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Herters J9 .308 Win.

dakotazeb
I recently purchased a Herters J9 rifle in .308 Win. The rifle is in excellent condition. Stock has been refinished and bluing is original and 98%. These J9's were built in Yugoslavia on a Mauser action. I am having one small problem with the rifle. When I try and feed a cartridge into the chamber from the magazine the claw extractor grabs the rim but does not center it on the bolt face for proper alignment into the chamber/bore. If you try and chamber the cartridge slowly the shoulder actually hangs up on the entrance to the barrel and stops. This is because it is entering at an angle and not lined up to go straight in. If I slam the bolt harder it will chamber the round but does scrape up the shoulder on the round. I know that on my Winchester Classic with the Control Round Feed the cartridge pops up from the magazine and the claw grabs the cartridge rim and centers it for a straight in shot at the chamber. Anyone out there that can give me any advice? I do plan to take it to my gunsmith and see what he says. Just thought someone may have encountered a similar problem with a J9 or another Mauser type action. Thanks.
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  • roysha
    Several things could be going on here. First, Herter's quality of material and workmanship could range all the way from new junk to superb and it didn't matter what the product was or when or where it was made. I have seen items that had serial #s very close to each other that were 180 degrees apart quality wise. However, back to your question. If they used a full length magazine and did not alter the feed rails for the shorter cartridge it could be part of the problem. The extractor may have a sharp corner where it engages the extractor groove of the case as it leaves the magazine thus retarding the upward movement of the round. If you are indeed shaving brass from your cases, the mouth of the chamber is WAY too sharp. It should have a VERY light radius. I usually use a 3- cornered scraper to just barely break the edge and then polish with 320 grit till it shines. Very uncommon but I have seen the side of the bolt face opposite the extractor with too much radius on the bottom of the lip that supports the case on the left side causing an undue load on the extractor as the cartridge is fed from the magazine. It should be fairly straight up and down. Usually I have encountered this when a STD bolt face was opened up to magnum.

    "What you do ultimately means nothing, and you could be replaced tomorrow by the first passing cretin." Corinne Maier
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  • dakotazeb
    Thanks for the response to my question about my Herters J9 rifle. Took it to a gunsmith and he did a little adjustment to the extractor and it's much better. Doesn't line 'em up and feed them like my Winchester Classic, but it's okay. I think you are right that the mouth of the chamber is too sharp but I'll leave it for now. Would probably feed even better with a little radius on the mouth. I'm not shaving brass off the cartridge. This rifle does have a real tight chamber. You have to put some pressure on the bolt to close it all the way with a round chambered. Is this fairly common in this gun?

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