I recent did a build with a criterion pencil 16" mid gas 223w chrome lined. Initial impressions were good, a quick borescope through the bore reviled no obvious defects. It has been shooting factory ammo noticeably better than some of my BA barrels.
The second range day out, I ended up popping several primers causing the FCG to get jammed up. Upon recovering the brass, I found 5 pieces without the primer (out of ~200 rounds), and almost all had ejector swipes. This was winchester/lake city m193. I also tried some pmc x-tac m193 and still got aggressive ejector swipes, but no popped primers (out of 50 rounds). Historically I have found the pmc x-tac to be on the lighter side (chrono 2950 out of a 16", 3120 out of a 20"). I tried this factory ammo in several other know good guns and zero issues with ejector swipes or pressure signs.
I had some really light reloads with virgin starline 556 brass that I used for the first shots in order to start burnishing out the reamer marks in the throat/lands area before making any accuracy assessments. No pressure signs using that ammo."break in" process and zero pressure signs with that stuff. By "break in" I just mean getting a few hundred round down the barrel before making any accuracy assessments or starting load development.
other info about the new criterion build:
SOLGW BCG
adjustable gas
a5 buffer system w/A5H2, new sprinco green buffer spring
I'm wondering what to do at this point... The only obvious things I can think of is contact criterion or try a larger variety of factory ammo.
The second range day out, I ended up popping several primers causing the FCG to get jammed up. Upon recovering the brass, I found 5 pieces without the primer (out of ~200 rounds), and almost all had ejector swipes. This was winchester/lake city m193. I also tried some pmc x-tac m193 and still got aggressive ejector swipes, but no popped primers (out of 50 rounds). Historically I have found the pmc x-tac to be on the lighter side (chrono 2950 out of a 16", 3120 out of a 20"). I tried this factory ammo in several other know good guns and zero issues with ejector swipes or pressure signs.
I had some really light reloads with virgin starline 556 brass that I used for the first shots in order to start burnishing out the reamer marks in the throat/lands area before making any accuracy assessments. No pressure signs using that ammo.
other info about the new criterion build:
SOLGW BCG
adjustable gas
a5 buffer system w/A5H2, new sprinco green buffer spring
I'm wondering what to do at this point... The only obvious things I can think of is contact criterion or try a larger variety of factory ammo.
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