High Wall problem

[Strongbox]

Picked up Clerke Hi Wall in 7 mag at last gun show.  Condition at least 95 %.  Problem exist in that the bullet is too hard to chamber and upon firing, the extractor will not lift the brass from the chamber.  The gun is near new, rifling is sharp,clean.  Am not knowledgeable enough  to make a diagnosis on condition of chamber.  Any good advice from any of you that have insight on this type of problem would be appreciated.  I plan on taking it to a good "smith" in two weeks and let him make it well again but still am interested in  what you think might be wrong with it.  If the chamber area is eroded or damaged, will probably rechamber to 280. thanks ahead of time.

[gunnut69]

Well since you said 'upon firing' I assume there were no catastrophic failures which indicates you most probably had the correct caliber ammo.  Were there any high pressure signs or unusual marks on the brass??  Was the brass difficult to extract from the chamber or did the extractor simply not engage the case extractor groove.  Were unfired rounds also difficult to remove from the chamber??   High walls don't have particularly powerful extractors especially when used with rimless rounds.  It's possible the chamber has rust or damage that makes extraction difficult.  It's may also be caused by an over pressure situation bue to a tight chamber or improper headspace.  Since cartridge insertion was difficult I would 'quess' a rusty or out of specification chamber...  It is possible to vsually inspect the chamber for rust.

[Strongbox]

Guys, appreciate the information.  The barrel is marked 7 R M, so I assume it is a 7 Remington Mag.  I fired only one round through the rifle.  There are scratches on the fired brass.  Am not sure, since I only fired one round, and that has been 3 weeks ago,  whether the extractor was engaging the brass or not.  I removed the brass with a cleaning rod.  I realize that to rechamber,  barrel would have to be set back.  Am partial to the 280 cal. and if the chamber is boogered up in any way, that would be the logical thing to do.  Unless there there are any other ideas?

[John Traveler]

Need more info to help diagnose your one-shot problem.

Yeah, 7 RM most likely means 7mm Remington Magnum.  Maybe a possible rechamber to 7mm Weatherby Magnum, but brass is expensive and hard to find.

 :shock:

[gunnut69]

Check the rifle's chamber for damage or rust.  It would probably not be possible to rechamber a 7 mag to a 280.  The barrel would have to be set back so far that in all likelyhood the barrel reinforce would be lost..  A look at chamber specs will show you why..  So in all likelyhood a rebarrel would be needed.  Also a change of extractor as the mag uses a totally different extractor.  Besides, the 7mm Rem can be easily loaded to duplicate 280 ballistics and a bit more..  Was the case when it was removed altered, as in converted to 7mm Weatherby(look for double radius angles on the shoulder and a different shoulder angle?    Was the case difficult ro remove when using the rod?  If not then you can probably assume a poor extractor.  I'm not familiar with the clerk version of the highwall but most highwall conversions to a rimless case use a spring loaded extractor.  This allows the extractor to 'float' a bit to stay in the extractor groove as the case moves to the rear.  If the spring that powers the extractor is missing or it's spring plug is gone, a lack of spring tension will allow the extractor to pop out of the groove leaving the empty in the chamber.  Take the rifle to a smith.  He can evaluate the extractor and polish the chamber a bit to ease things along.  Shouldn't be too expensive and you may decide the rifle can be left as is..  good luck from the gunnut69

[Strongbox]

Thanks for the info on the extractor,  I am sure that is part of my problem with the fired case-----Again , thanks !