Problem with a Swede

sealyon

Just went out and fired a sporter swede I just picked up. After the forth round the bolt locked up. Shooting my own loads ( every one weighed). Acts like it's locked down. Checked previous three shells and all looked fine. Report of the forth round was normal as was the recoil. Has anyone else had this happen? Any ideas? Hopefully I've got it on the right board this time....

Kdub

Shooting reloads, sometime if the brand of brass gets mixed up, the extractor groove in the case base may be cut differently and not have sufficient depth for the claw extractor to slide freely in it. The case freezes to the chamber with friction and the bolt lift is very heavy. If you haven't gotten the bolt free yet, try a little penetrating oil down the bore, let it soak a bit, then use a rubber or plastic faced mallet to tap the bolt handle up.The claw extractor can have a pretty sharp edge to it, especially at the angled point that first contacts the cartridge case. I've taken the extractors off my several 'Swedes and dulled the edges and point with a Dremel tool a bit. They work fine now.Check your brass and keep them segregated by brand.

leeblackman

The only time I've ever had a jam in a bolt rifle, I had a case that cracked and expanded in the chamber, it swelled so tight against the chamber walls that I couldn't turn the bolt. I didn't know why it cracked either, it was well within pressure limits, it wasn't cracked before I loaded it. The only thing I can guess it that I had poored a small amount of Brasso, an brass polish with amonia, into my tumbling media to make the cases shinier. And maybe the ammonia weakened the brass so much as to allow it to crack like that.Hope this helps.

Krag96

I have seen sporterized rifles with after market safties lock up the bolt,after firing, I watched My Uncle remove A frozen bolt, from A mauser style action that had case problems that locked the bolt, He removed the stock and rapped the rear of the bolt shroud several times with A wooden mallet,pushed the swollen brass far enough forward so that bolt released,

sealyon

Good call Krag. Got it open only to find the primer blown compleatly out. Primer pocket is expanded bad. All the signs of an overpressure load. The only problem to that is that I weigh EVERY load, measure every case, and check OAL on every completed round. Don't know if I dealing with bad scales or what but I have 46 more rounds in this lot and I'm going to pull every one of them and re-scale them on a different set of scales.

Krag96

Sealyon, You are wise in pulling the remainder of those loads, but before You beat Your self up trying to discover what You did wrong, sometimes brass is just weak, you did not give a history of your brass, try to trace the problem, but don't ignore the obvious,

leeblackman

Sounds to me like the primer wasn't seated properly. When you cleaned your brass casing, there could have been a small piece of media left in the primer pocket that deformed the rim of the primer when pressed into the pocket allowing back pressure to escape. Thats why I clean with the old primer left in the case, then use a primer pocket uniforming tool to kinda get the gunk out.

v35

You're clearly way over pressure. Expanded primer pockets are heap bad medicine Cemosabe. Check and recalibrate your scale with weights. I would guess you're at least two grains too high. After you check and calibrate the scale,weigh some of the charges in this lot and let us know.

sealyon

Hi all. Thanks for the imput. Pulled all the bullets and weighed the charges. All were right on. Rechecked case lengths. No problem there. Using new Win brass. Even mic-ed the bullets. After getting the shell out I had the headspace checked and it's good. Finally took the empty shell case to a gentleman thats been building Mausers for a long time. He pointed out a ring around the bottom of the case and some heavy gouges on the rim.Told me that the shell had fed in front of the extractor which left a small gap between the bolt face and the shell. When I shot it, it blew the case back into the bolt( not before it blew out the primer )slamming the bolt back into the locking lugs. Since I can find no other answer I gotta beleive this is what happened, just never heard of it before. You can see where the case was driven over the extractor. Going to change extractors and strengthen the mag. spring. Thanks again all......

Krag96

If that is indeed the sequence of events that occurred, be sure to check your firing pin protrusion, as the pin should never have come in contact with A cartridge resting ahead of the extractor,and recheck your head space, as the bolt should not close on a case that is in front of extractor with out noticeable resistance,

v35

Still sounds like an overload. Firing pin protrusion should be on the order of 1/16", not enough to reach a cartridge forward of the extractor. If you can close the bolt with the cartridge rim forward of the extractor you've got a problem with headspace or the cartridge shoulder is pushed too far back.Another possibility is that the bullet was pushed into the case while chambering, raising pressure.Both expanded primer pockets and jammed bolts are signs of dangerous overpressure.Test your scales' accuracy with grain weights around 45 grains then add and subtract 1/2 grain. If you cant detect the 1/2 grain weight, have the scale serviced.

redcedars

I think the toolmarks from the extractor and the bulged case are positive indications of inproper feeding, as described above. If the extractor gives a little and the case gives a little, the firing pin could reach the primer. Excessive firing pin protrusion could contribute; definitely would check it. I saw a similar problem once before on a 98 Mauser action with a modified extractor.redcedars