How are you feeding the rounds? Are you feeding a round from being seated in the magazine or are you feeding a round that is sitting atop the magazine loose in the action? When the round is fed from sitting on top the mag, then the extractor has to ride over the rim of the cartridge case. This may require a bit more force when locking the bolt. Ordinarily a new action will be a bit stiff to close, but should not require exsessive force to do so. Also what brand of ammo are you using? Not to insult you, but are you using the correct caliber? I know that on my .270 Winchester Model 70 if I use Winchester Silver Tips in 130 grain factory loads the bullet will need to be forced into the rifling when closing the bolt. The reason is that my particular rifle has the rifling beginning closer in and the factory loads have a long seated bullet. This is not a good thing and can cause exsess pressures. 99% of the rounds I fire are my own reloads so i never worry about this.

I have had some problems with the last two new Remington's I bought. One a model 7 that I never got right so got rid of and a 700 short action ADL. I had what might be the same problem of the bolt closing hard. But even without chambering a round, just closing it. The bottom bolt lug was rubbing on the front action screw. I filed down the screw and fixed that problem. Then I had to fix some real bad bedding problems. These last two have left me with a bad taste in my mouth about Remington. I've had several Remington's, 788's, 600's and 700's but those two drove me nut's.

If your's does it only with a round in it, you probally got one a bit short chambered. Remington will probally fix that real quick. If you shot it, do you notice, with factory ammo, a lot of brass on the bolt face? That would be a pretty good sign that the chamber is short. Come to think of it, you won't even have to shot it, just close the bolt on about 5 or 6 round's.

This is a Remington so it shouldn't make any difference if the round is fed from the magazine or hand fed into the chamber. Push feed vs. pre-64 Winchester controlled-round feed. My Winchester Mod 70 doesn't like to be fed, except from the magazine.....and it didn't even like that when I first got it. It's a sad statement about quality control these days. The guns are more expensive than ever (like everything else) and they seem to be built poorly. Don't they check function on new guns anymore before they leave the factory? My 700 has always worked well and doesn't take much effort to close the bolt on a round. Do the check the that Don recommended. If it doesn't seem right, take it back.

The first thing I'd do is give the chamber a good cleaning, new rifle or not. it wouldn't take much crud to make chambering a little difficult.
Failing that, find an Authorized Remington gunsmith in your area. he will check the chamber and use a tool called a Chamber Reamer to correct the problem.
Warranty will be voided if It is not an AUTHORIZED Remington Repair Depot(gunsmith).
As Don said, excessive filings on the bolt head is a good indicator of the problem.
I 'm assuming you are using factory ammo rather than reloads, with which other problems could lie.

WesternHunter, Don Fischer, NH, hammer,

You are right, I contacted Remington and it sounds like a chamber problem, they will take care of it.
Every time I’ve had a question you guys have guided me onto the right direction. The experience you share is priceless. This is by far the best forum. You guys are great!

Thank you all so much! JZ
:thumbsup1:

Other 700 new gremlins.

Does the rifle have a freshly mounted scope on it?

Check the length on the second screw back on front action ring, it's hole drilled all the way through and if it is too long, it will drag or stop front locking lug from rotating into battery.

Ditto on the clean well, ditto on checking guard screws. I have an 1980's 700 where the factory used thin shim washers between the trigger guard and wood to level trigger guard and have proper screw depth into action. These "shims" do not show on parts list. My rifle was new in box, so I know it was a factory practice. IF one falls out when taking rifle apart, front guard screw will go too deep.

Oh I see you said it only does it when locking up on a round, disregard the above about screws then...

Check for debris causing ejector plunger to stick in it's bore. IF it can't retract into bolt face,lock up will be hard. Take bolt out and push case head against it.

Before shipping off to Rem,.. have local GS do Go- no-Go gages.

Good Luck