06-25-2024, 11:00 PM
I also have two different lots of Hornady 108gr 6mm Arc ammo. One lot has silver primers, the other gold. I haven't shot either in my 6 Arc rifles yet. My 6mm Arc rifles are down the list from my work on my 6.5 Grendel rifles. When I'm done there, I'll check out those two lots.
My initial thoughts about the cratered/pierced silver primers were what Hornady said, the silver primers are made with thinner cups. I also thought there's more than that going on here. If you have the comparators to measure the CBTO of both lots you could do that measurement to see if the CBTO lengths are the same. Like grayfox said, using the comparator, you can also check your base to lands distance to see if your chamber is at saami spec. A quick check would be to color the bullet with a black marker, chamber the round & then extract the round. Notice if there is some slight resistance on extraction. Look at the bullet to see if there are marks on it from touching the lands.
I don't think your issue is a dirty rifle. I don't believe you've had it that long for it to be that fouled-up. I think you would have been cleaning it often during barrel break-in. Hornady said that because they've probably seen some really fouled chambers cause all kinds of weird stuff. Carbon ring? Nah!
My initial thoughts about the cratered/pierced silver primers were what Hornady said, the silver primers are made with thinner cups. I also thought there's more than that going on here. If you have the comparators to measure the CBTO of both lots you could do that measurement to see if the CBTO lengths are the same. Like grayfox said, using the comparator, you can also check your base to lands distance to see if your chamber is at saami spec. A quick check would be to color the bullet with a black marker, chamber the round & then extract the round. Notice if there is some slight resistance on extraction. Look at the bullet to see if there are marks on it from touching the lands.
I don't think your issue is a dirty rifle. I don't believe you've had it that long for it to be that fouled-up. I think you would have been cleaning it often during barrel break-in. Hornady said that because they've probably seen some really fouled chambers cause all kinds of weird stuff. Carbon ring? Nah!
The trick is growing up without growing old. -- Casey Stengal