I picked up a Remington 700 VTR, the ones with the triangular barrel, the other month.
I’ve never really messed with bolt actions before, and I remembered 700s being pretty reliable, and the VTR was a good deal in .308.
I added a nikon 3x9 scope to it, and a harris bipod, but I ran into a bit of trouble. I fired off two boxes of ammo with no trouble, cleaning it after each box, and started on a big box of magtech .308 FMJ.
The bolt stuck!
a few light taps with a magazine popped the bolt lose, and I examined the case. Right around the neck was some black shit, didn’t smell or smear like carbon.
I removed the bolt and checked it. it was still lubed, but there was a contact point near the cam that looked covered in brass.
the corresponding point on the receiver was also brassy.
SO, my host of questions.
whats wrong with my rifle?
is there a better way to clean the shoulder of the chamber? I think thats where that black gunk came from.
The scope isn’t good enough. I need a mil-dot scope, any suggestions on kind?
The brassy stuff won’t scrub off. how do I clean that?
I would have asked my NCOs, but if its not an M4, they have no idea.
my first thought is your ammo regarding the lightly locked up bolt. Ive not personally shot magtech ammo out of my 700, Ive heard others talk about it with negitive comments.
From a personal stand point Ive never found a gun that didn’t work. I found lots of guns that needed alot more trigger time then others to find the sweet spot. Three boxes of ammo isn’t nearly enough ammo or time on target to learn the rifle.
If you are looking for accuracy then you need to shoot accurate bullets, not factory trash bullets. A couple of shooters I know in Nevada City Ca, shoot those rifles and after figuring them out they love them for out to 600y which is the limit of their home range.
There are some actual pro shooters/snipers lurking on this rifle forum who can really help you if you PM them. Im not one of them.
If you dont reload try the Hornady TAP ammo. Im running it in my 700 and my FNAR and it does not get much better as far as factory ammo goes. As far as optics. I have a Nikon Manarch 6X24X50 on the 700 and the FNAR has a Leupold Mark 4 4.5X14X50. Both optics are great. If your on a budget then I would look at the Nikon
Most likely this was an ammunition issue and not the rifle…try some better quality ammo and if it works fine then you can point your fingers at the magtech ammo. I assume the first two boxes were something else? Just cuzz it is brass doesn’t mean it is good. Of course, if you had a chamber guage you could just gauge the ammo. The black stuff on the case probably got rubbed in when you cammed(i.e. jammed…the bolt generates alot of torque on those soft brass cases) the bolt closed on a case that didn’t fit right. 20 rounds can leave some residue in the chamber, especially if it is cheap dirty shooting stuff. Good luck
P.S. for a scope my vote goes to the S&B 4x16x50 P4 Illum…if that is out of the budget then the Leupold 6.5x20x50 TMR…
Good luck