VTR Trouble?

[badhop]

My M700 VTR 204 bolt closes very hard on some ammo and extremely hard on others out of the same box, and the some are just tight. The chamber has been cleaned throughly, bolt cleaned and lubed, but still have the hard to chamber problem. I do notice that the rim on the casing has a substantial dent in it and brass shavings are left in the bolt head. Does this mean the extractor is too sharp and or long or is the problem due to a short head space in the chamber? I need advice.

[Graybeard]

Are you talking factory ammo or reloads? If reloads I'd first look at the ammo as the culprit and if factory then most likely it's the rifle but first I'd try ammo from a different box just to be sure.

[badhop]

I used both. Factory ammo was Hornady 32gr, 45gr, 40gr, and Winchester 34gr. Reloads were with full length sized Hornady, and Winchester brass using Redding dies. I am afraid I'll have to send this gun back, which I don't want to do, but after 400 rounds the bolt has not loosened up at all. The rims on my brass looks like a hungry beaver's been after them with only 2 firings .

[Graybeard]

Yup sounds like it's the rifle in this case but you might can cure it yourself at home rather than having to return it. I'd pull that bolt and take a good long look at it under magnification if needed. Try to determine what and where on the bolt face the defects are and see if a bit of smoothing with fine stones or krocus cloth might fix it. Be careful and don't take off much metal but all it might need is a bit of polishing here and there to take care of it.

I've not needed Remington's customer service often but on those few occasions I did they took really good care of me.

[sniperVLS]

If you're at all competent when it comes to handy work, you may want to take GB's advice. A little polishing could mean the difference between your rifle staying home or being shipped off and not seeing her for a while

Safety is #1 so if you feel you don't want to attempt any work on your own, call Big Green asap. Keep us in the loop, hope it turns out well!

[safetysheriff]

if you do anything at home to rectify this situation i'd do it in a way that i can guarantee to remove all the fine grit out of/off of the bolt after i'm done.   in other words, i'd plan on taking the firing pin/bolt handle sub-assembly out of the bolt body to do this.    then when finished i'd spray the bolt body down very well with aerosol brake cleaner and make sure i wiped it very dry.   then i'd be more confident that the unit could be re-assembled and work like it should.   

personally, i'd also want the extractor and the ejector out of the unit as well.   that makes it tougher to do something at home from what i can tell.   

ss' 

[badhop]

Thank's for the advise. I took the bolt and honed the rough areas and where I saw visible signs of metal to metal wear. This did make a difference which is encouraging. One thing other thing I tried was if I trimmed the casings down to 1.835" instead of the recommended 1.840", then seated a bullet with no primer or powder the the bolt closed a lot easier with the shorter casing. Things that make you go humm??? My question now is this a bad thing to trim to 1.835" or is this an acceptable length for the ruger 204?

[Graybeard]

Nuttin wrong with trimming a bit shorter than the mimimum stated length. I've done it many times. This does make me wonder tho if your chamber might be cut a bit short. Is that length you gave the max or trim to length? I've not looked it up to see.

I've trimmed 0.010" to 0.015" less than trim to length many times for whatever reason I had at that time.

[badhop]

Yes trim to length is 1.840" and max length is 1.850". I do also think the chamber is a little short after the test I tried of seating a bullet at 1.835", 1.840" and 1.850". The 1.835 chambered just fine, but the two longer casings chambered very hard . This sucks because most all of the factory ammo I have shot are of the longer lengths. I also have a lot of ammo reloaded at the trim to length size of 1.840. I'm going to try and find a gunsmith to check my chamber and make the necessary corrections, or send it back to Remington, because I'm afraid of pressure issues if I don't. Some things you just can't avoid.

[pdog06]

Definately sounds like it is either short chambered or the headspace is not right. In any event, sending it back may be the best(and safest) option you have.

[badhop]

I did some more honing and polishing of the bolt lugs for one last try just because the first swip at it showed an inprovement, and what do ya know my problem is solved I can now chamber all lengths of brass smoothly. Thanks for the advise, I can now go load developing this weekend. I really like this rifle a lot better now.

[Graybeard]

Glad to hear my idea worked. I pretty much always do that on all my new rifles even before I try firing them.

[dw06]

Humm the old gray fox err graybeard knows a trick or two  Glad you got it fixed badhop, update how it shoots when you get a load worked up.