PMC 223 ammo and FTF with a 700 SPS?

[P89DC]

I have a 700 SPS Varmint in 223. It shoots Blue Mountain 223 with no issues (in over 200 rnds). On the other hand, PMC 223 is a disaster, ~1 in 4 fail to fire (tried ~100 rnds). I took the rifle and a PMC rnd with dinged primer to my local gunsmith and right away he said this is a common issue with PMC ammo. I never had any trouble with PMC 223 in my mini 14 but it shoots anything I feed it.

The gunsmith is going to check everything out and clean out the bolt's factory grease but he's confident PMC ammo sucks in bolt guns.

Any comments?

 

[redneckbmxer24]

I've shot 20k+ rounds of PMC through AR's and never an issue. AR's smack primers a bit hard than most bolt guns through. Because of this they use primers with harder cups in most bulk ammo so there are no issues with primer piercing.

Use ammo with softer primers. Problem solved.

 

[P89DC]

...Use ammo with softer primers. Problem solved.

Thanks for your response, I'm a complete noob. Which brands have softer primers? I was looking at some Federal American Eagle .223 Remington 55 Gr. Full Metal Jacket, would that ammo have a softer primer?

If the firing pin was sticking due to crusty factory lube in the bolt, could that be the issue combined with harder primers? Or is it a headspace issue with the PMC ammo (that's what the gunsmith said it was).

 

[Metal Gear]

I have shots tons of PMC 223 with no issues, bolt gun included. I used to own a Remington 700 SPS Tactical in 223 and used PMC to plink steel when I was on a budget and never had a problem. Try a couple different types of ammo and even PMC but in a different lot number and see if this happens again. If you continue to have issues I would contact Remington about it.

 

[arocholl]

My 700 has shot hundreds of rounds of PMC with no issues. I will say this though, have recently started reloading, the primer pockets aren't as tight as some of the other brass I have (federal american eagle, lake city, Geco, Remington, etc)