Headspace/bolt lug issue

B

Bobby Bailey

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Customer brought in a Rem. 700 .223 complaining of too much effort chambering a round. The bolt was hard to close. On checking it out I found the bolt had to be pressed forward under pressure against the sear in order to close. Bolt would not recock unless it was moved a little to the rear. Only 20% of rt. lug showed engagement and it would not close on a go gage. :eek:
Just a little lapping for the lugs with some 400 compound cleared up its issues. It must have went out on a Monday. ;)
Bobby
 
Ummmm....... yeah.

This is a Garand that I got from the CMP of all places. Obviously re-barreled and I'm sure it passed a no-go check just fine.
Problem is, after I got it and did my own inspection and included a GO gage, I find this! :eek:

th_Headspace.jpg

I'm betting on a Friday as well. LOL.
 
Yeah. Already done 2 years ago. It just took me by surprise because I know that they had sent out a number of 03/A3 Springfields with the same problem several years ago. I would have thought that they learned their lesson, and begin using a go gage as a part of their inspection process. If they did, I guess this one just fell through the cracks.

Although I also have a Ruger 77/22 that I bought new, that really took the cake. Out of the box I could barely cock the rifle. Lifting the bolt handle was incredibly hard. I stripped it down and found the cocking cam on the bolt body with a surface finish that equaled a 40 grit sanding disk, with a nice hard chrome plating over the top of it.
It looked like a nice shiny gravel road. :eek:

How in the world things like that make it out the door simply amazes me. Never even got to fire one round before having to ship it back to the factory. :(
I have a similar story about a new Ruger Old Army, but I digress.... ;)
 
It does seem the folks at Ruger have spent a good deal of time perfecting that gravel road finish. ;)
Bobby
 
I have had two different customers bring guns in for headspace checking. One was a Thompson Center rifle that would close on a field gage and not fire a round. Customer returned to factory, told no problem! Next was a Remington 700 that was out of box new, blowing powder back on case. This one would close on a no go gage.
 
Go figure.....every manufacturer is cranking out hardware at levels never seen before.
QC suffers.
I have seen more maladies on brand new firearms in the last 12 months than I have the last 12 years.
 
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