New rifle problem

My son Deereman who lives in Canada recently sold several rifles and bought a new Christensen Arms Ridgeline rifle in 300 Rum. Since it arrived he has had it to the range a couple of times, the first time out he broke the barrel in trying different loads which all shot well , an inch or smaller.
Today he messaged me saying he found a real accurate load ( one enlarged hole, sorry can't get picture off phone) but the problem is he has a major effort to get the shells out of the chamber.

Bolt lift is fine, but he has to all but hammer the bolt back to remove the fired shell. Primers look ok on fired shell. Load is 90 grains of H1000 or AR 2217 with the 212 gr Hornady ELDX, according to book .5 grain under book max.
He also tried some 190 gr LRAB he had loaded up from the first range visit which went off without a hitch but when he tried the same load today they were hard to extract. Rifle has had about 50 rounds through it and the first 40 odd on the first range outing went off without a problem.

I suggested the brass was getting old so he is going to load up some new shells and try them but he thinks the ones that were sticking had only been fired twice. He fired some old Nickel plated brass that has been loaded upwards of 7 times and these ( 2 ) extracted fine.
Temp today in Pentiction where he lives was 12 deg so temp should be an issue.

Does anyone have any ideas what it could be, strange why it started doing this on this outing. If it was a chamber problem it should do it all the time ? Any help, suggestions would be much appreciated.

try factory ammo sounds like he needs to check his cases does he have a case gauge get it all the time with pistols reloading use a case gauge even then doest get them all got to individually check them in the barrel

Maybe a carbon ring has formed and the barrel needs a good clean

No primary extraction?


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Originally Posted by carlhurley

try factory ammo sounds like he needs to check his cases does he have a case gauge get it all the time with pistols reloading use a case gauge even then doest get them all got to individually check them in the barrel

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He has fired factory 220 gr ELDX as well as his handloads which are all trimmed to length. The problem isn't with the loaded rounds going into chamber and closing the bolt on them its after firing, Bolt lift is normal but extracting the fired shell from chamber has become a problem, didn't happen on his first outing only this time.

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Originally Posted by wsm junkie

Maybe a carbon ring has formed and the barrel needs a good clean

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Would that happen in 40 odd rounds? I know he is pretty particular with his gear so it would be cleaned after use.

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Originally Posted by MSL

No primary extraction?


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What do you mean by primary extraction, not sure what that is?

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Originally Posted by Mooseman

What do you mean by primary extraction, not sure what that is?

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The first bit of case extraction is performed by lifting the bolt hence primary extraction and uses a camming action to start the case rearwards.
Rem 700s are bad for this not being set up properly from factory.
If the extractor has moved or come loose that could be enough to stop it primary extracting.

The only time I ever had "hard case extraction problems" was with overpressure loads.
The worst-case scenario would be that he has a ringed chamber and that his loads are hot enough to leave brass protruding into the ring, which happens only half the time due to external environmental temperatures. To check for that, look for a shiny ring on cases where they were scuffed during extraction.

2nd - I've twice run into manual starting loads that were already at maximum for the rifle I was using it in. One was a .25-06 load from a Nosler manual. Always start with the starting load, which should be 10% below the maximum stated pressure. He stated his loads are .5 grain below max listed but he is probably overpressure for his rifle.

3rd - The cases were not overloaded or above max loads, but the OAL for a particular bullet profile set the bullet into the lands and caused the overpressure. In general, if you are loading a bullet in contact with the lands, the pressure will be about 20% higher than when the bullet is 0.020" to 0.050" back of the lands (depending on the shape of the ogive).
This can be avoided by using a Case length gauge and finding the Max OAL for a particular bullet in the rifle concerned instead of just taking some book reference.

does he full lenght size or neck size?? Can you rechamber a fired case and extract again easily

Primary extraction is when the 2 camming faces (usually on the bolt handle / rear bridge meet when you lift the bolt pulling the fired case slightly rearward

Thats a bugger, hopefully its a simple easy fix. I hear quite a few bad stories about the CA rifles unfortunately.

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Originally Posted by mikee

does he full lenght size or neck size?? Can you rechamber a fired case and extract again easily

Primary extraction is when the 2 camming faces (usually on the bolt handle / rear bridge meet when you lift the bolt pulling the fired case slightly rearward

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Does it do it with factory ammo

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Originally Posted by veitnamcam

The first bit of case extraction is performed by lifting the bolt hence primary extraction and uses a camming action to start the case rearwards.
Rem 700s are bad for this not being set up properly from factory.
If the extractor has moved or come loose that could be enough to stop it primary extracting.

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Thanks for that your never to old to learn something new.

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Originally Posted by mikee

does he full lenght size or neck size?? Can you rechamber a fired case and extract again easily

Primary extraction is when the 2 camming faces (usually on the bolt handle / rear bridge meet when you lift the bolt pulling the fired case slightly rearward

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Full length sizes all his brass, not sure about rechambering a fired case, will get him to try that.

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Originally Posted by mikee

Does it do it with factory ammo

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No , he has only tried 220 gr ELDX and I think they were ok these were shot on his first trip to range, but then so did his handloads on the first trip, problem only appeared today on his second go with rifle.

I had this same problem. Was poor primary extraction and a sloppy extractor.

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Originally Posted by Hermitage

The only time I ever had "hard case extraction problems" was with overpressure loads.
The worst-case scenario would be that he has a ringed chamber and that his loads are hot enough to leave brass protruding into the ring, which happens only half the time due to external environmental temperatures. To check for that, look for a shiny ring on cases where they were scuffed during extraction.

2nd - I've twice run into manual starting loads that were already at maximum for the rifle I was using it in. One was a .25-06 load from a Nosler manual. Always start with the starting load, which should be 10% below the maximum stated pressure. He stated his loads are .5 grain below max listed but he is probably overpressure for his rifle.

3rd - The cases were not overloaded or above max loads, but the OAL for a particular bullet profile set the bullet into the lands and caused the overpressure. In general, if you are loading a bullet in contact with the lands, the pressure will be about 20% higher than when the bullet is 0.020" to 0.050" back of the lands (depending on the shape of the ogive).
This can be avoided by using a Case length gauge and finding the Max OAL for a particular bullet in the rifle concerned instead of just taking some book reference.

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The ringed chamber would have shown up on his first range visit i would have thought, some interesting things to consider Thanks

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Originally Posted by Tikka7mm08

I had this same problem. Was poor primary extraction and a sloppy extractor.

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Ok did it do it all the time? He had some nickel brass that was alright today but other Rem brass that was a nightmare to get out.

Thanks for the replies guys it's a bit of a worry when you pay $3500 odd for a rifle and you get problems . One thing it isn't is in accurate it can shoot real good.

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Originally Posted by Mooseman

Ok did it do it all the time? He had some nickel brass that was alright today but other Rem brass that was a nightmare to get out.

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Yeah with primary extraction problems it should do it all the time. Primary extraction should break the case free of the chamber while moving slightly to the rear making secondary extraction easy.
Many people, when "trueing" an action, will take too much from the lugs, both in the action and on the bolt, resulting in a loss of primary extraction camming. It could be that this rifle has the lug 'looseness', but as I stated it should be showing up all the time. Hense why I suspect overpressure.

@mikee son just messaged me and said the fired empty's are stuck hard when put back in. Never fired brand new brass is fine.

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Originally Posted by Mooseman

@mikee son just messaged me and said the fired empty's are stuck hard when put back in. Never fired brand new brass is fine.

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When sized do they then chamber and extract fine or still sticky?

Another thing it could be is the base of the brass expanding and the die not being small enough to pull it in.
Can happen with tight chambers and might explain why different brass was fine. ( said brass maybe thicker in the web and not expanding out when fired)

If it is the above there is no easy solutions.
Make a small base die out of a fl die.
Use brass of small base and thick web dimensions only.
Polish out rear of chamber larger.

I'd be going back to the point of sale for a start seeing as its a new factory rifle.

is he trimming???? only thing I can think off.....is there any marks on brass??? try felt penning a sticky brass case and rechamber it a few times and see where its rubbing...

Christensen's are renowned for having problems! Suggest he gets back to the retailer who sold it to him, and then to Christensen's to have the problem sorted.

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Originally Posted by veitnamcam

I'd be going back to the point of sale for a start seeing as its a new factory rifle.

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Wouldn't hold my breath based on my experiences and I paid more than 3800 for mine and in the end paid another 1100 to another proper gunsmith to actually repair it.
Had a similar issue to the one you have.
SAUM and RUM cases have bugger all taper so primary extraction matters!! I now know more about primary extraction and M700 actions than I ever wanted too

Having said that since it was fixed I have fired another 600 rounds with exactly ..........................zero issues with extracting fired cases.

I can't help thinking while reading this that this forum is frickin unreal.

4hrs old post from moose has 25 answers.

Bloody geniuses everywhere.

Hope your son can get it sorted [emoji106]

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There is a facebook group for Christensen owners so it be someone there has had this problem and may have answer . My ridgeline is superb no dramas and a tack driver but it may be a warranty issue so that might be his first port of call.

Have to agree with kukuwai awesome response from the members Many Thanks to you all. We think that maybe the brass is getting to old as its been used in his first Rum a Browning A Bolt a few times too. That's where its good to keep a record of how many times it's been fired.
We will see what happens with new brass , hopefully its not stuck hard in chamber after firing. @wayno I think the son has been on the Christensen owners on facebook for info.

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Originally Posted by Mooseman

Have to agree with kukuwai awesome response from the members Many Thanks to you all. We think that maybe the brass is getting to old as its been used in his first Rum a Browning A Bolt a few times too. That's where its good to keep a record of how many times it's been fired.
We will see what happens with new brass , hopefully its not stuck hard in chamber after firing. @wayno I think the son has been on the Christensen owners on facebook for info.

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Yep the abolt may have a more generous chamber and the web may have grown out to that and the CA maybe tighter causing the problems.
Reload factory ammo fired in it, if you can get 4-5 full power loads out of factory brass without problems you know its not the rifle at fault.

Ah bingo re the A-bolt. I reload two 280AIs and the Kimber has a tight match chamber. Brass used in the Forbes doesn't like being used in the Kimber. New brass, start from there.

Yes try new brass, using brass fired in another rifle can cause extraction issues sometimes, even when full resized.

I regularly use brass used in different rifles and haven't struck this problem but in saying that I haven't owned a rifle with a tight tolerance chamber like the Christensen rifle.

Look forward to an update as easiest fix would be new brass, @Seventy Six is right re f/l sizing not always working in these cases.

I would 100% put my money on it being a primary extraction issue.

If the brass is tight it should have a heavy bolt lift too breaking the case free, if not, it is not doing its job and anything but light loads will have this issue.

Take it back and get them to remedy.


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Originally Posted by Mauser308

Out with the vernier's - and a fired case that was sticky next to an unfired that runs in and out with no issues. Measure at the same points up each case and compare all the critical dimensions, web, neck, shoulder, lengths and see if you are getting a dimensional issue between once fired, twice fired that are sticking and brand new unfired. That will tell you if the dies aren't sizing back correctly. Also, a good inspection of the fired cases for anomalies that might indicate overpressure including case web expansion. As suggested before, book max loads may not be safe in every rifle with every combination of components so double check that the loads aren't hot and overstressing the brass...

Possible other issues, annealing the brass if it's work hardened and not springing back corrrectly? If the thing works with virgin rounds with no issues then the primary extraction while maybe not 100% is sufficient. There's an issue somewhere in the sizing - I've had this before with several rifles including Mausers with heaps of primary extraction and tighter chambers where the first firing is OK, second OK, third pop every other round out with a rod. I'd be picking brass annealing and die base sizing or similar combination of factors resulting in the dies not squeezing the cases back far enough. It's a true pain when it happens!

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That doesn’t explain why the bolt lift is easy even with a stuck case.

This points directly to primary extraction not doing its job.
As you say, properly stuck cases sometimes require a rod to punch them out, this is not the case here as the extra tyre still has enough bite to extract the case, so if the camming action of opening the bolt was working then the rest would probably not be and issue as the primary extraction would budge the case sufficiently to then pull back the bolt easily.

My call would be that what you mention is perpetuating the problem but not the source.


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Originally Posted by mimms2

Was that.... your first useful post???

Welcome to the forum.

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Haha :D You're a funny guy mimms2
Don't you remember my useful post about a week ago when I said I was diagnosing you?
Well, you will be pleased to note that I've diagnosed you with a serious case of 'attention seeking disorder'.
No really that's ok @mimms2 .... everyone's is entitled to let their disorder out sometimes, but you sir are abusing the privilege :thumbsup:

Thanks again guys for all the useful information, there is certainly food for thought there. Won't have any info on how the new brass goes until next weekend due to his work commitments but when I hear from him I will post it here.

Spoke to the son today but the weather over in Canada was shit for testing ammo at the range so it will have to wait till next weekend , maybe. Will report back when I hear from him.

I would be making sure i annealed the brass and sized it down only 1 thou at the shoulder. And hitting the chamber with a brass brush and something to loosen up carbon. Question, you arent leaving anything on your cases after sizing are you?

Greetings Mooseman and all,
I have watched tis thread for a bit. The main problem is that the primary extraction of the rifle is defective and needs to be fixed. MSL suggested tis in post 3 and Vietnamcam explained it well in post 8. Others have reinforced the point but here we are at post 41 with other fixes being suggested, none of which is likely to fix the underlying problem. If the bolt lifts without resistance then it should open the same way.
To Mooseman and his son, send the rifle back and get it fixed. Hang on to your components until that is done. Lifting the bolt should draw it back a few millimetres and back the case out of the chamber a little. Clearly this is not happening.
Regards Grandpamac.