My buddy was getting lots of unburnt powder in a 16 inch gun. I would have thought that would be enough time to burn it up, but I guess not.
The 7” PDW is supposed to be able to reliably run both subs and supers, suppressed and unsuppressed. Before I get disappointed in a $2500 AR, I’m going to test some other brands of ammo and see what kind of results I get…I can also get a handful of reloads from my FFL to try out.
I'd hit up Hornady CS and send them that pic. The yellow granules are partially burned powder or unburnt that has been exposed to the heat and pressure of the burning propellent. I've had AA#5 powder do that to me in light loads. Bringing the pressure up helped it a lot.
I suspect your bolt not locking back is due to too light of a load, but that's just guessing.
I suspect your bolt not locking back is due to too light of a load, but that's just guessing.
I contacted Hornady CS and sent them the pic, this was their reply:
“Nick, In some cases with the Sub-Sonic loadings we have to use inert powders as case fillers to keep the powder uniform and allow it to ignite correctly. If you are running a suppressor on the firearm this will sometimes be much worse that not due to the back pressure. Thanks”
I replied that I’m not running a suppressor, and that I’ve put some nasty Russian steel cased ammo through my other AR’s (granted, they’re 5.56…) that ran significantly cleaner. Also asked, “If this is match grade ammo, shouldn’t I be able to put a few hundred rounds through my gun without it absolutely requiring a cleaning to continue to function?”
That first reply really wasn’t satisfactory at all. I’m dealing with Hornady here, not Wolf, I would expect better CS than just making excuses for a product. I thought Hornady was usually the safe and reliable choice, but doesn’t sound like they’re even going to take my complaint seriously.
And if I just need more pressure, the solution is OBVIOUS! Time to buy a can.
Although in reality, I don’t know if that filler is gonna just clog up a can. The one I’m planning on buying is not able to be disassembled for cleaning and I don’t know how I could ever get that filler out of it. Hoppe’s solvent didn’t do jack to break loose the filler on my BCG or in the breach, it all had to be wire brushed off. I’ve heard a lot of guys use ultrasonic cleaners to clean out one-piece cans like what I’m looking at, but I have my doubts as to whether it could remove this junk.
Although in reality, I don’t know if that filler is gonna just clog up a can. The one I’m planning on buying is not able to be disassembled for cleaning and I don’t know how I could ever get that filler out of it. Hoppe’s solvent didn’t do jack to break loose the filler on my BCG or in the breach, it all had to be wire brushed off. I’ve heard a lot of guys use ultrasonic cleaners to clean out one-piece cans like what I’m looking at, but I have my doubts as to whether it could remove this junk.
Lubrication and different magazine to start
Hmmm... Looks like you may have just found a loading that uses inert powder filler and need to start looking for another.
Gun has better lube now, but I only have one dedicated 300 BLK mag (PMAG that came with the gun). I tried loading a regular 5.56 pmag with the 300 BLK but it did not go smoothly (a bunch of my pmags are 10+ years old and may be gen2
), and based on how the unloaded I don’t believe they would’ve fed. I can try a standard USGI mag for now, but otherwise I’m going to be waiting for my Lancer mags to come in. I can load the mags with a few rounds and manually cycle them through until it ejects the last round, and the bolt catch should still behave as if I’d been actually firing the gun, correct?
It’s starting to sound like you’re right. In the future I plan on shooting custom loads, but I’m not ready to load up a bunch of rounds yet and just want something commercial, preferably subsonic (this is a home defense gun, and I’d rather have the stopping power of a sub than the penetration of a super). I’ll have to research who makes good subs without any filler.
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