First off...my apologies to the majority of the forum who already know this.
But it is so common I frequently run into it, especially among new shooters, so I figured I'd address it for those who may not know. This is probably a Top Ten issue I deal with.
Usually goes something like this...
Someone brings in their former "pride and joy" and denounces it as a "POS Jam O Matic" which is usually accompanied by a long rant about how it won't work right out of the box, shouldn't NEED gunsmithing to make it work, etc. Most are pretty pissed that it is gonna cost money to make their NEW GUN work correctly.
And so far, in every case, it has been the same issue.
Sure enough I rub my finger along the bolt and it is the same factory packing / preservant that nearly every new rifle is shipped covered in to some degree.
And the magic cure all is...to clean it.
I know that seems obvious to most people but it never fails to amaze me just how many people don't figure it out. I think it comes from being in a semi urban area where people don't grow up with guns and start fresh in their early 20s with little or no guidance.
The thing is this, just because the gun "seems oily" doesn't make it clean or lubricated. The oily stuff factories put on guns to keep them protected while shelfed up to 10 years is a LOT different from the oily stuff you want to have inside a well maintined rifle. You have to think of this stuff like cosmoline lite. While not as thick as cosmoline it does many of the same things, including gumming up any rifle to the point it will fail repeatedly. This is because they are not lubricants.
So you have to clean that crap OFF and then use an actual lubricant like CLP (Break Free) on the moving internals.
So far that simple gunsmithing trick has fixed all the New In Box Jam O Matics I have run into. And it will save you the cost of paying someone to clean your rifle.