Gun or Ammo Issue?

[timberghost72]

I was at the range last weekend burning a box of ammo through my Ruger RPR 6.5 and had some issues with it. I had about 100 rounds through the gun before this day and gun has performed flawlessly and accurately. I was shooting Hornady 140gr ELD-M's and on two different occasions I could not open the bolt. I could lift up the bolt handle  but it would not pull back. Only after hitting it hard with my palm 4 times would it come back.  Another issue was that one primer popped out after ejecting (I don't know which round this came from as I didn't notice it right away). The last thing that I found weird but may be normal is this ammo ranged 2712 fps to 2913 fps with an average of 2794 fps and median of 2764. I know the highest was not the cartridge that popped out the primer. That seems like a big variance for match ammo. The brass seemed to look ok.

Oh and I was using a Caldwell chrono so take the numbers for what their worth. I don't know how accurate that thing is but when hand loading it appears pretty accurate between speeds.

So, any thoughts?

[jasnt]

I’ve had similar results with Hornady superformance.  Been years since I shot a factory rifle round though.

[Smokeploe]

Need more info.  What type of ammo- factory, reloads,  what powder, where on the load scale low, mid or high.  Type of case, how many time reloaded.
Had reloaded BL-c in a 308 mid range up it 1.5 grains, still 2 grains below max with Winchester cases, 3 time reloaded.  Had a hard time extracting the case and popped and burned the primer.  Went to max load, too long ago to remember the load, no problem extracting the case and accuracy was where I wanted it. Sometimes ball powder can be real picky, temperature, humidity, etc. can affect powders.

[timberghost72]

Need more info.  What type of ammo- factory, reloads,  what powder, where on the load scale low, mid or high.  Type of case, how many time reloaded.
Had reloaded BL-c in a 308 mid range up it 1.5 grains, still 2 grains below max with Winchester cases, 3 time reloaded.  Had a hard time extracting the case and popped and burned the primer.  Went to max load, too long ago to remember the load, no problem extracting the case and accuracy was where I wanted it. Sometimes ball powder can be real picky, temperature, humidity, etc. can affect powders.

These were factory rounds.

[Biggerhammer]

Was it Superformance ammo? I tried some when it first came out in .308 with my Sig Sauer 716. That stuff flat rocked  my bolt carrier group. Had to just about shut the gas completely off on my adjustable gas block to keep the ejected cases from landing 20’ away. No joke, primers were bulging half out of the primer pockets, case heads gouged up from ejecting. Crap groups! It was a wreck, never touched the stuff since. But all their other factory ammo (Non Superformance) has been great shooting stuff.

Especially in 6.5 Grendel and 6.5 Creedmoor.

[dog]

Sounds like way too hot ammo to me. I would not put that in my rifle again and would probably contact the manufacturer about returning it to be analyzed.

[timberghost72]

It was Match ammo. So what would keep the bolt from being pulled back? It was solidly stuck. Like the lugs were still engaged or the bolt wasn't all the way up. But it was. I have enough brass now that I will start loading for this rifle but want to make sure I solve a possible problem first.

[j_h_nimrod]

Sounds all consistent with high pressure, stuck cases and popped primers are pretty indicative. I would quit shooting this lot of ammo and then take a close look at any of this brass you may be wanting to reload. It sounds to me like there may be some QC issues with Superperformance ammo.

[Bill W]

contact customer service.  you have a problem... they have a problem.

[thinkingman]

I will never buy Hornady ammo again.
Only case head separation I've experienced was from Hornady and when I called them to report it, they didn't seem all that interested.
In re a Ruger, a rough finished chamber can also cause the brass to bind in place.
They are not know to have a high level of finish.

[Evil_EdwardO]

contact customer service.  you have a problem... they have a problem.

 

A friend of mine is going through the same thing with Hornady Match ammo in 6.5 Creed. The boxes(he had 2 boxes) he had trouble with all had the same lot number. Also one round was loaded backwards, looked like a wadcutter.