howa bolt closing issue

[crazy2medic]

my boy's howa 1500 heavy barrel the bolt won't close with a round in the chamber, I tried an empty casing still won't close! I adjusted the trigger pull down to 3lbs a week or so ago could that be the cause?

[Glen]

If the brass was fired in another gun with a longer chamber then it might not close. Did you try bumping the shoulder back on one 1st.

[crazy2medic]

brass has been full length resized using a hornady die, it should be the dimensions it's suppose to be!

[futuretrades]

you might try some factory ammo to see if it will chamber. are you sure your sizing die was adjusted properly.
i am shooting a howa 1500, bull barrel, and have never had problems with not chambering. in fact i have had absolutely no issues with this gun, and i have never fired a factory round through it. i am not a gunsmith, but i don't believe a trigger adjustment is your problem. after your adjustment, did you check to make sure you don't have a problem with slam fires, and do a drop test before trying a loaded round. i did not try adjusting the factory trigger in mine. i installed a timney before i ever fired the gun. but after adjustments, never had a problem. sounds more like a brass issue to me.

[Phasor]

Have you tried lubing the locking lugs on the bolt and cleaing the recesses in the action? Sometimes some grit can get lodged there and prevent the bolt from closing. Do the lugs look smooth or is there some galling present? Other than trying some different brass and making sure that the bore is clear, these are the only suggestions that I have other than having a gunsmith look at the rifle.

Phasor

[Hawkeye Joe]

I had the same issues with my Savage Predator. I full length sized with my RCBS FL die, loaded them up and went to the range. Not one would chamber. A Forster "BUMP" die was my solution. In order to make the RCBS work, either the shell holder or die needed some material removed from the face.

[crazy2medic]

gun is brand new, never been fire! would chamber a loaded round before the adjustment, because I load my .204 out to 2.285 I checked it when we first got it,i wanted to see if they would fit in the magazine, it chamber with no problems, only change has been the trigger adjustment, just can't see how that could keep it from chambering a round, Ill check with some unfired brass tomorrow!

[Ryan S Albright]

Take the trigger adjustment back to where it was and see if it closes. Check every thing real close.

[futuretrades]

i am loading 32gr vmax bullets. just checked my oal without a comparator, and my oal is 2.253. i realize the chamber depth will be different from gun to gun. check the bullets on the catridges that will not chamber for land marks on them. it may be possible that you are trying to push the bullet into the lands. just a hunch.

[crazy2medic]

well adjusted the trigger back to 4.5lbs, this was the factory setting, tried the resized brass, no go, tried some factory brass that had not been through a die, still no go, I decided that it was a head space issue, returned rifle to the previously mentioned 3lbs and made a mental note to take it to a gunsmith for a headspace check, for whatever reason I did something I loath to do, I took it out back and put a loaded round in it, IT CHAMBERED! hmmm? picked up the box of recently loaded rounds ran 10rds through it, they chambered! I have NO idea what I did, but for some reason it's working, I am confused and have zero explanation

[Lee C.]

Crazy2medic, Did you take any measurements of the loads you got to work in your gun now. And the ones that didn't work in your gun? That might tell you something if you fine any difference in the one that work and the one that didn't. Just a thought,

[gwglave]

crazy2medic,
I own several Howa 1500's and have worked on several others. I have not experienced the problem you describe. However, I would like to pass on some hints when adjusting Howa triggers.
First of all, the trigger pull adjustment screw is on the front of the trigger. The locking nut is metric, 7 mm. Hopefully, this is the screw that you adjusted.
There is a sear adjustment screw on the back of the trigger which also has a 7 mm locking nut. If you try to adjust this screw, you must be very careful as you can get in trouble. Adjusting the sear also increases/decreases trigger creep. However, in most of the Howa triggers I have adjusted, if you get all the creep out of the trigger the safety will no longer engage. If you adjusted this screw and the safety no longer works properly you may have introduced a situation where the bolt will no longer stay cocked on closing. If the bolt will not stay cocked on closing, you may run into the situation you describe.

There are two ways to "fix" the trigger so that the sear engagement is correct, the safety functions properly and the bolt stays cocked (no slam fires). The easiest from a user stand point is to buy a Timney trigger and replace the Howa factory trigger. The second alternative is to take the rilfe to a competent gunsmith who is familiar with Howa triggers and have him fix it. This entails completely disassembling the trigger and milling 0.005 - 0.006" off one of the parts. Howa triggers are very good once you get them "tuned" up. I have had no issues with any of them after they were tuned.

Hope some of this info is helpful. Let us know what you find out.

Rgds, Gerry