*STORY TIME*
Well, finally got a chance to take out my ridicoulsy awesome new build out on a date to the range, and the *VERY* first round of factory Hornady Custom 123gr SST gives me a *CLICK*... Wait 1 minute for possible hang file, diagnose the issue.. failure to feed....
You're kidding me, this isn't good.
The Faxon 6.5 BCG won't go into battery with the factory round in the chamber. Since both the barrel and BCG are Faxon I figured I would not need a Go/No-Gauge, and honestly, shouldn't need to. Of course best practice is to verify this on a new build, but.... ya LOL. Did Faxon give me a 223/556 BCG by mistake? I never did measure the distance to the lands, but I'm not that advanced in my load development yet.
Super depression starts to set in, disappointing range trip, but hey it happens.
Back to my shop I go.
Driving down the road... Maybe the Ogive is jamming into the lands? The chamber can't possibly be that tight, no way.
Since I reload and watch copious amounts of Johnny's Reloading Bench, hey I can do some pretty advanced trouble shooting
Barrel and BCG are both made by same manufacture CHECK
With upper completely empty, the BCG goes into and out of battery like a champ, no issues here CHECK
OAL of the Hornady Factory 123gr SST measures 2.248.. so nothing crazy here CHECK
Elander internal OAL measures 2.280 and enters and exits the mag well without issue... no issues there CHECK
Factory round passes easily in my Wilson 6.5 Grendel case gauge, so the cases are indeed SAMMI spec .. no issues there SUPER CHECK
I happen to have brand new unloaded Hornady Grendel brass, quick check with a wilson case gauge, this casing passes .. no issues there SUPER CHECK
Taking this same empty verified case gauge unloaded Hornady case, I point the rifle to the ground, while carefully placing the empty casing into the chamber, and let the BCG ride home, LOCKS INTO BATTERY, WTF
OK fine, this is crazy, Pull the charging handle back and the casing ejects like a champ .. no issues there CHECK
Notice a few scractches on the brass casing, hmm that's a little odd... *suspicions start to mount*, is my chamber not reamed out all the way? was it a bad ream job? WTF
Grab some of my homebrew rounds I have yet to test fire
Hornady Brass, CCI41 Primer, XBR powder, OAL 2.248, Identical measurements to the factory load, so this won't work either... confusion starts to set in WTF
JRB has untold amount of videos with a Faxon 6.5 grendel shooting 140+gr 6.5 rounds, how can I have issue chambering a 123gr SST? WTF
**WAIT** a second, I never did a visual inspection of the chamber WTF
Grab my handy dandy Streamlight Stylus Pro
Remove BCG and charging handle
Shine light down into chamber...
WHAT THE $%^&# PONY FACE CRAZYNESS IS GOING ON HERE!!
What do I see?
Perhaps the most atrocious filthy metal shavings fouled chamber I have ever seen
I start cursing myself, did I NEVER CLEAN/scrub the inside of this brand new barrel?
Did I catch a Friday/hotdate Faxon QA mishap? Are those burrs in the chamber?
Tried to take a pic, but couldn't get it to focus right etc...
Did I chase out a bunch of shavings when I cleaned it and somehow pull all manufacturing shavings into the chamber and never noticed? Surely not, that would have been crazy obvious when I was cleaning it.
After years of autistic levels of research, paying attention to every detail, handpicking every part, and I forgot to clean the barrel? You have got to be kidding me.
I find my handy dandy 6.5 Hoppes boresnake... It's still in the package, But I keep all my boresnakes in the plastic box to keep from getting them tangled with others, open the package... AND IT'S brand freaking new, I have never used it
***(Genius award goes to this guy)*****
Grab a bore copper brush from my Colt LE6920 factory cleaning kit and goto town with GunScrubber and CLP, let the CLP soak for a bit
Chase the barrel with boresnake starting from BCG end 3 times,
blast again with gunscrubber
Chase again with boresnake 2 times
Visual inspection, WOW THAT'S MUCH BETTER
CH and BCG return home to the upper
Upper back onto place with lower
Lock back BCG
Place factory Hornady Custom 123gr SST round into chamber gently
Let BCG ride home
SUCCESS!!!
Morale of the story?
Don't be a dumbass. Don't forget to clean and scrub your brand new barrel.
THE END
Well, finally got a chance to take out my ridicoulsy awesome new build out on a date to the range, and the *VERY* first round of factory Hornady Custom 123gr SST gives me a *CLICK*... Wait 1 minute for possible hang file, diagnose the issue.. failure to feed....
You're kidding me, this isn't good.
The Faxon 6.5 BCG won't go into battery with the factory round in the chamber. Since both the barrel and BCG are Faxon I figured I would not need a Go/No-Gauge, and honestly, shouldn't need to. Of course best practice is to verify this on a new build, but.... ya LOL. Did Faxon give me a 223/556 BCG by mistake? I never did measure the distance to the lands, but I'm not that advanced in my load development yet.
Super depression starts to set in, disappointing range trip, but hey it happens.
Back to my shop I go.
Driving down the road... Maybe the Ogive is jamming into the lands? The chamber can't possibly be that tight, no way.
Since I reload and watch copious amounts of Johnny's Reloading Bench, hey I can do some pretty advanced trouble shooting
Barrel and BCG are both made by same manufacture CHECK
With upper completely empty, the BCG goes into and out of battery like a champ, no issues here CHECK
OAL of the Hornady Factory 123gr SST measures 2.248.. so nothing crazy here CHECK
Elander internal OAL measures 2.280 and enters and exits the mag well without issue... no issues there CHECK
Factory round passes easily in my Wilson 6.5 Grendel case gauge, so the cases are indeed SAMMI spec .. no issues there SUPER CHECK
I happen to have brand new unloaded Hornady Grendel brass, quick check with a wilson case gauge, this casing passes .. no issues there SUPER CHECK
Taking this same empty verified case gauge unloaded Hornady case, I point the rifle to the ground, while carefully placing the empty casing into the chamber, and let the BCG ride home, LOCKS INTO BATTERY, WTF
OK fine, this is crazy, Pull the charging handle back and the casing ejects like a champ .. no issues there CHECK
Notice a few scractches on the brass casing, hmm that's a little odd... *suspicions start to mount*, is my chamber not reamed out all the way? was it a bad ream job? WTF
Grab some of my homebrew rounds I have yet to test fire
Hornady Brass, CCI41 Primer, XBR powder, OAL 2.248, Identical measurements to the factory load, so this won't work either... confusion starts to set in WTF
JRB has untold amount of videos with a Faxon 6.5 grendel shooting 140+gr 6.5 rounds, how can I have issue chambering a 123gr SST? WTF
**WAIT** a second, I never did a visual inspection of the chamber WTF
Grab my handy dandy Streamlight Stylus Pro
Remove BCG and charging handle
Shine light down into chamber...
WHAT THE $%^&# PONY FACE CRAZYNESS IS GOING ON HERE!!
What do I see?
Perhaps the most atrocious filthy metal shavings fouled chamber I have ever seen
I start cursing myself, did I NEVER CLEAN/scrub the inside of this brand new barrel?
Did I catch a Friday/hotdate Faxon QA mishap? Are those burrs in the chamber?
Tried to take a pic, but couldn't get it to focus right etc...
Did I chase out a bunch of shavings when I cleaned it and somehow pull all manufacturing shavings into the chamber and never noticed? Surely not, that would have been crazy obvious when I was cleaning it.
After years of autistic levels of research, paying attention to every detail, handpicking every part, and I forgot to clean the barrel? You have got to be kidding me.
I find my handy dandy 6.5 Hoppes boresnake... It's still in the package, But I keep all my boresnakes in the plastic box to keep from getting them tangled with others, open the package... AND IT'S brand freaking new, I have never used it
***(Genius award goes to this guy)*****
Grab a bore copper brush from my Colt LE6920 factory cleaning kit and goto town with GunScrubber and CLP, let the CLP soak for a bit
Chase the barrel with boresnake starting from BCG end 3 times,
blast again with gunscrubber
Chase again with boresnake 2 times
Visual inspection, WOW THAT'S MUCH BETTER
CH and BCG return home to the upper
Upper back onto place with lower
Lock back BCG
Place factory Hornady Custom 123gr SST round into chamber gently
Let BCG ride home
SUCCESS!!!
Morale of the story?
Don't be a dumbass. Don't forget to clean and scrub your brand new barrel.
THE END