Hello all,
I have a few cases of Civilian Marksmanship Program 30-60 mil-surp ammuition (both Lake city and Greek Pyrkal ball) and wanted to use it for inexpensive practice/plinking ammunition for my as-yet-unfired Winchester (pre-FN model) Model 70 Classic Stainless 30-06. The problem is that the CMP ball ammo will not chamber correctly.
I tried Lake City and the bolt would barely close. With Pyrkal, the bolt still closed tightly but not as much as before. Upon extraction with the Pyrkal, the bullet stuck in the barrel and the extractor yanked out the bulletless case (gotta love that full-sized Mauser extractor). Both GI bullets showed scoring from being shoved into the rifling. On both occasions, it was extremely difficult to re-open the bolt.
When I tried two brands of commerical ammunition, the bolt closed with moderate (less than previous) resistance. There was no extraction issue whatsoever and the bullets showed no signs of touching the rifling.
I know that the bullet is being smashed into the rifling and this can cause very dangerous pressure issues. I am not going to try to fire anything out of this gun until I have the chamber checked by a competent gunsmith. My question is this... is it common for military-surplus 30-06 ammunition to have this problem in a commercial 30-06 chamber?
I am guessing that I'll have to have the chamber throat slightly lengthened to match the mil-surp ammunition. I'm ok with that because this rifle will see almost entirely USGI or handloaded ammunition and I can load to whatever length is required for the GI ball ammo. I'm just a little disappointed that my stash of GI ammo won't work. So, is this common?
Also, I am new to bolt guns for the most part. How much bolt-throw resistance should a new gun have versus a "broken-in" gun, assuming no gunsmithing has been done? Watching TV I notice that some of the "tested" bolt guns on the shooting shows seem to be operated with one or two fingers.
Thanks, I appreciate the help.
I have a few cases of Civilian Marksmanship Program 30-60 mil-surp ammuition (both Lake city and Greek Pyrkal ball) and wanted to use it for inexpensive practice/plinking ammunition for my as-yet-unfired Winchester (pre-FN model) Model 70 Classic Stainless 30-06. The problem is that the CMP ball ammo will not chamber correctly.
I tried Lake City and the bolt would barely close. With Pyrkal, the bolt still closed tightly but not as much as before. Upon extraction with the Pyrkal, the bullet stuck in the barrel and the extractor yanked out the bulletless case (gotta love that full-sized Mauser extractor). Both GI bullets showed scoring from being shoved into the rifling. On both occasions, it was extremely difficult to re-open the bolt.
When I tried two brands of commerical ammunition, the bolt closed with moderate (less than previous) resistance. There was no extraction issue whatsoever and the bullets showed no signs of touching the rifling.
I know that the bullet is being smashed into the rifling and this can cause very dangerous pressure issues. I am not going to try to fire anything out of this gun until I have the chamber checked by a competent gunsmith. My question is this... is it common for military-surplus 30-06 ammunition to have this problem in a commercial 30-06 chamber?
I am guessing that I'll have to have the chamber throat slightly lengthened to match the mil-surp ammunition. I'm ok with that because this rifle will see almost entirely USGI or handloaded ammunition and I can load to whatever length is required for the GI ball ammo. I'm just a little disappointed that my stash of GI ammo won't work. So, is this common?
Also, I am new to bolt guns for the most part. How much bolt-throw resistance should a new gun have versus a "broken-in" gun, assuming no gunsmithing has been done? Watching TV I notice that some of the "tested" bolt guns on the shooting shows seem to be operated with one or two fingers.
Thanks, I appreciate the help.