Free bore issue

[Dschwan]

Rifle: CA 6.5PRC FFT
Ammo: 6.5 PRC Factory Hornady

Went to the the range to get some rounds through the rifle. It is brand new. While loading the 9th round,it gets stuck just before the bolt would be able to close. I had to beat on the bolt hand to get the round out and the bearing surface on the bullet was galled. I also tried another round and it would not feed. It seems like the chamber is now distorted. Bolt lift and extraction of the previous round was fine.

Unfortunately I was not surprised because the same thing happen to my brother on the same rifle that he bought a month before me. He sent the rifle back to CA and they told him that they re-ran the chamber reamer back through it and he hasn't had the issue since.

My question / concern is that I have never been a fan of running a reamer (chucking) back through a hole on a work piece that has been removed from the machine and expect to have another straight hole that is to size. Do chamber reamers act differently and is it worth trusting CA to be able to chuck the barrel up and have it centered or does the reamer holder allow for that type of misalignment?

Bearing surface on the bullet measures .2643" and it is round

I added a few pictures.

Note: I will be contacting CA Monday morning. 4/10/23

Thanks

 

[Wrench]

They're going to drop a reamer in it and spin it a few turns to chew the leade. The reamer will not act like a chucking ream because the leading edge does the work. I will be surprised if it even gets chucked in the lathe.

 

[SDHNTR]

Chambers are cut into steel and don’t all of a sudden go bad or change dimensions. What is more likely is the chamber is cut maybe a a bit on the short end and the variability lies in the ammo. You got lucky and ammo pieces 1-8 fit. Piece #9 was a bit long and got stuck. Not that CA is known for stringent QC, but this could be an ammo issue more than a chamber issue.

If you have access to calipers, measure the ammo and see how consistent it is. Or try other ammo.

 

[9.1]

fortunately I was not surprised because the same thing happen to my brother on the same rifle that he bought a month before me. He sent the rifle back to CA and they told him that they re-ran the chamber reamer back through it and he hasn't had the issue since.

Was your brothers rifle a 6.5 PRC?

 

[B23]

In the first pic the marks on the bullet it almost makes me think you have a carbon ring issue.

 

[Dschwan]

Was your brothers rifle a 6.5 PRC?

yes

 

[9.1]

Tighter tolerances on these new cartridges are great for accuracy, but not for ease of manufacture of rifles and ammo.

 

[rayporter]

just out of curiosity can you drop a bullet into the neck of a fired case with no resistance?

 

[Mike D Texas]

Chambers are cut into steel and don’t all of a sudden go bad or change dimensions. What is more likely is the chamber is cut maybe a a bit on the short end and the variability lies in the ammo. You got lucky and ammo pieces 1-8 fit. Piece #9 was a bit long and got stuck. Not that CA is known for stringent QC, but this could be an ammo issue more than a chamber issue.

If you have access to calipers, measure the ammo and see how consistent it is. Or try other ammo.

This. You don’t have a chamber problem, you have an ammo problem. QC is not Hornady’s strong suit.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

 

[Dschwan]

just out of curiosity can you drop a bullet into the neck of a fired case with no resistance?

No. Some cases feel like a line to line fit and some you have to push.

 

[jjjones7]

Sounds like either ammunition or you are building a carbon ring. I wouldn’t expect it to form that quickly but hard to say. It’s a solid 2 hours to get one out. I never had one until I started shooting supressed.

 

[rayporter]

some things that may make it hard for a bullet to drop into a fired case.

carbon ring=unlikely, as you probably have not fired enough rounds

low pressure=not likely

tight neck chamber [ or thick necks on brass] = most factory chambers usually have lots of clearance but if a bullet wont go easy???

long brass in a short neck= measure and try to chamber some cases to see if the neck is being crimped. are all cases the same length?

 

[B23]

A carbon ring can sometimes form a lot faster than a person would ever think. My 22-243 imp. formed a carbon ring I could barely push the bullet through in less than ten rounds fired through a brand new barrel.

 

[Dschwan]

A carbon ring can sometimes form a lot faster than a person would ever think. My 22-243 imp. formed a carbon ring I could barely push the bullet through in less than ten rounds fired through a brand new barrel.

what was your solutions?

 

[BBob]

what was your solutions?

Iosso or Thoroclean (liquid Iosso) and a nylon brush. For the neck only an oversized nylon brush rotated in the neck to remove the carbon.

 

[B23]

what was your solutions?

KG or C4 and a lot of scrubbing has worked for me. Some say CLR works good and is fast for removing carbon but I tend to err on the side of caution when it comes to using products that aren't specifically designed for barrels.

 

[Dschwan]

I talked to CA today and they told me to send the rifle back. The customer service rep stated that their reamer is on the tight side of the SAAMI spec and that they will fix it. After talking to my brother about how CA fixed his rifle was that they polished the chamber and cut the chamber deeper.

It doesn't make much sense that a company would run a reamer on the tight side a SAAMI spec that is set up for high production. Maybe they do it that way for their accuracy guarantee...

Thank you all for your input.

 

[gbflyer]

I talked to CA today and they told me to send the rifle back. The customer service rep stated that their reamer is on the tight side of the SAAMI spec and that they will fix it. After talking to my brother about how CA fixed his rifle was that they polished the chamber and cut the chamber deeper.

It doesn't make much sense that a company would run a reamer on the tight side a SAAMI spec that is set up for high production. Maybe they do it that way for their accuracy guarantee...

Thank you all for your input.

I suspect the reamers are coming from PTG who struggles with quality control. Kiff is a good and innovative toolmaker but as a whole they are too big for their britches. Manufacturers like them because they are cheap and can produce volume. They will get away with 100 or more for every 1 they get back.

 

[B23]

Even if you send it back to CA get yourself a Teslong borescope so you can take a look inside. They only cost 50 bucks and they work extremely well. I have both the flexible and rigid shaft Teslong, they work great. It'll let you see what's going on inside the chamber/throat/barrel. I had the much more expensive Lyman borescope before and the Teslong was sooooo much better I gave the Lyman away.

 

[Griffin99]

CA will probably just run a throating reamer in there and not a full chamber reamer