Rifle won't chamber round

[Lesserhunter]

Hello everyone, long time reader first time poster. Have a 300 win mag purchased off here that I personally have shot probably 200+ rounds out of and no issues. Went to shoot today with the same federal hybrid hunter factory ammo I have always shot and I am unable to chamber a round. The round will not go past the neck, tried 3 boxes of ammo including one I had partially shot previously. Also tried to chamber a piece of brass I had previously shot and same thing. Forced it a little on the empty case and it left some pretty bad marks. I can upload a picture of that later. Any ideas? Thanks!!

Rifle is a Stiller action with a shilen barrel. Unsure who did the smithing

 

[cohunt]

Something stuck in the chamber, did you have a piece of brass separate at the neck before without knowing? Bore scope would show whats up.

 

[Korhil78]

Did you look down the chamber with a light to make sure nothing was in there like a patch or something? That is, if you don't have a bore scope. If it is scratching the brass real bad, then there must be something metallic in there.

 

[RR 314]

I agree with the above. Scope it. May have been your lucky day that the round would not chamber! Be safe!

 

[swampbug]

Has to be some dirt in the chamber

 

[Lesserhunter]

I will take a look at all of my used brass and see if I can see anything with a light as well, I do not have a bore scope but can bring it in to a smith if need be. Brass I tried forcing wasn't so much scratched as it was actually dented and seemed to only be in 1 spot

 

[Ross1147]

May be a shot in the dark here but check your bolt face as well. I had a few leaves from brush get stuck on my bolt face as I was hiking in one time. Was super ticked when I couldn't get a single round to chamber opening morning. Thought I screwed up the cases somehow on the last reload. After pulling the bolt and checking everything I finally saw the trash on the bolt face. Scraped it off with my leatherman and was back in business.

 

[sierracharlie338]

Could be some carbon build up possibly.

 

[jdyoung]

fouling/copper buildup in the throat.

 

[Varmint Hunter]

I had something similar happen once. I was baffled until I actually looked into the chamber. A small piece of a cleaning patch got left behind after the last cleaning.

 

[SeboCreek]

Confession. Actually had an o ring come off cleaning rod guide and stay in chamber. Needless to say couldn't chamber a round. Looked with light and saw it when back at bench. Now check cleaning guide to make sure has all o rings when removed. Just a stupid mistake.

 

[corsair4360]

Either get a device to look down into the chamber, or take it to your local gunsmith and have them look at it. A borescope will let you look at it.... I have one, it is great for checking things out. I use a Lyman Digital Borecam Borescope works great, at $230 they are really great for this and looking at the bore itself.

 

[corsair4360]

Confession. Actually had an o ring come off cleaning rod guide and stay in chamber. Needless to say couldn't chamber a round. Looked with light and saw it when back at bench. Now check cleaning guide to make sure has all o rings when removed. Just a stupid mistake.

sorry saw this after my post...

 

[cohunt]

sorry saw this after my post...

He's not the op with the problem-- he was just conveying what has happened to him in the past.

If the op is denting brass while trying to chamber a round, there has to be some sort of foreign matter in the chamber