I just purchased a PSA 8.5 inch 556 pistol and when I disassembled and reassembled the bolt I noticed that I had to apply a fair amount of force to put the bolt back into the carrier... I haven't been able to shoot it yet but I was in the Marines and I never remember having to apply force to put the bolt into the carrier. I hand cycled a few rounds and found that if I "rode" the bolt forward about 15% of its cycle the round would chamber but the extractor would catch and I would have to lock it open and shake the round out. There was also a round that actually had the bullet pushed back into the casing during the "hand cycle test"....

My question is, does that sound normal since its an unfired weapon or does it sound like something is out of spec and causing friction around the bolt?

It's a new gun that needs to be broken in so the action will smooth out.  Break it open, remove the BCG, and use a rag to remove all of the lube from the inside of the Upper Receiver and from the parts of the BCG.  Reassemble the weapon, and hand cycle the action 500 times using the charging handle.  This will kickstart the break-in process.  Open the gun back up, remove the BCG, and wip out the inside of the Upper Receiver, and the BCG and lubricate as normal.

Cycle the gun using the charging handle, and you should feel a dramatic improvement in smoothness.

You still need to shoot 300-500 round of full power US made 5.56 ammo to continue the break-in.  Until you get the rounds downrange, you should not worry about any stoppages.

What kind of ammo were you playing with when you had that bullet set back into the case?  Much foreign made ammo is under powered and poorly made.  Properly made ammo should be crimped or taper crimped so the the bullets sdo not set back in the cases when being chambered.

New rings make installing the bolt into the bolt carrier more difficult than install the bolt when the rings are used or used up.  Lubricate the rings before trying to insert the bolt into the bolt carrier, and jiggle the bolt as you press it into the bolt carrier.

It was using federal 55 grain bonded sp. It was just a slight set back from chambering but the bullet was pushed completely into the casing allowing the powder charger to spill out of the case.

Thanks. Im used to being able give the carrier a "wrist snap" while hold the rear porton and having the bolt slide forward.

It was part of the process I was taught to perform when cleaning the rifle in the Marines.... Im not sure if that is of any significant importance but its what I was taught for weapon maintaince and my service rifles bolt would do it, and this one wasn't but after doing the charging handle cycles you suggested I am able to do the same wrist snap thing.

I Figured the friction between the bolt and carrier was probably due to having new gas rings, but the I started to wonder if I didn't screw something up by forcing the bolt back into the carrier

Try removing the gas rings and then try sliding the bolt into the carrier without them. If the bolt slides in easily without the rings you know the rings are the problem.
If the rings are excessively tight you can squeeze the rings as small as they get and then install them. You could also remove a ring and just run with 2 rings until they loosen up, then add the third.