Help! Extreme flyers

[Lyinhunter]

I recently bought a rra predator pursuit and about a dozen different bullets to reload for it. I found the "dogtown hp" by Nosler and Midway USA to be very accurate. I shot about 200 rds working up a load and had groups down to .33-.5" using 25-26gr of A2230 and seated .01 off contact. I then ordered several thousand more because they were on sale and shot great. yesterday I was shooting 600 yds and had a few bullets that weren't even in the same zip code. I mean way out there! I've yet to see a flyer go high, but I've had several hit at about 200yds when I aim at a 600yd target then the next 5 rds will be bullseyes then the one will shoot 200 yds short and 30 yds to the side.

I couldn't believe it at first because the recoil, sound...was no different but the bullets were missing target by 15 degrees! I then shot 20 rds of hndy fmj's with no problem. so I then started looking closer at the ammo.

I weighed 10 rds and they were all within .3 grains, I then measured the bullets and they were all .224 and then the Coal and they were all within .002, and in those rds that appeared to be the same weight, and measurements two bullets hit about 50 yds short of my target at 100 yds, the others were piled on top of the bulls eye.

at this point i'm scared to keep experimenting. I believe either the bullets are faulty or I am loading them wrong. Is it possible to get this kind of drastic and dangerous outcome as a result of seating so close to the lans? (.01) (26 grains of 2230 is max, but i'm not seeing high pressure signs)

I cleaned the gun today and there wasn't any real copper fouling. it just doesnt make sense to me that that anything could make it so inconsistent. I have seen potato guns shoot better. Any help would be welcome

 

[GLOOB]

Check out this thread. Methinks there's a problem with those "dog town" bullets. This guy had bullets hitting sideways at 100 yards. Now we know what to expect at 200+ yards!
http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=672701

 

[243winxb]

Dogtown Bullets

Possible bullet problem, to be that far off target. But reducing the powder charge & seating the base of the bullets at the neck shoulder junction may make a difference. The 1-8 twist barrel might be over rotating the not so perfect bullets. I am thinking core slippage inside the jacket. The friction between the core & jacket produce heat, possibly making the core liquid. Any lead smears or what look like a grease swirling pattern, on a white 100 yard target, around the bullet holes? No danger to shoot.

 

[popper]

Jacket fracture.

 

[Lyinhunter]

There is no lead splashing at 100 yds, but there is a faint lead outline around the hole, I think just about every bullet does that. it seems to me that the good ones are really good, and then there is the bad ones and they are so far off target id have to be shooting at 10 yds to hit a 8' target.

 

[helotaxi]

Are you sure that they aren't getting the meplat smashed going from the magazine up the feed ramps?

 

[rcmodel]

I think the UPS guy threw them out the back of the truck onto the loading dock!
Or knocked over a pallet of bullets in the warehouse.

Seriously, about 10 years ago, a guy named Vern Juenke sold a machine called the Internal Concentricity Checker.

Handloader magazine did a review of it, and one of the most interesting conclusions they found was:
Dropping a box of bullets on the floor is enough to change the balance of the bullets.
Some to the point of causing accuracy issues.

It is not visible damage but the internal balance is destroyed.

It might be possible that the bulk boxes of Dogtown bullets received some rough handling during shipping, and the damaged ones are the flyer's.

rc

 

[Eb1]

How heavy are the "dog town" bullets?

My experience shooting anything below 62 grains out to 600 yards becomes a crap shoot in .223. I have had 55 grain bullets buzz off when shooting them to 600 yards. They are fine out to 540/550 yards, but they, the lighter bullets, seem to tumble much past 500 yards. Even from a 20" barrel, and especially from a 16" barrel.

 

[243winxb]

Jacket fracture.

As said above. If your chambers throat/leade is rough, it may rip or mark a thin jacket. The jacket may fail after it leaves the muzzle. A good cleaning may help. Or something i have never used, (google it) JB bore paste.

 

[popper]

faint lead outline around the hole

burnt powder residue. If range conditions allow, I'd shoot em, discount the flyers. If not, you want some culling technique. Try rolling or spinning on a flat surface. Check the bases for squareness. Sort and shoot a few for validation. You aren't shaving the jacket when loading are you?

 

[243winxb]

The bullets base needs to be square/perfect. The crown on the muzzle should be check to maybe???

a faint lead outline around the hole,

Normal.