Browning A-Bolt 243 WSSM--What a disappointment

johnboy1948 · 07-27-2005, 06:51 PM

Gentlemen,

I just bought my first Browning rifle. What a disappointment.

I just bought a new 243WSSM. I can load a cartridge directly into the loading port (without pushing it down into the magazine) and push the bolt closed (with ease), and then open the bolt and eject the cartridge. All is well there.

But, if I load the magazine with 3 cartridges (or even just one), and try to close the bolt, the bolt experiences hard resistance against the back of the top cartridge's head. If I were to force the bolt closed, I am sure it would jam the bullet against hard steel near the entrance to the chamber. It appears that the top cartridge in the magazine is not being positioned high enough to allow the bolt to push it forward into the chamber without hitting steel at the front part of the receiver. I checked the magzine and it is labeled "243WSSM". It does not say "Browning" on it. By the way, I have been using dummy loads sized and seated to SAAMI length to try to solve this problem. I am afraid to put a live cartridge in this beast.

Anybody had this problem? Any help is appreciated.

Thanks,
John[:@]

jcchartboy · 07-27-2005, 08:00 PM

As this post is more of a question, andis seekingan answer. I would repost it in the gun forum. It has a larger audience, and more active viewers. I think you are more likely to get a quicker response their.....Good Luck

James B · 07-27-2005, 08:28 PM

Sometimes you have to bend the front of the Magazine spring up a bit. I have never had to take the Browning Magazine apart and do it but I have with Savage and Remongtons. I am not sure what kind of spring the brownings have in them.

Vapodog · 07-27-2005, 09:00 PM

Don't screw with it....if it's not right just return it to Browning for repair.

vangunsmith · 07-28-2005, 08:11 AM

If your gun is new,send it back to browning since is under warranty.If you mess with it it will void your warranty. but it sounds like your magazine spring might be in backwards to me,just off the top of my head.send it back. vangunsmith

johnboy1948 · 07-29-2005, 08:34 PM

Vangunsmith,

You made a decent guess about the magazine spring being backwards, but the spring is riveted to the follower. The body of the magazine is tapered front to back same as the follower, and this means that the follower and spring can only beinserted one way. My gunsmith verified this. He said that he could not do anything for this rifle. I tookthe gunto a 2nd gunsmith (a Browning certified repair shop); he is going to call Browning.

The magazine is really cheap: the follower is plastic, and it does not make the top bullet lie "poking upwards" so to speak, so that the bullet has a chance of entering the chamber. Plus, the magazine's bottom plate will fall out of the magazine if you handle the magazine wrong.

This whole problem may turn out to be just a defective magazine. Maybe I need to look for a non-Browning magazine. John Browning would never have let a gun like this out the door.

The next time that you have the opportunity look at any of the threeA-Bolt WSSM calibers. You might see what I am talking about.
John
P.S. The spring is a Z-shaped accordion type spring, typical of many guns.

zrexpilot · 08-02-2005, 09:27 PM

I have a .243 in a rem 700 and it isnt very nice about loading a cartridge into the chamber off the magazine either. it requires some finess at times.

ijimmy · 08-04-2005, 11:12 AM

Let us know the outcome on this , as everything Ive owned that was made by browning , has been a quality item .

johnboy1948 · 08-07-2005, 07:12 PM

The local Browning-certified gunsmith told me that this gun will onlyfeed cartridges from its magazine into the chamber that have aCOL equal to or less than the factory ammo's COL (about 2.220"), and that the ballistic tip bullets (very pointy) are about the only ones that will feed from the mag into the chamber without jamming against the front edge of the chamber entrance.

So...I shortened my ballistic tip reloads by 0.060" and they feed just fine. Further measuring shows that HPBT bullets (almost pointy) need to be shortened another 0.015".

The bottom line here is that, ifyou wish to usereloads with a COL long enough to have the bullet close to the lands, then you have to use the rifle in single-shot mode (no feeding from the magazine). The magazine is very cheap and falls apart in your hands sometimes, so this is no loss.

This gun is still disappointing.

John

Ifly · 08-08-2005, 04:55 AM

Quote:

The bottom line here is that, ifyou wish to usereloads with a COL long enough to have the bullet close to the lands, then you have to use the rifle in single-shot mode (no feeding from the magazine).

That's why I don't like detachable magazines...restricts the COL too much. Got one in a Rem.7mm-08 700 Mountain Rifle and had a heck of a time getting accurate load worked up due to COL restriction with detachable magazine.