Gunsmith Help

I've got a Remmington 700 in .308. Had a casing failure (blowout near the extractor groove shoulder - this is the second time) and now the bolt will not chamber a round. Can anyone point me to a good gunsmith that could take a look and assess the issue and repair as needed? I'm in the Bryan/College Station area but get to Houston, Austin, and DFW semi regularly so basically anywhere within 2 hours of College Station. Thanks for any help.

Burdett & Son on Texas Avenue in College Station.

Check to see whether there is a piece brass stuck under the extractor or in the firing pin hole.

Thanks I'll check them out. I know where they are but haven't had an occasion to go in.

I did check that out and did not see anthing out of the ordinary. Thanks for the suggestion.

I'm not real familiar with head spacing. For those that might know -

Could improper head spacing have caused the casing failures? No exact count but the failures were dozens of shot rounds apart.

Conversely, could the casing blow outs cause a head spacing issue?

A better choice is Bobby Pitchford over in Waller. An excellent smith and rifle builder. His turn around is usually pretty good and he will take the time to explain things to you. He has built two rifles for me and has done several gunsmith jobs for me and he is the only person I let work on my rifles.

Thanks for this as well. I just checked him out on line and he's got good reviews. Less than an hour from me.

Update us after the problem is found and resolved if you don't mind doing so. Lots of folks here appreciate learning more about gun problems and fixes.

Will do. I'm out of town this week but back next week and will be taking the gun in.

Sent you a PM splash

g

PM answered. Thanks g.

Reloads or factory ammo?

Most of the time I think of this it is from the working of brass over several reloads and working the brass, as it stretches the web where the brass base thins out into the thinner walls in the brass is where the brass comes from in its stretching to fit the chamber and flows forward with successive firings and you have to trim off the mouth end to keep case length in spec. You can check for this with a paperclip, straightened out with a small bend in it and insert into the case, scrape it along the interior case wall and you can feel a ring catching it if there is a problem. If you find this it is time to retire that case from loading it.

Excessive head space can speed it up to getting that ring leading to case head separation.

Reloads, but supposedly once fired only brass. Great info here. Glad to learn.

I was able to get the gun to a gunsmith this morning. The extractor had been bent and displaced by the blowout. He was able to fix it right then and there so in the end, I'm now a happy hunter again.

I took the gun to Bobby Pitchford in Waller. Not only did he fix the extractor issue but also talked about possible causes of the case failures and what to look for going forward. He also scoped the barrel and cleaned out some copper fouling that I hadn't got with my cleaning regimen. (I'll have to up my game on that). I also thought his price was very fair.