Terrible Day Shooting

[clunker]

***Final Update***

Happy Days Again! I cleaned the bore last night, and took the Creedmoor out to the range after work today. First three shots to sight the scope were 0.600" MOA. Next group was 0.487" MOA, then 0.873" MOA. I started getting sloppy after that, probably because I was mixing in a lot of shots with my .223 and was starting to fatigue a bit. Shot prone off bipod without rear support using factory Berger match ammo. I had zero issues other than a wandering POI every time I changed positions, due to the cheap scope. I had the same problem with that scope on my .223. Safe to say that the new Tikka would be a 0.5" MOA or better rifle in capable hands with developed hand loads. I couldn't be happier. Next time out to the range, I'll mount the new 32x scope and see if I can get the groups even tighter.

I still don't know what to say about the flattened primers. The ones fired today look approximately the same as the ones sent by Beretta and the 21 rounds I fired in June. Perhaps the pics I posted earlier in the thread are misleading, and the amount of flattening is perfectly normal. Almost all of the primers still have a slightly rounded edge, and I need someone with more loading experience than myself to look at the cases in person and tell me what they think. I'm still a novice. Any volunteers in Eastern WA State?

 

[dolek]

You got sloppy after 9 shots ?

 

[clunker]

You got sloppy after 9 shots ?

No! I got sloppy after more than 50 shots with the .223 while waiting for the Creedmoor barrel to cool. My eyes go bad quickly.

 

[Milo 2.0]

I still don't know what to say about the flattened primers. The ones fired today look approximately the same as the ones sent by Beretta and the 21 rounds I fired in June. Perhaps the pics I posted earlier in the thread are misleading, and the amount of flattening is perfectly normal. Almost all of the primers still have a slightly rounded edge, and I need someone with more loading experience than myself to look at the cases in person and tell me what they think. I'm still a novice. Any volunteers in Eastern WA State?

Think like this for a moment. Have you ever heard of guys decapping live primers in a press, if it goes off, the primer is coming out of case, and you do not want your body in it's path.
So, wouldn't adding powder to a case and firing it magnify the situation, the only thing stopping the primer from coming out of the case on ignition is your bolt face. Now realize new brass can grow 4-6 thousands in your chamber on the first firing, some more. Now your brass is slammed into the bolt face harder than normal too.
Flat primers on new brass is not the best way to determine pressure. You can have differing degrees of flatness, if you were to decap some and the base of the primer resembles a .357 rimmed case. It could be a little warm, but if you duplicated that load, would they be that flat the 2nd firing? Most of the time not, because brass is tighter in the chamber and the movement for both brass and primer has been reduced.
In my opinion you're reaching here because you are leery of what went on shooting Hornady factory ammo.

 

[dolek]

No! I got sloppy after more than 50 shots with the .223 while waiting for the Creedmoor barrel to cool. My eyes go bad quickly.

OK,I see now .

 

[Legionnaire]

Thanks for the update; sounds like things are working out for you.

 

[clunker]

Think like this for a moment. Have you ever heard of guys decapping live primers in a press, if it goes off, the primer is coming out of case, and you do not want your body in it's path.
So, wouldn't adding powder to a case and firing it magnify the situation, the only thing stopping the primer from coming out of the case on ignition is your bolt face. Now realize new brass can grow 4-6 thousands in your chamber on the first firing, some more. Now your brass is slammed into the bolt face harder than normal too.
Flat primers on new brass is not the best way to determine pressure. You can have differing degrees of flatness, if you were to decap some and the base of the primer resembles a .357 rimmed case. It could be a little warm, but if you duplicated that load, would they be that flat the 2nd firing? Most of the time not, because brass is tighter in the chamber and the movement for both brass and primer has been reduced.
In my opinion you're reaching here because you are leery of what went on shooting Hornady factory ammo.

Thanks for the detailed description about primers.

Faulty Hornady ammo was certainly part of the equation, but I also was unable to chamber nickel-plated Federal ammo. What are the odds that someone has two sets of defective factory ammo on the same day at the range? I've fired over 300 rounds of 15 different types of ammo through my .223 and never had a single issue. Combine two ammo problems, along with members on the forum noticing flat primers (something I knew nothing about), and it is easy to see why someone would think something might be wrong with the rifle. If I've learned anything from this experience, it is to choose your ammo wisely and start reloading as soon as you can. Hornady already lost my business for the .223 because it didn't like their ammo (no fault of the company, just not compatible). Now they have lost my business for the Creedmoor, simply because the rifle absolutely loves the combination of Lapua brass and Berger bullets. No reason to look at other ammo if you've already found what works. But even if I liked the performance of Hornady's match ammo, I would never take the risk of another blown primer.

 

[clunker]

***Update***

I imagine that everyone has forgotten about this thread, but there has been one more development that some might find interesting. I received a letter from Federal Ammunition last week, regarding the ammo that would not chamber in my Tikka 6.5 Creedmoor. Here is what they had to say.

"Examination of the returned ammunition has shown that they were all too long and had to be pushed into our profile gauge."

Now confirming what most of us had already concluded, my terrible day shooting was due to two faulty boxes of ammunition from two different manufactures on my first day at the range with this new rifle. What are the odds?

 

[Legionnaire]

Hadn't forgotten. Thanks for the update.

 

[HillBilly98]

Factory ammo. Factory chamber. Blown primer. Hard extraction. Inability to chamber factory ammo. More than one red flag screaming at you to stop.

Get with a good gunsmith and have him find the problem. IMO, you need to know exactly what’s going on before you fire the gun again and that’s not going to happen over the internet.

^^^^ PLEASE BE ADVISED AND LISTEN TO THIS ABOVE!!! ^^^^

Something is wrong do not shoot it again. Several very serious things need to be checked.

 

[clunker]

^^^^ PLEASE BE ADVISED AND LISTEN TO THIS ABOVE!!! ^^^^

Something is wrong do not shoot it again. Several very serious things need to be checked.

Sorry if you did not read the entire thread, but Beretta thoroughly inspected this rifle over several weeks, firing multiple rounds from different manufacturers and taking precise measurements. It shoots "lights out" with quality ammo. Not a single issue since its return.

 

[HillBilly98]

Sorry if you did not read the entire thread, but Beretta thoroughly inspected this rifle over several weeks, firing multiple rounds from different manufacturers and taking precise measurements. It shoots "lights out" with quality ammo. Not a single issue since its return.

Lolol thank you now I feel a little silly. Now everyone knows I can’t shoot spell or read completely. It just makes me nervous to hear when that kind of thing happens. I automatically think of locking lug failures, or something in the lug race etc etc. That’s an awful lot of pressure in close proximity to important body parts when things go wrong. Glade all was ok with rifle

 

[clunker]

Lolol thank you now I feel a little silly. Now everyone knows I can’t shoot spell or read completely. It just makes me nervous to hear when that kind of thing happens. I automatically think of locking lug failures, or something in the lug race etc etc. That’s an awful lot of pressure in close proximity to important body parts when things go wrong. Glade all was ok with rifle

No worries! Your concerns are justified. The other members of this forum had the exact same concerns, and I learned a great deal from this experience. Best forum on the web