, you are right, it is very sharp all around!

I would say for you to get a good gunsmith to do the work. I do most all my own smithing so its not a problem for me. I will say you can do it if you have really steady hands and a GOOD manual to learn from. A 5x working lighted glass is a must and ONLY a polishing wheel is to be used and then just a little at a time. 240 grit will do nicely

[awinn]

I have a good smith in the town 7 miles down the road. I hope it can be solved without too much expense as I paid a premiium for this rifle when I got it. I was a toss up between this gun and a Kimber Montana, and I am almost regretting my decision.

[Beowulf]

Be glad you didnt get the Montana it would have been as bad or worse, and not group worth beans either.