.300-221 not ejecting spent case

[greywolf2112]

Wondered if some of you might be able to help. I have a 16" .300-221 upper, pistol length gas tube, 3-way gas block (High, Low, and Off). My handload 125 grain supersonic ammo, which works fine in my 8" .300-221 (same specs other than barrel length) is doing the following:

1 - It loads fine into battery, and I can hand-clear it - so the chamber/barrel isn't too tight

2 - It fires just fine.

3 - 90% of the time, though, it will not eject the spent case. It is stuck and I have to tap it out with a rod. The rim is slightly mangled from where the extractor tried to grab it and obviously yanked off some brass when it wouldn't budge.

4 - It doesn't try to strip and load a new cartridge, though.


So, I assume this is a gas problem? Perhaps over-gassed - i.e. too much gas is getting into the system and before the bolt has a chance to work and pull out the spent case it causes the brass to expand and gets stuck in the chamber?

I've tried it with all three settings - the High setting (which slightly restricts gas) does what is described above, the Low setting (which opens it up totally) really tears off a bit of rim, and of course doesn't eject, and the Off setting doesn't work the bolt at all, doesn't hurt the brass, but is very tough to tap out the brass.

I'm thinking that maybe a JP adjustable (screw) gas block might do the trick since I can adjust it a lot more than the 3 settings I have right now. Could it be the pistol length gas tube is too short? Could it be gas block alignment, though that wouldn't make much sense if I'm overgassed.

Or could it be something else? Buffer, buffer spring, etc.?

[P2000]

...and the Off setting doesn't work the bolt at all, doesn't hurt the brass, but is very tough to tap out the brass.

If the fired brass is always hard to remove, wouldn't that indicate a chamber or brass issue? What does the spent brass look like?

With the gas off, you should be able to cycle the action by hand after each shot and not have to tap the brass out. I don't think it is a gas issue.

That is just my 2 cents, I'm sure others will be more knowledgeable.

[greywolf2112]

The brass actually looks OK.

I'm starting to wonder about either the chamber or the brass with regards to forming - I know I ran them all through the resizer die, but . . . . hmmm . . . . I just don't know.

And yet on my 8" that has a barrel made by the same company and put together by the same person, with the same gas block, the subsonic ammo works like a charm.

[Todd.K]

Pistol gas 16" is better for subsonic and runs pretty hard supersonic depending on the port.

Add an O ring to the extractor and a heavier buffer, I suspect it's over gassed.

[greywolf2112]

There is an O ring on the extractor already.

OK, this just in - new information!

I decided to take some of the advice give. I cleaned the hell out of the chamber, used a drill/brass brush combo, cleaned, used a bunch of CLP on the carrier and bolt, cleaned everything very well, then did the drill/brass brush combo again.

I loaded up a safe round (no primer) and full-length resized it, shell was 1.355 case length. Wiped off all case lube. Seated the bullet so that OAL was 2.10

Chambered it in my 8" first - NO PROBLEM. Well, it was a little (just a wee bit) "sticky" on extraction (I'm talking a slight resistance) but still it came out just fine, no scratched, no problems.

Then I chambered it in my 16" (remember, I just totally cleaned it, etc.)

Well, the round stuck. When I worked the charging handle no dice - so I did the POGO method and it pulled back but didn't grab and pull out the round. I had to really pound it out with a rod, and when the round popped out the bullet had found it's way into the brass shell - I assume this happened as I was pounding the round out with the rod. I tried a brand new, never fired shell - loaded it up the same way after full-length resizing, same measurements. This one wouldn't come out either, but when I did the pogo method of popping it out it came out and the bullet had not been pushed into the casing. I noticed numerous scratches, like lines, that ran the entire circumferunce of the neck from the opening of the neck to the shoulder - quite a few (over a dozen) all around the neck, evenly spaced. Pretty faint, but I could see them. Not really any marks on the bullet (the one that stayed in). There were a couple of faint, long scracthes on the body of the brass down to the rim.

I tried the same thing with one of my 220 grain subsonics - worked fine in the 8", got stuck REALLY bad in the 16" - I had to really POGO that thing - still nothing - finally had to resort to a method I hate but have used in the past - a flathead screwdriver through the magwell to engage the underside of the bolt carrier and pop it loose with a hammer - yeah, I know, bad juju, but it was the only way to get it loose. That round also had the above markings, including a few more long scratches on the body and a few on the bullet.

[P2000]

I would e-mail the manufacturer of the barrel.

Tell them that your 8'' works fine, but anything chambered or fired in the new 16'' barrel gets stuck in the chamber severely, despite cleaning efforts. See if they will take care of you. I think it is a chamber issue.

Good luck