Cleaned the bolt and locking lugs in the gun as well as the bolt. Ok thanks for your help guys, I will take it to a gunsmith

I'm no expert on reloading. But, I had the same problem with some reloads on my 30-06. I solved it by getting a small base die.

Any land marks on the bullet?

Vermonter, take a sharpi pen and totally color a case. Drop it into the chamber carefully(try not to scratch it).
Drop the bolt and eject it slowly and capture the round carefully.
Check the case for any odd scratches.

My .243 788 leaves so many scratches on the brass you wouldn't need the marker.

how is the bolt for closing with no round in chamber?

if it is smooth and easy with no binding at all then I would take it to the smith to have headspace checked

resistance on bolt close on reloaded ammo is typically not pushing the shoulder back enough and 308 headspaces off the shoulder

with new ammo it sounds like you have a short chamber and should have a smith check it out you you want to just meet a touch of resistance in the last 1/2 inch or sow of bolt

if you lower the bolt , raise the bolt , lower the bolt a few times and it has resistance each time , possibly getting ever so slightly less after 4-5 cycles , it is most likely that your squishing the case against the shoulder and that the brass springs back then compresses again as you lower the bolt

a little resistance in the bottom of the bolt handle travel is one thing but nothing should be hard to close if your gun is clean

and factory ammo is typically a little small as to not cause feeding and lock up issues in semi autos

Ok I have cleaned the notches that the lugs on the bolt lock into and no change with the bolt hard to rotate closed when loading a cartridge. I noticed that once loaded with a cartridge and open the bolt and pull bolt back like ejecting the shell. I go half way back to eject the cartridge and then push the bolt back to load the cartridge the bolt will rotate closed easily. So I think the problem is with the bolt not going around the cartridge base? Is that the ejector

Sounds like an extractor problen.

I have taken my bolts apart several times on my 788s. Not to hard of a job. Maybe you could see the problem then??

Is the extractor the springloaded rod or the lip on the end of the bolt that goes over the cartridge base

Insert a fired case back into the bore and close the bolt? Feel the same or different?

the extractor is the claw
the ejector is the spring loaded rod

The lip that slips over the base of the shell. Sounds like once its over the base, you're good.

Might have dirt behind it?

The ejector pushes down with a spent cartridge while holding the bolt out of the gun in my hand. The tolerance for the cartridge base to fit into the end of the bolt seems really tight.

are you feeding from the magazine ?
or
tossing a round in and closing the bolt?

Here's the best pics I could find quick online.


Extractor


Extractor in bolt. It goes in a groove, and must push back some to accept the shell. I'm guessing its not moving freely.

I have been trying both, they feed from the magazine no problem. I got the gun 30 years ago a guy owed me $50 and gave me the gun to settle what he owed me.

Hippie that makes perfect sense to me I’ll try getting some cleaning solution to sit on the end of the bolt overnight and see if that works

some guns have a stronger preference for feeding from the magazine

typically this is a push feed vs controlled round feed

in many guns the round slides out of the magazine under the extractor claw so there is no Jump over the rim

if it feeds fine and bolt closes normal as in not hard when feeding from the magazine the 788 may have that preference

it could also be build up behind the extractor if it used to do it without issue or a little of both and cleaning behind the extractor claw may help

I am not as familiar with the 788 the 700 is push feed and the round actually pops out of the magazine loose but when half way into the chamber , the 1903 and K98 Mausers and similar it slides up under the extractor claw

The cartridge just pushes out of the magazine and just stays in front of the bolt until you close the bolt. Whats the best way to clean behind the extractor ?