Not so good day at th range

I'm with 9x45... I've loaded 1000's of rounds with Winchester and CCI primers. Some are 30 years old and barely being used. The only times I've had issues are with raised primers because I didn't check the brass which had some crimped primers and they weren't removed properly. Because of that I've also crushed some primers which upon further inspection probably displaced the anvil which caused the dud. I jammed them in when I shouldn't have. Once again, operator error. (more than likely)
 
Did you wet tumble your brass? Even after a couple of days drying, I guess I had some water left in the spent primers, that must have splashed or stayed in the case and caused me several FTF and some "pooky" loads. Noticed moisture in the spent primer cup, but did not put 2 and 2 together until I had misfires and "pooky" loads at the range. Just a thought. This problem was on LPP .45ACP, guessing it could happen on 9mm, been allowing longer drying times and have not experienced any more problems.
 
I'm just single stage loading on a Lee classic cast press. Doing every step one at a time. I just primed some more with that cheapo Lee hand primer and noticed a few were a lot harder to seat. I hadn't swagged any pockets but will start if I need to. The ones primed on the press seat a lot better and deeper. Unfortunately I didn't try a second strike on any of the fail to fire. Wish I had tried. The Italian made 92 shoots factory flawless so I'm sure I'm not seating deep enough or something. Yesterday was first time I ever used the hand primer on 357 and had a ftf. Have shot a 1000 or so through it primed off the press and never had one fail. I do ss pin clean but I put them in Frankford Arsenal dryer for 2 hours at 168 degrees. They are all 100% dry. It was mixed brass shot once I bought and may have some crimps I haven't noticed. I bought the 357 brass all Federal virgin brass so no issues with it until I used the hand primer. My arthritis doesn't care much for the hand primer anyway.
 
I suggest trying a different bullet in your AR. Sierra makes a 63 grain Semi Point that should work really well. My 1:9 twist bolt gun does not like bullets in the 50-55 grain weights.
 
Well I had my not so good of a day at the range today . I had been working up a load for a new bullet for my 308 . The 168gr weight class is new to me , it's always been 175 or 178 with some 190's mixed in . I found the Hornady 168gr BTHP to be rather inexpensive and thought I'd give it a try for a cheap 6ooyds load .

I chose the OCW method to find the load I wanted . It took three trips to the range and took just under 60rds to find maybe the best load I've ever worked up . Today was the go to the range and just plink away with my new load for the first time . All the rest of the trips had been testing so no real fun shooting .

I had done all the testing at 200 & 300yds so I thought I'd see what kinda group I'd get at 100 right off the bat . Shot five shots into a 1/2moa group . Alright and that was not even trying hard . Lets take it out to 300yds . first 3 shots were in about a 1.5" group but when I fired the 4th shot my scope went to a total blur . Hmm what's that all about , So I adjust my paralax to where it;s clear and focused . Wait , my setting says 25yds but it's perfect at 300yds . I shoot again and again total blur . So I adjust the scope again to be in focus . This time I just shoot to see what happens and back to total blur .

Well clearly there's something that came loose inside . My day was pretty much done after only 11rds . I had brought other firearms to shoot but they were only there to shoot during barrel cool down and what not . Since the 308 was down I just packed up and left . :(

FWIW the scope is a Vortex so I expect there not to be an issue when I send it back .. It seems I don't actually shoot for fun much anymore . I always seem to be working on something , taking notes and analyzing . It just sucked , today was to be about me and my new load and having fun .
 
Metal, I had a Viper do the same thing. I sent it and put attention Mike which he told me to do for quicker processing. Four days later I had a new scope and a piece of paper saying I had over torqued the rings. Here's your new scope. No questions asked.
 
Made it back to the range Sunday. Bought a 10 round magazine for the AR and with bags managed 1 inch groups with 60 grain and 1.5 inch with 50 grain. Chrono graphed 60 grains at 3010 fps. Lot better than the 4 inch groups before. Loaded 50 more 9 mm Berry bullets and had 2 failure to fire. Better than 4 out of 40. Did pull hammer back and second fire sent them off. I'm going to have to swag the primer pockets on the PMC S they appear to have a circular crimp. The Remington and Starline seemed ok. Now to get rid of this Beretta and go back to a glock or sig in compact.
 
Thanks Wendy . I went ahead and sent my scope back addressed as you suggested. Mailed it out Monday before last . Received an email back that Thursday with tracking info . I received there package the following Wednesday with a brand new scope in it :) Nine days total from me shipping to receiving my new scope is a pretty good turn around . The packing slip said the same as yours . I tightened my rings to tight and they were unable to repair so they sent me a new scope .

Got to love Vortex and there customer service :D
 
Vortex has really changed my mind about other scope warranties. They do stand behind their products with no questions asked.
 
Hmmm, Vortex just replaced my Diamondback because they said the rings were too tight. I had used a torque wrench set to 25 in-lb...the packing slip from Vortex recommended 15-18 in-lb.
 
OP's 1st post,

An AR will shoot 'One Hole' groups, but the same rules apply as with bolt rifles.

This leans into 'Gunsmithing' a little bit, but stay with me...

AR's inherently don't align the barrel with the upper receiver, this causes the bolt carrier/bolt to NOT line up,
And it 'Cocks' the bolt 'Sideways', keeping the bolt from locking up square with the locking lugs in the chamber nut on the barrel.

Now, the barrel and your optics/sights both attach to the upper receiver,
The barrel is cocked a little sideways to the upper receiver,
And the optics can EASILY wind up being cocked a little sideways on top the upper receiver, creating TWO lines that don't properly connect,
Line of sight, line of bullet travel as seen from above...

There is only one way to eliminate this,
Have the bolt carrier BORE in the upper honed to be 'Align Honed' (Honing, only the 'High' spots removed),
Use that bore to align a square cut on the front of the receiver so the barrel isn't cocked even slightly to bolt carrier/bolt.
The front lip that is 'Supposed' to be square to the bore is usually 0.004" to 0.040" off 'Square'.
0.010" to 0.030" is QUITE common...

IF the barrel/chamber nut CAN NOT get square with the bolt/carrier, the locking lugs are never going to lock up evenly,
And the barrel is NEVER going to align with the upper receiver bore, Or the optics mounts...

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The next thing to consider is the top end and bottom end 'Float' on each other.
Tightening up that slop will keep the upper from moving on the lower, something like an 'Accu-Wedge' or expanding break down pins will stop a bunch of this, keeping the upper from sloping around on the lower as the hammer swings, hits the firing pin, and the firing (internal ballistics) happen.

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With your barrel twist rate being so 'Fast' or 'Tight', you should start showing increased accuracy around 55-60 grain bullets.
A little longer bullet has more 'Load Bearing' surface on the sides, so it holds the rifling a little better than short bullets do.
The bolt rifles usually have 1:10" or 1:12" twist (even 1:14"), shooting lighter bullets more accurately.

Short, Light 'Boat Tails' remove bearing surface from the rifling contact.
Short, light, boat tails pushed fast through a fast twist rate barrel will strip 'Strings' of jacket material off the bullet, so the bullet is NOT balanced and doesn't have the proper 'Spin' coming out of the barrel.

Flat base bullets light weight bullets in fast twist barrels *Usually* shoot better than light weight 'Boat Tails'.

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The next thing is your mags,
Suck up all the 20, 10, even 5 round mags you find.
They feed better,
You usually aren't going to bench shoot more than 10 rounds at a time,
And they are CHEAP since the mag capacity ban expired,
But they are getting hard to find in a lot of places, particularly the really short ones with the plastic bottoms...

30 round mags on the bench are a super pain in the butt...
Optics have to mount on a tall receiver anyway, so off the bench you wind up with a super tall bag stack to start with,
Then trying to clear a 30 round mag makes it even more akward and unstable.
 
I've over tightened them on a Bushnell and ruined it. Not so much help from them. I have 9 Vortex scopes one Zeiss one Nikon Prostaff 7 and my Nightforce which I like the best. I had it mounted and leveled out by a gunsmith. Just picked up a strike eagle last week and zeroed AR in with it today. I like it enough to get one for husbands 45-70. Great eye relief and clicks are great in the turrets. Used some 50 and 55 grain I had reloaded and reset zero. Had some 75 grain and they were about 3 inches lower and I just moved the turrets for them and went back to zero and 50 and 55 dead on again. Good scope for $285.00.
 
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