[mtnman64]

Hi, I have a rem 700 in 6mm rem that I originally bought a number of years ago to potentially use the action for another project. The rifle looks in good shape over all so I pulled it out the other day snd decided to shoot it and see what it can do.
so I re sized some brass to reload for it and tried a few in the rifle, (just the brass, unloaded) and found that they were not extracting.... none of them..... tried the same brass in another 6mm rem I have and they cycled, extracted, and ejected fine.
so I’m thinking the headspace is out a lot or that maybe someone re chambered in 6mm AI.
Has anyone else had this experience with a remington 700?
how should I proceed
Thanks

 

[kdub]

Broken or worn extractor?

 

[mtnman64]

No, the extractor is not broken and if I insert a cartridge in the bolt manually and push it against the ejector it seems to lock in fine.

 

[bsn]

Time for a chamber cast.

 

[mtnman64]

I tried that once to limited success, any pointers on how to do this? Do I have to warm the barrel? My last attempt the casting was wrinkled a lot and not usable really and it was very hard to get out

 

[MikeG]

Think I'd get a headspage gage if I wanted to know for sure. But it sounds pretty extreme. Casting the chamber CAN'T tell you headspace. Just the shape ahead of the bolt.

You can start putting layers of tape on a case head to see if you can get enough to feel the bolt close.

 

[mtnman64]

I was thinking of getting a no go gauge and see if the bolt closes on it.... and if it does I would have to get a 6mm Ackley improved no go and try it again...... so I might have 80 or 90 bucks in to gauges and shipping, I wonder what a smith would charge to sort this out?

 

[MikeG]

Get one gage, a 6mm either a go or no-go. Pieces of tape on the back of it will tell you how far out of spec it is.

 

[mtnman64]

Ok so the tape trick can tell me how much extra space there is but won’t tell me if it’s been chambered in 6mm AI because the shoulder angle is different between the two.... if it’s just a 6mm rem head space problem. Then the only cure would be a new barrel or setting the old barrel back and re chambering. Or am I over thinking this thing all together?

 

[MikeG]

A chamber cast will tell you what shape the front of the chamber is. A headspace gage will let you know if the smoke is going to come out the wrong end

 

[kdub]

You're right, Mtnman - you'd most probably be money ahead to find a 'smith that has the equipment to verify the chamber and the headspace. That's what this sledgehammer gunsmith would do rather than trying to determine tape thickness or chamber casting. Good luck with your efforts.

 

[MikeG]

Think you're gonna be looking at setting the barrel back either way.

A "true" AI would use the same headspace gage as the parent cartridge. So, there's no telling what you really have.

 

[jimboro]

If your rifle has a ackley improved chamber your head space shouldn't change ..if anything it should be 0.004 tighter ..you should be so lucky. .. just add the tape to a 6mm cartridge and try it . I wouldn't wast my money on a gage. . But if your extractor isn't
Hooking over the rim of the cartridge you've got problems

 

[JBelk]

Pour a chamber cast. If it doesn't come out easy, pull the barrel, because it's probably junk.

For a simple cast you need common garden store sulfur, a tin can and a butane torch.

Clean the chamber well and leave it slightly oily. Stuff a patch just ahead of the chamber, no more than a half inch of throat.
Hold the barreled action vertical so you can pour into the chamber and be able to see what you're doing.
Heat the sulfur slowly OUTSIDE with a tin can you've pinched a pour spout in. Pinch another place 90 degrees from it for a vise grip hold. Slowly bring the sulfur up to melted without it catching on fire (good luck). Blow it out, bet thankful you're outside and keep heating until you have a couple tablespoons worth of molten sulfur.
Carefully pour the chamber full and keep adding sulfur as it forms a pit in the middle. Wait five minutes and gently bump the cast out with a rod.

a hint about sulfur-- When it melts, it's water thin. When it catches on fire, it becomes thick. Sulfur burns with a light blue flame that's hard to see in daylight. It melts at 270F and burns at 350, so it takes patience to melt it right.

Just because the extractor works outside the rifle does not mean it's working right. They're notorious troublemakers.
Headspace has nothing to do with your problem, IMO. Cast the chamber and do some measuring.

If you buy a HS gauge buy a GO only. Two layers of tape on the rear makes it a NO-GO and three layers makes it a FIELD gauge.

IF the chamber is improved, the bolt should NOT close on a GO gauge or at the very least be dead zero on HS.

 

[Don Fischer]

I take it you have never shot this rifle? I've never seen a rifle with excessive head space so no clue how common it is. Have you ever tried firing round through it? I've read a number of time's that guy's shoot rounds through rifles then adjust the headspace by partial FL sizing. I guess that would depend on how much headspace there might be. No doubt in my mind first stop would be a gunsmith. The you'd know what your really dealing with.

Just a though, you might take an mty case with a live primer in it and try popping the primer in that rifle. If the primer popped, I would load up a min load with the bullet just touching the lands and shoot it. Then if it is a headspace problem, the expanding case will fill the chamber. Down side is that would be the only case you'd have that worked in the rifle. Partial sizing would probably fix the excessive headspace but FL sizing would give you back the same problem.

 

[mtnman64]

No I have not shot this rifle, I did put a fully loaded round in it, bolt closed easily, but round stayed in the chamber when I opened the bolt, seemed “stuck” in the chamber because when I tried pointing the muzzle up it didn’t fall out on its own. A light tap with a soft face hammer and it came out of the chamber.

 

[JBelk]

mtnman64-- You have a bad extractor. Look with magnification at the extractor at the rivet. You'll probably find a crack through the rivet hole.

 

[jimboro]

Another trick you can try is if you take a fired case from your other rifle and push the spent primer out half way then use the gun in question to seat the primer back with the bolt . . Then you'll see what you've got for sure ..
If it seats tight your good. If it sticks out then you definitely have excessive head space ..
Man I hope this makes sense ☺

 

[mtnman64]

I closely examined the extractor and found no cracks or chips anywhere. I manually inserted a case under the extractor and pushed it against the ejector and I couldn’t pull the case from the bolt.

 

[JBelk]

Of course the extractor works with the bolt out of the gun, but it does NOT work with the case is centered in the bolt face as it is when in the chamber.
Your rifle doesn't extract. That means the extractor is not working.