.223 rough feeding in Remington 700

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unwise11

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I know this is somewhat of a common issue, as the action was designed for .308 and only modified for .223, but is there any way to make it better? I'm scratching some brass, and in some cases, bullets are being pushed back into their cases with my reloads :cuss:
The rifle is an SPS Tactical, and is has barely over if not less than 100 rounds through it.
 
It sounds like you need to place more of a crimp on your .223 reloads same applys for semi-autos such as the AR platforms. due to the feeding and action of the AR. as reloading is done for the .223 is a must as not to allow the bullet getting pushed back into the casing but if you plan to shoot 1 at a time you can get by without the crimp.
 
I reload for my Remington 700 BDL varmint heavy BBL rifle in the 22/250 loads & I sit the bullet's that they just start to touch the land's & grove's, Ive been loading them that way for the last 25+yrs & never had a feeding or any problems loading as you described above, once you start to close that bolt there is no way for that bullet to be pushed back into the case unless it is hitting the chamber some where, & I never crimp any of the loads that I described above.
 
You won't have the problem because 22-250 has the same bolt face and case width as .308 and is not subjected to the issue, it's about .223, I guess I need a crimp die, what would you reccomend?
 
I have a Rem 700 .223, and don't need to crimp to keep the bullets in place. If your scratching your brass, you got a burr somewhere. The sizing die should give you enough neck tension to hold the bullet in place, no crimp necessary.
 
Inspect the feed lips and make sure they are symmetrical, also inspect the feed ramp and insure it is smooth. Also make sure it is the correct magazine in place...should have a block at the back for the shorter round but mistakes are made at times.
 
Are you using bullets with cannelures? I would say do not crimp unless you are.

My .22-250 has feeding problems with 45 grain Sierra Varminters. I think the OAL is just too short. Try seating your bullets out further. If you are using really light bullets, perhaps go to a heavier bullet. Look for burrs on your feed ramp.
 
I shoot a Howa .308 a good bit, am I spoiled by the fact that with that rifle I can drop a round into the action without pushing it into the magazine and smoothly closing the bolt forward?
When I do this with the Remington I often notice the cartridge gets caught up, and only feeds smoothly when I load them into the internal magazine.
Now, I also noticed I have issues with loading the 55 gr Flatbase bullets because I can't even seat them half of the time without them being pushed into the case wrong, so I guess I'm going to give up on the idea of using them, and just stick to boat tails, and if I load the 69 gr SMK's to 2.300" they feed better then the 2.250" batch.
I am just getting the hang of reloading but I have gotten compliments on my .308 loads and I load for my dads' friends because I have .308 down, but .223 just is a PITA compared to the pleasant to load .308. :cuss:
 
talking about problems with the 700 action, i have a SPS varmint in .308, recently i was out hunting and after firing the first shot at a deer it stumbled but didn't go down immediately, he wasn't going anywhere but as i went to cycle another round, the empty case went up hit the underside of the scope and went back into the chamber backwards with the new round jamming it in. never in the thousands of shots i have fired have i seen this happen or heard of it happening but it may have meant a lost deer while i was mucking round trying to pull the case out with my multi tool.
 
I'm not having ejection problems, your scope was probably too low or you cycled it too hard, that will happen to anyone.
I'm having problems with "drop in" feeding, where you loosely drop a cartridge into the action and slam the bolt, I saw snipers doing that on a video and I learned why, because it's very fast.
I'm using the cannelureless 55 grain Dogtown HP's from midway with a flat base, not anymore that is..
I'll stick to the 69 grain SMK's at 2.300" if I can seat that long.
 
i thought it might be because i pulled the bolt back too hard and forward too quick, but found it unusual that it went back in perfectly backwards.

it has a bushnell 6500 4.5-30 x 50 with leupold high mounts so i thought there would be ample room for the cases to be ejected, apparently not.
 
My Savage 12FV doesn't feed the first round properly if there are 4 in the blind mag; if there are only 3, it feeds just fine.

Solution? Only load 3 in the mag.
 
Try polishing the feed ramp. IME, most factory rifles are too rough. Some emory cloth wrapped around a 3/8 dowel should work.
 
my REM-700 VTR .243 had same problem when i bought it new,look at the feed-guides and you'll probaly see the metal surface-edge has some rough-edges,,like someone else said here a small dowel with some emery cloth does wonders !!
 
My “Short Course” course rifle started life as a M700 Varmint Synthetic in .223-Rem. In order to use the heavier weight bullets I rebarreled to an 8 inch rate of twist. That said I’ve not experienced feeding problems which would have been noticed in rapid fire sequences during the course of fire over the last decade. If it were I and it isn’t I’d return the rifle to Remington for adjustment.
 
Reviews on that are negative but it looks very cool, I need to get to the range sometime soon, probably tomorrow after my dad gets home.
Now I guess I don't have a problem, I'm not gonna polish anything because I'll likely screw it up. :eek:
 
Do a search on the single feed followers, that was the first one that popped up, I'm sure they make better units:)
 
I had a similar problem with my Savage 10fp. The only way around it was to push the .223 round into the magazine somewhat (just enough that it starts to load into the mag) and then push it forward by hand. It seems to put the correct angle on the cartridge to enter the chamber correctly.

The .223 is small and that is the cause of most of the problem.
 
"...as the action was designed for .308..."

Er, uh, the 700 is an upgrade of the 721 and 722, which came onto the market long before there was such a thing as a .308...

Folks complain here quite regularly about quality control and fit-and-finish on many modern rifles. The bottom line there is that an owner must do some final fitting and finishing work hisownhappyself. Some polishing of magazine lips and feed ramps may well be part of a necessary deal to make a rifle function smoothly.
 
but my concern now is if I'm jamming them into the lands
Click to expand...


"paint" the bullet with a sharpie marker or any marker.....push it in the chamber without the bolt. If it stops, like its hitting something, its hitting the lands.

or

Put it in with the bolt and then extract gently and look for any witness marks in the bullet, like if the marker is rubbed off, showing contact with rifling.


assemble to book spec and it should never touch. then you can adjust length outward, only as necessary, for accuracy, if needed

I'm pretty sure there are alot more threads on the subject of bullet seating depth too, but that's it in a nutshell.

Hope it helps.
 
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