Gunsmithing New 6.5 Creedmoor Won't Shoot New Factory Hornady Match Ammo 140 gr. Amax

[Toast]

I have a Semi Auto rifle built by Accuracy Systems in 6.5 creedmoor with a Lilja barrel. The rounds will not go all the way into the chamber, far enough for the rifle to fire. When the trigger dropped one time, it did not strike the firing pin because the round was not all the way seated. When I pulled the charging handle back, it pulled the chamber out, dumped the poweder and the 140 grain amax was stuck in the barrel. This happened every time I chambered a round. I'm using factory new 140 gr. Hornady Amax Match ammunition. I got the ammo 2 weeks ago. The box was sealed.

I sent the rifle back to Accuracy systems. He tells me he sent my bullet(s) and his reamer back to the reamer manufacturer to see if the reamer is within specs. He said he checked the headspace, and it was good to go. He fired 3 rounds of 120 grain Amax's from Hornady without any issue whatsoever to test fire it prior to shipping to me. I bought the rifle specifically to shoot the 140 grain amax bullets. He told me if the reamer comes back within specs, there's nothing he can do. Could Hornady's bullets be out of spec? He checked his 120 Hornady Amax's that he used to test fire it with the bullet I sent him that were jamming (140 gr. Amax's) and he did not see any problems. Maybe Hornady's bullets are bad? Does this sound right? The whole thing doesn't sit well with me.

Any advice is appreciated because I don't have money to trouble shoot this thing. Thanks, Keith

 

[bhart89]

I've read that factory 140 Amax's have had accuracy issues lately. Can you get your hands on some Lapua 139 gr factory ammo to see how that shoots?

ETA: based on what I've read about the factory Hornsby ammo I would not assume the rifle was the problem just yet.

 

[Killswitch Engage]

What does the coal of the ammo measure? 2.800ish? If so there's got to be a freebore issue with the chamber. I really have only seen two reamer specs for the creed moor one has .169 freebore and the other is like .190 either of those easily take a round with a coal of 2.800 +

reamer about has to be out of spec if it headspaces right

 

[OF&B]

Will a case with a pulled bullet chamber and pop the primer?

Accuracy Systems does have options to get factory Hornady ammo to chamber in a 6.5 Hornady Creedmoor barrel. With the bullet the round was designed for no less. One would be a throating reamer, the other would be a correctly dimensioned chamber reamer. How they could throw their hands up and pass the problem down to the customer is beyond me.

 

[bogeybrown]

There's a good thread on this in the Exterior Ballistics section. Basically what the guys have figured out by pulling some bullets is that Hornady apparently changed powders (speculation is they had component-availability issues) about the time they changed the appearance of the boxes of ammo. Later into the 313 lot #s appears to be the biggest problem.

Some really good info on the thread, and led me to seek out and buy some older Hornady ammo before the issue started.

The BIG issue is that so far no one has been able to get an answer from Hornady, in spite of a number of pressure signs in their factory ammo.

Here's the thread:
http://www.snipershide.com/shooting...y-140-amax-ammo-old-vs-new-3.html#post2999022

 

[mark5pt56]

I had a 6.5CM built a while back and had shot the older factory stuff. I recall the velocity being a tad over 2800 with a 26" melonited Bartlein with great accuracy. Never pulled any as never saw a need to. You would think they would at least advise the consumer of a change of that sort, especially when it could cause safety issues.

 

[bogeybrown]

I had a 6.5CM built a while back and had shot the older factory stuff. I recall the velocity being a tad over 2800 with a 26" melonited Bartlein with great accuracy. Never pulled any as never saw a need to. You would think they would at least advise the consumer of a change of that sort, especially when it could cause safety issues.

Yeah, you would think. If you read the other thread it's pretty scary. Guys have plugged numbers into Quickload and come up with some very unsafe loadings from Hornady. Guys are getting blown primers, cratered primers, and swipe marks out of the factory stuff right now.

So far no official response from Hornady other than I believe one to the effect that they wouldn't discuss their ammo loadings or something.

I have a 6.5CM in the infant stages of a build with Marc right now, SOLELY based on the availability of affordable quality match ammo instead of having to handload the other 6/6.5 calibers. Needless to say I'm a little pissed. The guys who already have 6.5CM rifles that don't handload should be SUPER pissed.

Hornady really needs to step the hell up and FIX THIS, quickly.

I'm not on the 6.5 forum, but it's apparently being discussed there as well.

 

[Kebo57]

Did you guys not read all of OP's post???? He's having an issue with the ammo chambering in his gun. The bash Hornady bandwagon is on a different thread.

 

[Asperly Aimless]

Sounds like a classic case of bullet jammed in the lands along with some weak neck tension from the loaded ammo.

 

[jonaddis84]

Do you have a micrometer? One of two things I can see happening here, as I just went through same issue with another 6.5 bullet.

1. Measure diameter of bullet. This was my problem. The freebore on a 6.5 reamer is a minimum of .2645, if the bullet is larger than that it will act like its hitting the lands way early, but its actually hitting the freebore. And if you extract a live round the bullet will get stuck. My bullets were measuring .2648-.2649 (not AMAX).

2. The freebore section of the reamer used to cut the chamber is worn and did not cut it the proper diameter. Ive been hearing a decent amount about this happening lately, and not after very many chambers cut.

Of course, at the same time, I had an issue with a lot of AMAX but it was not diameter. They just would not shoot better than 1moa. Hornady has taken care of me there though, sending all 2k that I have back for replacements.

Im still working on the other manufacturer to admit that a 6.5 bullet should not be .2648 in diameter.

 

[MDM]

^ #2. My old man has a Savage LRP in Creedmoor where I think this is happening. When using the Hornady OAL gauge, marks on the bullet from the time it enters the freebore to the time it actually stops and contacts the lands. Acts like the freebore area needs cleaned up. This causes intermittent pressure signs all the way up to an occasional pierced primer. Doesn't seem to affect accuracy with handloads although it is a problem that needs fixed. I'm gonna take one turn of the threads off of the shank and clean it with the reamer and see if that helps, and I'm pretty sure that will fix the problem.

 

[Bugholes]

Chances ar a uni-throater will fix this problem. If the lead is worn out, the bearing surface of the bullet will engrave immediately causing this problem. If the freebore on the reamer is worn out then it can be restored by cutting the throat to where it should have been. There's something like .050" of jump in factory ammo with a std .199 freebore, so chances that the lead dimension is worn is more likely than the freebore dimension. A uni throater will restore both if used properly. If the cartridges are longer than spec, then this should be easy to find out and should be the first thing checked.
The OP can mark the bullet forward of the case neck with a magic marker, up to and around the beginning of the ogive. Run the cartridge into the chamber gently by hand, then close the bolt. Extract carefully (so as to not cause unnecessary scratches from loading/extraction) and inspect the bullet for signs of contact/engagement