What caused this?

[jersurf101]

I was shooting my Savage 11 trophy hunter .308 today at my local range. I wanted to try out some new components for a production run. I am using Federal 210 primers, Hornaday Match cases, 43.5 gr IMR 4064 and 168gr Berger VLD's with a 2.90 COAL.

I loaded 15(just a week ago) and shot them in 3 shot groups. The third round has a soft report with almost no recoil. At first I was worried about a squib but the round was on target as a flyer about 3 inches right. I know there was the correct powder charge in the case. I weigh every one and visually inspect the lot before seating the bullets. Is it possible that some of the 4064 did not ignite?

Has anyone had this happen to them?

[nemesiss45]

Could be a lot of things... I would normally expect accidental undercharge, but if not that, it could be the primer... could have been a fluke weak one, could have damaged it seating... could have had a partially blocked flash hole. I doubt you will be able to find a definate answer... have you shot tje brass before? Do you use a flash hole uniformer?

[kilotanker22]

my bet would be on a blocked flash hole i have never had a centerfire primer that would not go boom

[jersurf101]

Thanks guys. I am not deburring flash holes. I obviously need to start doing that. I did size all of the brass and assumed the decapper pin would take care of that.

[cw308]

By your posted info your a target shooter. I would go with a primer problem, from the primers to the bullet are all Match,. For accuracy I would add to your reloading primer pocket uniformer & flash hole deburring, and yes as you stated I would think the decapping pin would open up the hole enough. Always good to double check though. Things like that keep us on our toes.

[243winxb]

Using spray lube on the brass may contaminate powder. 2.810" COL is maximum. How much shank of the bullet is in the case neck?

[jersurf101]

About .29 inches of the bullet contact the neck, the bullet itself extends in .43. Bergers are long bullets. There is good information on the Berger web site about determining you COAL with your chosen bullet and rifle. Unless you get jammed into the rifling and raise pressures I see no worries on a longer COAL.

Spray lube could be an issue. I have the tube and mat but like to use spray lube. Thanks for all your help guys. I think I am gonna be done with the spray lube.

[243winxb]

Should be enough neck tension at that COL if using .002" I found this interesting. http://www.handloadersbench.com/view...post_id=265433

[Bart B.]

You don't need match primers and match bullets to shoot most rifles into no worse than 1/2 inch at 100 yards if the rifle and shooter are up to it.

Nor does the primer pockets need to be uniformed, deburred or have a magic wand waved over them. Too many folks have won long range matches setting a bunch of records along the way and never used match primers nor had their cases flash holes altered in any way.

Match bullets are a waste of time in commercial barrels unless they're bigger in diameter than the barrel's groove diameter. That doesn't happen very often. Get your barrel slugged and find out what its groove diameter is, then measure your bullet diameters. Both to .0001" tolerance.

Always clean all the case lube of the outside as well as the inside of sized cases before putting powder and primers in them. Laquer thinner's as good as anything and it evaporates without leaving significant residue.

And 3 shot groups have about a 30% probabability of indicating what 30 shots would group. Shoot at least 10 shots per group else you'll be chasing that statistical animal forever and never catch it. Even benchrest rifles that hold the 5-shot group records also shoot 5-shot groups 20 times larger.

Your load's what was popular in competition for match rifles shooting .308 ammo. I wouldn't change anything. How are you sizing the fired cases?

Cartridge OAL depends on your rifle's chamber. Some .308 chambers are long enough to have a 3.050" cartridge OAL; important if you shoot 240-gr. match bullets

[jersurf101]

I'm sizing them with a lee full length sizing die where I bump the shoulders back about .002. Thanks for the reassurance on my findings.

[Bart B.]

Your sizing die's expander ball may be bending sized case necks crooked. Have you measured bullet runout?

[cw308]

Bart B, as per post 3" off to the right, I would agree but a light load seems to be a primer problem. 43.5 of IMR 4064 is close to max. with 168 gr. OAL 2.900 Jersurf101 sounds like he knows what he's doing, reloading with match quality cases, primers & bullets in a rack rifle a waste of time, I feel you have to make the best round possible in reloading to use in any rifle, getting the best results possible. Thats the fun of it. Chris

[Bart B.]

A weak round's firing may be caused by a bad primer, but if the primer's at fault, the error will be in the vertical axis. That's the plane where most of the barrel whip and trajectory is; very little's in the horizontal plane. Something besides powder or primer made that bullet shoot to the right.

I've never seen any difference in accuracy with factory barrels shot at ranges 200 yards or less between match and standard primers. And many standard primers produce better accuracy at the longer ranges than match ones do.

Check the following for interest:

http://riflemansjournal.blogspot.com...mer-study.html

[jersurf101]

Good read. Still unsure as to what happened. The rack rifle doesn't shoot so bad when it goes bang instead of pop

[cw308]

I also have a rack rifle that I use for benchrest only, and I am very happy with it's accuracy. I reload and try to get the best I can out of it. I just got into bullet run out, ordered the Hornady lock n load concentricity gauage, will give it a try,see if I can squeeze out alittle more accuracy out of my reloads.

[Toolman]

My vote is a blocked primer hole. I've seen it happen before when the primer ignites & the flash hole has cleaning media in it the flash is slowed down until the cleaning media is cleared.

[cw308]

If a piece of media found it's way into the flash hole, I would agree it could be the cause.

[Jim243]

If a piece of media found it's way into the flash hole, I would agree it could be the cause.

That would be my guess also, I ream all flash holes with a small drill bit before loading any cases. I have had media (corn cobb) stuck in the flash hole many times.

Jim

[Nemsis]

Could also be a loose primer pocket, this happened to my buddy next to me thought it was a squib.

[jersurf101]

The primer pockets were OK. I hand prime with a Lee and the primer pockets were as tough as new Winchesters on The new Hornady brass. I have to go with the primer pocket as well. I tumble in corncob media with a little (1TBL) Nu finish and then size and decap. Regardless these were new cases. Maybe some brass shavings got in there when I trimmed the cases. Who knows.

Thanks for the replies

[Airman Basic]

If a piece of media found it's way into the flash hole, I would agree it could be the cause.

This stuff is small enough that you won't clog flash holes. Use dryer sheet to cut out the dust.
http://www.harborfreight.com/25-lbs-...dia-92155.html