Quote Originally Posted by cjd3 View Post
I have a set of .223 Go No Go Guages you can borrow. Let me know if you are interested. I have no need for them in immediate future, so if anyone else wants to borrow them, lemme know.
I really appreciate that. Does it matter if it's a 5.56 chamber? I can't remember if a .223 gauge is compatible, but it seems like it would be.

Quote Originally Posted by Stone View Post
Definetly wont hurt to check headspace, If you can borrow them from CJ.(very generous offer BTW!) Yeah you got a batch of bad ammo which could also have some overly soft brass. I would set that stuff aside now since its a known issue. I would take the problem child and give her a full strip down and cleaning. Get into the extractor claw, the bolt face and the barrel extension with your dental pics and Q-tips as you may have excessive brass shavings everywhere impeding performance. Check down in the trigger well to for popped primers. Give it a solid lube job, I run my rifles wet and they seem to do very well. Load up a mag or two of some good ammo and see how it does. Keep an eye on its extraction to at this point as well. If you still have the heavy scrape marks just swap out the bolt with a new one and see how it functions. Hopefully this will narrow it down to a specific point... This all goes to show how important it is to inspect your spent shells once in a while...

ETA: When your stripping it down or putting it back together, look over everything real well. Sometimes we forget that stripping down and cleaning a rifle is always the best oportunity to inpect parts for excessive wear and not just a time for cleaning. Myself included...
All good stuff. Unfortunately I've done 95% of that. I've broken down the bolt and scraped out the extractor and nothing found there. There was a tiny bit of brass in the extractor pocket, but not in a place to impede movement. Lower had no primers. The only thing I didn't do was hit the barrel extension with a dental pick...that's easy to go do. Otherwise it was cleaned as well. My last post "update" post with the picture was after all of that. As I said, bolt was swapped out with positive results. I think at this point, it's time to track down a spare extractor and headspace (for good measure).

Or just shoot the damn thing, because it functions fine, otherwise.