Re: 50gr SP SX Exploding in ARs?
Matt,
As I said, there's a number of factors that go into this, and the right (wrong) combination will definately get you these results. At the Small Arms Firing School (SAFS) at Camp Perry two years ago, the students were issued rifles by the army that had some pretty high mileage on them. These were standard, rack grade ARs, but clearly had many thousands of rounds on them. The issue ammo was Hornady 75 grain match stuff that Hornady had graciously provided. Even with the thicker jackets, the rough bores (more like, eroded throats) on these guns were blowing up bullets left and right. Some blew up like little FLAK bursts, 50-75 yards in front of the firing line. Others occasionally left a clearly visible smoke trail (caused by outgassing of the vaporized lead core as the bullet flies downrange) to the point where the jacket completely failed, and then you got the burst. End result, a very high percentage of the bullets that were fired those days, never made it to the target. I've been a CMP SAFS instructor at Perry for the past several years, and that time, I got to watch that situation repeat itself relay after relay. Over on the other range, where the USMC had newer rifles, I didn't hear of a single problem. This past year (2012) at Perry, they had new rifles donated to the students by (I believe) Rock River. Same twist rates in the guns, but new barrels, and using the same Hornady 75 grain match ammo. Not a single problem that I recall throughout the entire course. So, lots of different factors, but yeah, it absolutely does occur. Pretty impressive when it does, too!
