Browning A-Bolt 30-06 bolt won't open

[1sikxt]

As title says my bolt won't open I have a fired case in the chamber bolt will move up and down but won't come out any ideas

[on_one_wheel]

If I was to gues without looking, I'd say you have had massive over pressure causing the brass to lock into the chamber ...Are you using hand loads or factory rounds ? just how hard have you pulled back on the bolt so far ? was the bolt hard to lift ? Is there any play back and forth at all ?

[1sikxt]

I am using hand loads I was able to gently tap it and it came free I was on starting load according to adi website

[ebr love]

What hand loads exactly? Starter? Max?

New brass, old?

Give us a bit more info and we'll see what we can work out.

[1sikxt]

168 gr hornady bullets brand new hornady case 55gr of ar2209 with cci primers I got the case out and found it stuck to the bolt and primer is loose

[Hercl]

Assuming that 55gr load was correct, pressure shouldn't be the issue. It's starting load after all..

Any chance of an overload on that cartridges? What's your powder measure, scale etc.

Noticeable difference in recoil, or drop etc. on that one shot only?

[on_one_wheel]

If not a accidental high load, How about a barell obstruction ? I once loaded up a heap of shells and noticed that at some point I had jared the table and bumped the course adjustment on my scale by one notch ( 10 g ) I wasnt sure how many shells had an extra 10 grains in them..... Went about weighing the loaded cartriges and assumed that I had over loaded 6. Next hunting trip after a few shots I lined up over the bonnet.... took a shot BOOM ! ..... Thought s**t, that had some punch, and the scope kissed my glasses..... bit savage for a .243 with 100g slugs, The next shot did th e same thing. Only sign of pressure was a slightly buldging primer ( looked slightly concaved ) Very lucky. Those extra hot rounds were loaded at 44 grains of 2208 with 100g seria soft point boat tails. So the moral of the story is......... overloads can hppen, I have since changed my loading sequence, by prepping all cases, priming all cases, filling all cases, then inserting the projectiles rather than doing one complete round at a time. Oh yeah and checking and checking and checking again ! ( Using the Lee hand loader, still use it, love the simple things in life )

[inspector]

Very lucky.

Indeed.

More that a few pictures floating round from people who accidentally did a hot load and ended up with a grenade instead of a rifle

[on_one_wheel]

Yes thankyou inspector..... I'v had another thought on the original post. How about your measurements, have you measured your JTL and set your OCL ? a projectile shoved in against the rifiling will give high pressure. Also how about case necks / shell length and neck thicknes, that stuff can crimp a projectile in if it's not right and will cause big pressure. .

[1sikxt]

Cases were all brand new cases over all length was just slightly under max I don't think I could have overfills my case as after all bullets are complete I weigh the all to make sure there close I'm using a hornady electric scales

[Chickenhawk]

Have you shot any factory loads in it?

Buy a box and shoot then, and if they all go smooth you know your rifle is ok and it's something to do with your loads.

If the factory rounds jam up too then you can focus on the rifle.

-

For your hand loads... I reckon recalibrate your scales - do a few fresh powder charges and confirm the weight is correct with manual scales - then load half a dozen rounds with these fresh charges.

Shoot them and same as above. If everything goes smooth then it was your first cartridges. If it still jams up, likely something in your rifle.


Just buying a box of factory ammo will be easiest first step though.

[1sikxt]

I have shot factory loads and there was no drama also shot a fair few hand loads threw it to with no drama

[on_one_wheel]

No chance of a barrel obstruction like a piece of cleaning cloth, twig or something ?..... How about oil, was the barrel wipped dry from any oil used for storage ?

[SendIt]

I have shot factory loads and there was no drama also shot a fair few hand loads threw it to with no drama

Factory loads before the problem though?

Might be worth putting a box through now if you haven't already.

Like above, if the factory ammo now shoots fine and hand loads have a problem, that'll be your problem.