Reloading 6.5 Creedmoor

[Ernest T]

Here’s a video of my bolt.


https://youtu.be/-12Ap544z8o

[Ernest T]

Here’s another video where he actually removed the handle.


https://youtu.be/0tOe9IRDz58

[GrenGuy]

Without that spacer, firing pin spring pressure is increased, and bolt lift is increased.

edit: Okay, I guess maybe You shortened the spring to allow for the increased width of the lift kit?
I don’t know how much affect shortening the spring has on the Axis firing pin fall?
More expert advice will be beneficial.

[Ernest T]

Without that spacer, firing pin spring pressure is increased, and bolt lift is increased.
In the first video, Desh installs the kit without a spacer. He said you have to cut the spring, which I assume he did when he installed the kit. Compare the length of my pigtail spring with the length of the spring in the first video before he cut it.

At the 2:50 mark of the second video, he talks about there being two kits, one with spacer, one without. I didn’t install mine, Desh did.

[GrenGuy]

It’s hard to tell for sure from these pictures, but it looks like Your primers are bleeding back into the bolt face firing pin hole? Bolt bushing can solve this and other ignition problems. But I don’t know if anyone is doing it on an Axis? With SRP’s, the .070” Firing, the even larger hole, seems to contribute to no ignition. Since I have had the bolts Bushed on My 10’s, I have not had a single CCI 450 FTF. AND I “popped “ 250 of them this past week end.

[vince_ross]

In the first video, Desh installs the kit without a spacer. He said you have to cut the spring, which I assume he did when he installed the kit. Compare the length of my pigtail spring with the length of the spring in the first video before he cut it.

At the 2:50 mark of the second video, he talks about there being two kits, one with spacer, one without. I didn’t install mine, Desh did.

Ok, I was more curious than anything. All of the ones I've had did not work well without the spacer.

[Ernest T]

It’s hard to tell for sure from these pictures, but it looks like Your primers are bleeding back into the bolt face firing pin hole? Bolt bushing can solve this and other ignition problems. But I don’t know if anyone is doing it on an Axis? With SRP’s, the .070” Firing, the even larger hole, seems to contribute to no ignition. Since I have had the bolts Bushed on My 10’s, I have not had a single CCI 450 FTF. AND I “popped “ 250 of them this past week end.


I already had the bolt bushed and the rifle has reliably fired my handloads until recently. Firing pin protrusion is at the max end of the tolerance and the profile is a little pointy, but its been working fine...until now. I can't help but think the loose bolt that holds the handle on to the rifle bolt is the issue. When its loose, there has to be less pressure on the firing pin springs. I can't get out to see if tightening it fixed the problem until tomorrow. The wild card is I started using the CCI 450s about the time this started. I'm hoping that's just a coincidence.

[Ernest T]

Ok, I was more curious than anything. All of the ones I've had did not work well without the spacer.

Apparently Savage throws whatever they have at the time into their rifles so there is no hard and fast rule that if your rifle was built after this date, it has this firing pin. That complicates things for the aftermarket and there are several different lift kits available. Things look like they are standardized until they aren't!

[Ernest T]

I went to the range this morning with 20 rounds of ammo having mixed SRP and Magnum SRP primers. I marked them, but didn't separate them so I wouldn't know what they were when I shot them. All 20 fired and I had pretty good groups even though the wind was blowing over 20, and gusting to 30 mph. It was so bad, it blew my full 20 oz coffee over. I think my misfire issue was the loose firing pin bolt.

[Ernest T]

This is the 20 rounds I shot on Friday. I started off pretty shaky as the wind was blowing me all over the place. Normally I sit on a small stool with my legs crossed at the ankle, but I couldn't do that today. Once I spread my feet apart I was able to brace myself against the wind and things improved. I had one flyer in each of the next 3 groups, but the 3rd and 4th groups were the killer. The flyer was the last shot in both groups so I know this is all on me. I'm have 450 of these RDFs left and 9 lbs of H4350 so I'm going to shoot these for awhile.

9429

[Robinhood]

In response to the cratering of the primers, the firing pin radius can and will manifest into cratering and is more often than not, the issue. Oversized pin hole issues are rare. If asked, I am betting desh would tell you that when doing a bushing job, he also profiles the pin tip.

[Ernest T]

In response to the cratering of the primers, the firing pin radius can and will manifest into cratering and is more often than not, the issue. Oversized pin hole issues are rare. If asked, I am betting desh would tell you that when doing a bushing job, he also profiles the pin tip.

Desh bushed my bolt and everyone says my firing pin is too long and too pointy. Its slightly flatter now but not much shorter. I'll sand a little more and see what happens. I forgot to look at the primers after shooting and have already resized the cases so I'll have to check them next time to see if they have changed any.

[South Prairie jim]

This is the 20 rounds I shot on Friday. I started off pretty shaky as the wind was blowing me all over the place. Normally I sit on a small stool with my legs crossed at the ankle, but I couldn't do that today. Once I spread my feet apart I was able to brace myself against the wind and things improved. I had one flyer in each of the next 3 groups, but the 3rd and 4th groups were the killer. The flyer was the last shot in both groups so I know this is all on me. I'm have 450 of these RDFs left and 9 lbs of H4350 so I'm going to shoot these for awhile.


9429
Fine shooting sir, please forgive my trolling…something is not quite right (imo) and I mean no disrespect by saying that it’s just that we know as shooters that no single point of wind pushes a round low left from a right hand twist barrel. A quartering 7:00 should be pushing towards low right. Also you may be a tad hot with your powder charge and perhaps nearing a scatter mode. If your on the edge of a node temp changes can play a factor as well, so those 20% flyers may actually be evidence.
respectfully
spj

[Ernest T]

Fine shooting sir, please forgive my trolling…something is not quite right (imo) and I mean no disrespect by saying that it’s just that we know as shooters that no single point of wind pushes a round low left from a right hand twist barrel. A quartering 7:00 should be pushing towards low right. Also you may be a tad hot with your powder charge and perhaps nearing a scatter mode. If your on the edge of a node temp changes can play a factor as well, so those 20% flyers may actually be evidence.
respectfully
spj

Thanks, I'll take all the feedback I can get. The scope wasn't zeroed for these rounds, so they all shot low and left. I don't think the wind had much impact on where they landed except it was blowing me around a little. I had been shooting Hornady 140 gr ELD-Ms with RL-16 and the scope was zeroed for that load. When I switched to the Nosler RDFs I noticed they all shot 1-2 MOA low/left compared to the Hornady bullets. I went back to the range and zeroed the scope for this load yesterday because I'm gong to be shooting it for at least the next 400 rounds. There's no doubt that this is a hot load and you may be right about being on the ragged edge of accuracy. It just shot so well I'm reluctant to mess with it. I shot this 4" gong four out of four times from 500 yards.

9431

[Robinhood]

Don't touch the sides. Anything more that .020" to .025" from the tip is getting into crater teritory.

[charlie b]

Groups aren't that bad. I suspect the wind issue was more how it was blowing on you (and your position) and not the bullet. I did appreciate how if you overlap all the groups it still looks pretty good.

I also tend to get a lot of 1 in 5 fliers. My brain gets in the way :) I used to play golf the same way :o

[Ernest T]

Don't touch the sides. Anything more that .020" to .025" from the tip is getting into crater teritory.Firing pin protrusion?

[Robinhood]

So what causes those flyers. Powder? Primer? Nut? :)

[Ernest T]

Groups aren't that bad. I suspect the wind issue was more how it was blowing on you (and your position) and not the bullet. I did appreciate how if you overlap all the groups it still looks pretty good.

I also tend to get a lot of 1 in 5 fliers. My brain gets in the way :) I used to play golf the same way :o

I think so too. We get a lot of windy days here, but luckily most of the time it blows in the direction I'm shooting. It still pushes me from behind though. I'm definitely my worst enemy when it comes to golf. It is a lot like my shooting, if I could just get rid of that one shot......

[Ernest T]

So what causes those flyers. Powder? Primer? Nut? :)

I think it's me. I know it took me a lot longer to shoot the fifth shot on those last two groups than it did any of the previous four. I need to treat them all the same, but its hard to do after seeing the first four go very close together.