My Rem 30-06 bolt action really sucks, I have to ram the bolt forward to?

Question

get it to go down in place and this cost me an 8 pt. buck Thansgiving morning when I missed and took forever to reload. Is it just because this is a low end version or is it me?

It's a 710 with synthetic stock.

Answer 1

Is it new?
Bolt actions require some breaking in and ideal lubrication to operate smoothly. It's a mechanical device and really doesn't work at its best until all the parts have a little wear on them. My favorite actions are what some would consider a little 'sloppy'.

Please pardon me putting in my two cents here, but you should have found out about this problem at least a month ago on the practice range while you were getting yourself ready for the hunt.

With all the effort and time and money you invested into putting yourself within range of that old buck, not getting off that second shot cost you a bundle not to mention the missed opportunity.

Preparation makes a good hunt. Check everything and walk thru your plan over and over again, with an eye on SAFETY and SUCCESS.

A good gunsmith can smooth out that action for you and make it feel great. You can find ways to do this yourself. If it's new, put a couple of hundred rounds through it on the range, it will smooth up real nice.

Answer 2

Bound's hubby here:

You have been given a lot of good advice here ... read it and think!

You did not say what type of ammo (factory or handload) you were shooting, or if you had ever fired handloads in it. Also, are you the original owner and if not, do you know what has been fired in it?

Based on your description of events, I would say that your problem originated with ammo. Initially, I thought that your cartridges (if handloaded) had not been properly resized. A cartridge case that is not re-sized will increase the force required to close the bolt.

Another thing that comes to mind, is bolt damage caused by bad reloads. About 10-12 years ago, I had a problem with bolt operation in my Remington 700 Varmint Special ... the bolt was stiff and tight when both opening and closing the bolt. On reflection, I had fired some reloads using recommended levels of a new powder called BW-36. It shot really nice groups, but it was explosive and generated chamber pressures greater than what the .308 Winchester should, and it bent/warped the bolt body. The fix involved sending the rifle back to Remington, and they replaced the bolt body. That rifle is working without a hiccup and is a premier 1000 yard target rifle!

If after cleaning your rifle thoroughly, and using factory loads, and the problem persists, I would contact Remington and have them inspect the rifle.

Now, if you bought the rifle used (after trying factory loads and the problem still persists), I would contact the person or shop that sold you the rifle and find more about this rifle's history and have the seller stand behind the rifle ... but bottom-line, the rifle is probably going to make a trip to one of Remington's repair centers!

Good luck!

Answer 3

Hard to say...it could be the plethora of reasons you've already been given, or it could have been 8 pt. fever. Does the bolt work ok with no deer in sight? That would eliminate the latter cause. I used to have Weatherby Vanguard .300 Wby. Mag., which is the lower-end of the Weatherby line, and I thought the action was a little rough, and the trigger was a little heavy. I sold it and bought a Remington 700 SPS .300 Ultra-Mag Long Action, and the action on it is sweet. The recoil isn't so sweet with the plastic stock, but the bolt and trigger actions are far better than the Weatherby was. A gunsmith can tell you a lot more than you'll get on the Internet, but I personally have never owned a finer firearm than my Remington.

Answer 4

Nothing against Remington firearms, but I have heard of more problems with the 710 than any other bolt action. When I was looking for a rifle last month, I went to two places. The gun guys at both places mentioned the poor quality of the 710.

I bought a Weatherby Vanguard Sub-MOA in .30-06 and am very happy with it. Nice smooth action, shoots good groups, IMO a tremendous gun that I could hunt all over the world with.

I've never owned a 710 but a gunsmith would probably know what is wrong with your particular gun.

Answer 5

Typically, this issue is caused by the ammo. Is the ammo handloaded or is it "cheap" or surplus ammo? A common mistake in handloading is that a round is fired in a bolt action gun and then only neck-sized when reloaded. This round will work fine in the same rifle, but it may stick and make it hard to close in the action of another rifle. If it is surplus or cheap ammo, try a box of name brand ammo to see if it cycles better.

Also, take a look at a round of ammo cycled through the rifle. Is the bullet touching the rifling? Look for scratches in the copper jacket of the bullet where there were no scratches before. If a bullet is seated too far out, it makes the action very difficult to cycle. If this is the case, find a brand of ammo with a shorter overall length (base of brass to bullet tip). Round nose bullets tend to feed more difficult than pointed bullets as well (something to keep in mind).

Another possibility is in the bolt itself. Was it exceptionally cold when you were having issues? I have seen where someone sprays lubricant in the firing pin hole to lubricate the spring. When it turns cold, the oil freezes or gums up, making it real hard to cycle the bolt. This can also happen with years of use and never disassembling the bolt (Some of my bolt action rifles are well over 20 years old and I have yet to have this issue myself).

Perhaps you need to clean out the action. They make tools to clean bolt action actions (looks similar to a little tampon inserted crossways in a metal rod). I doubt this is a problem and I have yet to see a dirty action cause a stiff bolt, but I have heard of it happening.

When all else fails, call the company. I have yet to see a poor Remington firearm. Perhaps there is a defect in yours.

Good luck and happy hunting.

Answer 6

Th remington model 710 has a small design flaw in it. If you will watch as you pull the bolt back you will see that if you apply to much pressure it will strike the safety release button. So in short this is one bolt action you can not force. You have to smoothly operate it for it to work correctly. It is still a good gun but you just have to be aware of its fault but it still should provide years of shooting pleasure for you.

Answer 7

The first thing I would do is break the gun completely down and clean everything.....This will take some time and you will need to sight in you scope again(if you have one)..Remove everything....barrel, bolt, trigger.......Clean and oil everything.....if this does not help I would contact a gun smith......Even low end, low cost guns can be good if taken care of.....

Answer 8

i was having the same problem on the range the other day. some would feed fine and others wouldn't. come to find out the bullets(older miltary) were not seated far enough down in the neck , got different ammo and works fine now

Answer 9

Sounds like your ammo needs resizing. Also check that headstamp.

Answer 10

Clean and lubricate with gun oil, that should do it.