I've had a HB .243 for less than a month. Yes, it closes hard, but it's getting better. As someone else said, take the stock off and give it a good cleaning. I sprayed out the receiver with a generous amount of Gun Scrubber. In addition to the grease/oil the factory puts on the gun, you'll get out a ton of metal particles. After cleaning the gun, I think lubricating the sides of the ejector with help the action close easier (and the ejector work better). I use RemOil for that purpose.