Failure to eject, is there something else going on here?

[luke6417]

Let me give yall a little background info on my situation.  I bought a handi in 243 about 7 years ago.  I never shot it very much.  I would not group less than about 3" at 100 yds and was having trouble ejecting.  Every so once and a while over the past few years, I would tear it down, clean it up really well, and try to shoot it to see if it would work.  About a year ago  I found GBO and have been reading up on possible fixes and have began to try to get this thing working.  Today, I took the ejector apart, cleaned and polished everything as best as I could with a dremel tool and installed a BB behind the ejector spring.  I was proud of myself and ran outside to shoot it.  Guess what, it still won't eject.  This was a factory loaded remington cor lokt, not even a handload.  Dejected by my apparent failure, I went back in the house and removed the casing with a cleaning rod.  Upon removal, I noticed something about the spent casing.  There was a definate buldge about 1/4" up from the rim that went all the way around the case.  Now, I am very new to reloading, and do not claim to be any kind of expert on the way cases strech when fired, but I have never had another rifle that I could see pronounced stretching in one small area of the casing like this one.  Could I have some sort of issue with the cahmber itself, versus the ejector?

[JerryKo]

In all honesty I have come to expect the little buldge in all cases and calibers I have fired in my handi rifles.  I index every case the same when firing.  I think your chamber needs a little polishing to help with stuck cases also.  That chamber needs to be dry and clean too.  On my ejector rifles I've also developed a habit of rubbing the cases over my jeans before chambering just to be sure.  A pronounced buldge could be a pressure sign tho.  Someone with a bit more handi knowledge should be chiming in soon.  GOOD LUCK!
Jerry

[quickdtoo]

Sounds like maybe there's a headspace issue, drop one of those factory rounds in the chamber and hold the ejector down so the rim will go past the ejector claw, if the round is recessed very much below the barrel face, there's excess headspace and the barrel will likely need to be replaced or possibly the ejector can be modified to minimize headspace as I've done with extractor barrels, H&R won't do that, but they would replace the barrel. Just one thing to check, remove the forend and check the barrel for movement while it's locked up, if it's loose, that's the problem, the forend can mask a loose barrel. Also check to see if there's a gap between the barrel face and breech face, hold it up to a bright light from the side and see if you can see any light between the two parts.

Tim

[luke6417]

Alright, I put a factory loaded shell in the chamber, making sure that it did not catch on the extractor.  There was no recess.  I took the forearm off and checked for any play between the frame and the barrel.  It locked up very tight with no play at all.  I put the receiver and barrel up to the light and could not see light between the two at all.  Any other ideas on this one?

[quickdtoo]

Polish the chamber per the FAQs and shoot it again!! 

Tim

[luke6417]

Polished the chamber per FAQ's, and it worked, sort of.  It will eject the factory loads, but not the handloads.  Now, I know you're thinking that I have pressure issues and my handloads are too hot.  That is not the case.  They are actually loaded lighter than the factory stuff that I have.  I still have a buldge at the bottom of the case.  If it keeps ejecting factory stuff I'll be tickled to death, and I'll start playing with the fore end to try to make it group respectably.  My oldest son is 2, so I have at least 3 or 4 years before I have to have something for him to hunt with.

[canon6]

luke, One of the things ,very easy to overlook.Please check the trim length of the reloads. My 30-30 is very sensitive to  the length of the case.  ie; trim to length     hth      Doug

[quickdtoo]

Insufficient resizing will also cause them to stick, they won't be very accurate either due to the action not locking up fully since the case is too long, make sure those handloads are flush or slightly below the chamber face, flush is best including the primer, I've had Rem primers in Win brass protrude above the headstamp surface and prevent the action from closing completely, it doesn't take much, and accuracy goes to pot.

What's the length of the barrel, 20" or 22"? The 20" Superlight must be shot cool, once it warms up, accuracy is a thing of the past, two shots and it starts climbing, the 22" standard contour will take a few more rounds before it starts climbing, a well fitted and bedded forend will help in either case. 

Tim

[luke6417]

It probably is a sizing issue.  The barrel is a 22" bull barrel.  I really would love to get this thing shooting right.  When I first got it, I just assumed it was my lack of ability that was causing the poor groups.  Since then I have been able to get my Ruger .308 and my 45-70 handi to both shoot 1" groups at 100 yards and haven't hunted with the .243 very much.

[NH Yankee]

I had the same problem with a 270 Handi.  I took the ejector apart, which came out hard but did not put a BB in.  I used some Hornady Sure Shot and viola, it worked with a loaded round.  I then tried an unsized case and it would not move.  I believe that perhaps I had 2 problems going on, !) gunk buildup and 2) the chamber may be a tad on the tight side or the Mossberg has a loose chamber.

NH Yankee