700 short action scarring cases

[Hogwaller]

I have a remington 700 short action in .243 win. And it scars the cases around the lower portion of the case.  Some of the gouges are fairly deep.  I have tried to polish the feed ramp as well as the magazine lip at the front of the magazine.  Also thinking it could have been from the rough parkerized style finish that was on the bolt, I polished it as well.  Still scarring the case!  Anyone have this problem?would love to hear from you.  Love my Remington's, but   Some are rougher than others!

[Frank46]

Check out the mouth of the chamber. May or may not have burrs or sharp edges. Another place to check is the sides of the feed rails for the same thing. Frank

[Hogwaller]

Thanks for the reply,  I have looked into the chamber with a flashlight, and did not see anything, not saying there is nothing there, I just couldn't  see anything.  The feed rails might be the culprit.  I noticed a little buMp at the end of the feed rails where it opens up for the lug recesses, but my long actions also have the bumps, and there is no issue with them.  But this is the only problem I can find.  I don't want to fiLe something away that is supposed to be there?

[TNBilly]

Would work better for us to see it in person but barring that see if you can load it "progressively", say something like a half inch at a time in the loading/chambering process and bring it back out and look at it at each "step".  Hope that makes sense on the receiving end.  You should be able to at least spot "where" in the loading process it gets scratched, then find the cause!

[Frank46]

Actually the word "file" in this case is not warranted. Polish would be a better term. I once had a ruger m77 in 308 that literally chewed up the brass. Turned out the receiver casting was not completely finished. Ruger replaced the rifle. Dremel has polishing buffs that are impregnated with a polishing compound. Look at the edges of the feed rails. Should not come to a sharp edge. Slightly rounded and smooth. Same for the underside of the feed rails which guide the cartridge into the chamber. Or get some silicon carbide wet or dry paper in 320-400-600 grits. Use the first one sparingly, then polish with the 400 & 600. Is this a new rifle?, if so call remington and have them deal with the problem. Frank

[gunnut69]

frank46 is right on track.. files are definitely not on the agenda. I would use an extension run in a drill with a worn out wire brush installed wrapped with steel wool. This will burnish tool marks and clean up burrs with out changing dimensions.. Also check the mag box for burrs.. Most likely the mouth of the chamber has a burr from the chamber reamer. The cheap remingtons lack the attention to detail, a cheap shortcut. The spinning steel wool bob will usually clean up the problem. It may require a little deburring of the chamber mouth with a ceramic stone (tapered round) to knock it off.. I've one in the shop now, belongs to a friend. Does the same thing but I've not checked it yet.. Just remember..NO Files..do not want to alter ANY dimensions..just burnish the tool marks a bit..