I am getting ready for my 1st time hunting and I am having some trouble I hope I can get some advice on. i have a new CZ 550 bolt action mauser rifle in 6.5x55 swede. I am using Winchester Super X ammo. The round is fed with no problem but when i go to bring to bolt down or lift to eject the round, the darn bolt is super stiff! It is almost a chore just lifting the bolt handle to eject. You can even hear the round rubbing around in the chamber. the case has some slight marring from being worked over and over. i tried cleaning the bolt and rifle and even doing some simple polishing but to no avail.

Could it be my rifle? Or should I try another ammo from another manufacture? I am hoping its the ammo and not my rifle! Anyone have a solution or similiar problem?

Or am i looking at a trip to the gunshop or smith to smooth out the action? :(

Sounds like a tight chamber. First try another brand of ammo. If it is still tight you might give CZ a call and share your experiences with them. there pretty good about taking care of problems.

First, check the barrel stamping to assure you've got a 6.5x55mm. Using factory ammunition, they should feed slick as snot with no hang up of the bolt, either closing the bolt or opening. If you're using your own reloads, this presents another can of worms.

If factory ammo doesn't want to feed, there is a headspace problem and possibly a rough chamber problem. Both should be corrected by the factory if a new rifle.

Using reloads, be sure to full length resize, trim to minimum length and seat the bullet no farther out than recommended in the loading manuals.

It could be that the factory forgot to finish reaming the chamber and left you with a short chamber. An inspection by a good gunsmith should be able to verify with the use of Go, NOGO and Field gauges.

Are you feeding the round from the magazine? If so, listen to what everyone else has said ... If you're just dropping a round into the open breech and trying to "push feed" it in as a single round, then your problem is clear. The CZ rifle you have is a CRF (Controlled Round Feed) ... meaning that the cartridge should be fed from the magazine so that when the bolt face pushes the cartridge out of the magazine, the head of the case slides up between the bolt face and that large extractor claw. Last I checked, CZ's extractor is very stiff, and is milled quite precisely so that it doesn't "snap" over the case head if you push feed a round ... I have tested it on my 550 American .30-06, and it did what you describe ... which is the feeling that the chamber is too small, and that the bolt is binding when you try to close it.

Let us know more about exactly how you're trying to feed the round into the chamber, and that you've got the right ammo and the right rifle chambering ...

best of luck...

Yes, it is has "6.5x55 SE" stamped on the barrel. I never handload and always use factory ammo. I feed the rifle straight from the magazine and into the chamber.
1 month ago, I mounted a scope and sighted it in at the range. When empty, the bolt operated fairly smoothly. When I loaded the magazine, feed and go to pull the bolt down to lock, that is when it it stiffens up. Extracting the shell almost as just stiff, if not more. After a few shots, i assumed the sticky feeling was due to some gunk warming up and sticking to to the action.

I faced a similiar problem with my old German mauser and after i cleaned it out, the rifle ran silky smooth. Unfortunatly, this did not cure the problem of my new CZ 550.

As i try to cycle rounds in my cold rifle, the shells squeak as i attempt to remove it out of the chamber. It is far from being a fast and smooth action and more of an embarresment trying to work the round out.

It is sad that i got a target sheet showing the test grouping my rifle did before it gots boxed. I figured if it was the rifle, they would caught this before leaving the factory.

If get more insight or a new box of another manufacture's ammo, I hope I can fix my problem before hunting season. :(

Do the simple checks first...

Clean chamber (sure you got out all the gunk? It won't take much)
Load from mag
Check closely for a ring around the bullet and shiny drag spots or streaks on the shell
Check the overall length of a cartridge run thru the gun against one that hasn't.

What weight bullet are those cartridges? I'd check the cartridges before the rifle. CZ has been making Mausers for a long while.

I am using Winchester 140 gr Super X soft point.

No rings on the catridge. But when repeatedly work the bolt handle up and down with a round in the chamber, the round has sound slight rubs on the casing.

I will reclean the rifle and try another ammo brand.

Trying a new brand sounds resonable...it's waht I'd do in that situation.

Worth checking the bolt face for any burrs, buggers, dirt, extractor fit, or anything that would attempt to force the case in deeper than designed.

On the bright side...a slkightly too tight chamber is a lot easier to deal with that one too loose.

I will try another ammo brand.
I spent a great deal of time cleaing out the bore. After much scrubbing, the rounds are fed and extracted a bit more smooth and less of a struggle. It is almost at an acceptable level. I am still noticing rubs and the casings.

IF the chamber is too tight, will it ever "loosen up" after firing or will a trip to a smith cure this?

With a hunting trip coming up, I hate to warehouse this rifle in favor for another one.

Rifle and ammo manufacturers seem to do a bit more "interpretation" on old cartridges - they all started with those long round point bullets that we'd call heavy and the freebore of the chambers is fairly varied between brands. (That's about the only advantage of the .260 and 7-08 over the grand swede and spanish mausers.)

If a good scrubbing seemed to ease the problem somewhat, could be a little chamber polishing will clear up the situation. A jointed cleaning rod end attached to a power drill, using a bore brush with some 0000 steel wool wrapped around it may solve the issue.

Don't get overeager with the polishing and check as you go until the rounds will chamber without a lot of effort.

The steel wool is worth a shot, I had a problem with a 223 chamber that had gotten rusty, extraction was about impossible, i even got a loaded round stuck once, Long story short, I gave the chamber a few treatments of tetra lube, the chamber still can get a little fuzzy once in a while, so I keep a dowel rod with steel wool in the gun case, when ejection causes a problem, the chamber gets a light wipe out and another shot of tetra

Thanks for the advice, guys! It was a 2 part problem. One was due to my own lack of knowledge: I had the bolt body bone dry! A little oil on the bolt body smoothed out the action as good as it could get.

Second, as much as I like Winchester ammo and its top quality, it was the main cause of my problem! I tried another ammo manufacture and the whole feed and extract process went without a hitch! Sad, i figured Winchester ammo would be excellent and in spec but the casings seemed to rub and made working the bolt a hassle.

I can't wait to bag my 1st! ;)