Can't get it to shoot.

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Can't get it to shoot.

Postby powerhead357mag » Thu Aug 31, 2017 3:33 pm

Gun shoots one ragged 5 shot group with factory ammo. I can get under 3in with my reloads. 225ftx 250ftx and 275 Barnes all don't shoot well. Crimping down to .460 with Lee fcd made no difference. All powder is dispensed using a Lyman gen6 dispenser. All I can find around here is lilgun. But I'm showing pressure signs on the 225ftx at 36grs. And pressure signs on the 275 at 35.5grs. flattened primers (CCI 400) and ejector wiping. I've been trying to find h110 to try but can't. Tried 2.30oal on the Barnes with no luck either. I guess my gun just loves the factory ammo. BTW it's a tromix barreled ar15. Any suggestions?
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Re: Can't get it to shoot.

Postby Al in Mi » Thu Aug 31, 2017 6:20 pm

Did you try the taper crimp at all?
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Re: Can't get it to shoot.

Postby MOOSE EARS » Thu Aug 31, 2017 6:24 pm

LilGun is typically the most accurate/best velocity with the Hornady bullets. You maybe have a gas problem, your gun, not you.lol
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Re: Can't get it to shoot.

Postby powerhead357mag » Thu Aug 31, 2017 7:10 pm

Reckon I should try an adjustable gas block? And 8ve tried the taper crimp with no luck. I thought the fcd would be a better choice
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Re: Can't get it to shoot.

Postby Texas Sheepdawg » Thu Aug 31, 2017 8:06 pm

Taper crimp to .475". .460" is kinda harsh and you might have crimped beyond where the case headspaces. Therefore the pressure signs. Make sure you're using the taper crimp. DO NOT ROLL CRIMP. (For the reason stated above.) As for your powder just be absolutely sure you're accurate.
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Re: Can't get it to shoot.

Postby plant_one » Thu Aug 31, 2017 8:07 pm

460 seems a little on the tight side. that could possibly explain the pressure signs you're seeing early.

36 gr of lil gun on the 225 should be well south of just warming up - unless you have a tight chamber too, especially with cci400's pushing them.


i ran 250's in my gun crimped to .474 i think it was (*dont have my notes in front of me) up to 37.9 grains (hornady max), seated to 2.225 with cci 400's and zero pressure signs at all. i suspect i could have put at least another grain of powder in there, maybe more before i saw anything - but i havent tested beyond book max yet. and theres still room to move that bullet out to 2.250 easily



lets talk about your gun a little more - do you have an a2 stock? or a standard 6 position adjustable stock?

if you have an adjustable, what buffer do you have in there?

whats the gas system length of your gun? (carbine, mid, rifle)

how long of a barrel

what twist rate


the more information you give us, the better we'll be able to help you. so please provide as much as possible
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Re: Can't get it to shoot.

Postby plant_one » Thu Aug 31, 2017 8:15 pm

just as a side note - i had a good friend just starting to reload. his buddy was in the same boat - that being greener than green when it comes to reloading. it was the blind leading the blind. he read a bunch of articles on the web, loaded up a few test charges, and then loaded up 300+ rounds of 50 beowulf.

somewhere along the way - around 20-30 rounds into the process from what i can tell by the few "good" bullets i salvaged - his crimp die got readjusted. he was crimping the case mouth's to .500 - like all the way into the bullet.


when they went to use some of the ammo, first round ripped the case right in half on them. 2nd round refused to chamber. they didnt find out why until half a peice of brass fell out.

they were so bad that when i pulled the bullets to salvage what was slaveageable, i broke a RCBS collet about 200 rounds in and the bullets now had a canneulure crimped into them.


thankfully nobody got hurt. and i got 300 peices of beowulf brass and about 10 lbs of scrap lead to melt down when i tore them down.


crimping is cool, but you HAVE to be careful to not over crimp. Not only can you cause pressure spikes, but with these straight wall cases, you can also cause headspace issues as the round will fall to far into the chamber and act like a vise when the round goes off, further upping the pressure. no bueno especailly if you're using a more volatile powder like h110 thats known to be sensative once you approach 100% case fill and start to compress.


slow measured steps as my old boss used to say.
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Re: Can't get it to shoot.

Postby powerhead357mag » Thu Aug 31, 2017 8:33 pm

I worked my way up to crimping that much trying to get it to shoot. Started at .476. The gun is psa upper and lower with geissele ssa-e trigger, standard 6 position stock the standard at buffer. Tromix barrel and bolt face with fail zero nib carrier. 1-24 twist 18in. I've been reloading for a while and do 6 or so other calibers with great success. I just cant get this one nailed down, my Ruger American bolt shoots great with the Barnes load I make. I'm wondering if the gun is over gassed. I noticed today that after firing the last round in the mag the charging handle would come back and hit me nose. First time I've seen that with an AR. I'll order and Odin works adj. Gas block and report back. Start over with factory ammo then looser crimp relaods and see how it likes it. Maybe I can find some h110 over the weekend too
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Re: Can't get it to shoot.

Postby plant_one » Thu Aug 31, 2017 8:43 pm

see if you can test it out with a h3 or XH buffer.

in an effort to keep my 20" bushmaster upper from carrier speed issues while maintaining the ability to fire subsonic blackout on the shared lower, i opted to do hoots CCWS inside my BCG - esseitnally a 4oz hunk of lead inside the bolt carrier tail.

i also put a H2 buffer in once i found it ran suppressed that way with the blackout subs. so i'm running right now with around the equivalent of almost 9oz of buffer - which according to one of the more popular lists of buffer weight charts should be considered XH for a big bore ar upper



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Re: Can't get it to shoot.

Postby Bmt85 » Fri Sep 01, 2017 2:39 am

That is odd. I have a newer build using a Tromix, it seems to be pretty good so far, but I've noticed it seems to be a little finicky (quite a few fliers). I have a feeling it needs more rounds run through it. I'm still getting decent accuracy with the 225ftx and Lilgun charges between 36 and 40gr. No pressure signs on 40gr either, but I'm running Slash's XH buffer.

Couple questions:
-How many rounds have you put down the barrel?
-How many rounds do you shoot between cleanings?
-Are you getting all of the oil out of the chamber before shooting?
-What pressure signs are you seeing exactly?
-What is your case head growth for the various bullets and charges?
-Where are you located? Maybe someone near you can give you a hand.
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