Baffle strike on my Harvester! Again!

204 AR

204 AR

Well-known member
I just noticed it tonight, so it must have happened today I think. It was on my 243 lbc, and was on there solid. I'm leaning towards a bad bullet right now. 1-8 twist, shooting 55 and 58 grainers today. I thought all my shots hit my target, but obviously one didn't. I will check closer tomorrow. Pretty bummed!

I sent off an email to Sico to see what they can do and what it will cost.
 
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I had a light strike on my TB a few months back. When I noticed it, I shot a group at 100 yards & it was in the low .3's, so I don't think it hurt anything. Plus I won the last match I shot with it, so think all is good other than a little blemish. I was also shooting 6mm in 30 cal.

I've shot the gun nearing 900 times now and all suppressed other than the first 5 shots ever on the gun. Doesn't make sense to me. If anyone has an idea I'd like to hear it. I've just kept on getting it.
 
Originally Posted By: reaper4First time shooting that gun spuuressed?

No it's had hundreds of rounds suppressed. Maybe the light jacketed bullet came apart in the 1-8 twist? Maybe it was a little loose, but still hard to believe it was misaligned enough to hit the second baffle. Scratching my head.
 
Originally Posted By: coleridgeI had a light strike on my TB a few months back. When I noticed it, I shot a group at 100 yards & it was in the low .3's, so I don't think it hurt anything. Plus I won the last match I shot with it, so think all is good other than a little blemish. I was also shooting 6mm in 30 cal.

I've shot the gun nearing 900 times now and all suppressed other than the first 5 shots ever on the gun. Doesn't make sense to me. If anyone has an idea I'd like to hear it. I've just kept on getting it.

Yeah weird right? Mine hit the anchor brake hard enough to crack the fins. Dang near a whole bullet diameter went through the last fin in the brake. It will prob shoot just fine though, but man it looks like crap!
 
Originally Posted By: 204 AROriginally Posted By: coleridgeI had a light strike on my TB a few months back. When I noticed it, I shot a group at 100 yards & it was in the low .3's, so I don't think it hurt anything. Plus I won the last match I shot with it, so think all is good other than a little blemish. I was also shooting 6mm in 30 cal.

I've shot the gun nearing 900 times now and all suppressed other than the first 5 shots ever on the gun. Doesn't make sense to me. If anyone has an idea I'd like to hear it. I've just kept on getting it.

Yeah weird right? Mine hit the anchor brake hard enough to crack the fins. Dang near a whole bullet diameter went through the last fin in the brake. It will prob shoot just fine though, but man it looks like crap!

My initial thoughts would be your round not stabilizing at all, but winning matches and shooting quarter inch groups, that clearly is not the case. Only other considerations would be if your can worked lose, or you got a bad round that came apart.
I had a major malfunction with one of our VAPR's only being threaded on the muzzle about 3/4 the way, I was filming, my buddy shooting, sparks flew, the round came out sounding like they do on an old western movie when they ricochet, the whole nine yards... I thought the can was toast, glad it had a Ti endcap, literally no damage, parts of a copper jacket on the inside of the endcap where the round smashed into it, but that was easy to get off. I think I still have that footage, I'll look and see.
 
Originally Posted By: skinney

My initial thoughts would be your round not stabilizing at all, but winning matches and shooting quarter inch groups, that clearly is not the case. Only other considerations would be if your can worked lose, or you got a bad round that came apart.


I've shot well over 800 shots suppressed of the same exact load/charge/bullet with great results. This is 2nd barrel cut with same reamer & using the exact load from first barrel. Absolutely no load development, it was right there from the start. Never shot a different charge, bullet or length through the gun (wish all where that easy). It's not unstable load and I'm paranoid about the can loosening suppressor so I'm always checking it. Only thing I can think of was a bad bullet or bad charge which is not likely; I visually check for powder and capacity on all my loads (snapping on a round without powder doesn't help much). Unless a berger 115 found its way into my box of 105's without me or them detecting, I got no idea. (BTW, I have found several 6.5 130's in a sealed box of Berger 105's before, so not too far fetched).
 
It was definitely a Nosler 55 gr Varmageddon, as I looked at my 200 yd target this morning and that group is missing a shot, in fact I know it was the second shot as I saw the first impact, then the second shot I thought hit next to the first since I couldn't see it through the scope. But no hole there so that had to be the one.

I called Nosler to check and they said 3500 through a 1-8 twist should be no problem since they test to 4000 fps. The only conclusion I can come up with is the bullet came apart right after leaving the barrel for whatever reason. I will add that this batch of ammo had 1 bullet that had been pulled. I have no idea right now if that was the culprit or not.

At any rate Sico said to send it in, they have a 2 day turnaround and it will be fixed at no charge. That's some kick-butt customer service!
 
Originally Posted By: 204 AR

At any rate Sico said to send it in, they have a 2 day turnaround and it will be fixed at no charge. That's some kick-butt customer service!

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can't beat that!
 
Originally Posted By: skinney
I had a major malfunction with one of our VAPR's only being threaded on the muzzle about 3/4 the way, I was filming, my buddy shooting, sparks flew, the round came out sounding like they do on an old western movie when they ricochet, the whole nine yards... I thought the can was toast, glad it had a Ti endcap, literally no damage, parts of a copper jacket on the inside of the endcap where the round smashed into it, but that was easy to get off. I think I still have that footage, I'll look and see.

Wow that must be a tough can. I took one cell phone pic but forgot to take a good one with a camera. I will see if I can get my pic posted.
 
I tossed and turned a little. Almost turned the ol lady down last night I was thinking about the silencer so much....almost. I even had a dream that my method of cooling it off by laying the rifle on the floor with the can over an ac register only cooled one side and it warped the can lol. It's funny how what could be a terrible and costly event can be made ok by an outstanding company! Even when it seems clear to me that this couldn't possibly be any fault of their product. Big thumbs up for Sico!
 
The next question is do I shoot more of those bullets going forward? I've put around 450 through without incident until now. And I have 1k more in the cabinet and was planning on them being my fur and plinking bullet as they're so cheap and plenty accurate. I shot a big tom cat with this load once and got no exit. Happily surprised.
 
I would stay away from thin jacketed bullets, high velocities, and a fast twist. I have seen a few baffles ruined from jackets tearing from V Max, Blitzking, and the TNT bullets. The Ballistic Tip bullets seem to hold up. This was prior to the Varmegedon bullets.
 
Originally Posted By: Rich1I would stay away from thin jacketed bullets, high velocities, and a fast twist. I have seen a few baffles ruined from jackets tearing from V Max, Blitzking, and the TNT bullets. The Ballistic Tip bullets seem to hold up. This was prior to the Varmegedon bullets.

That's what I'm worried about. Can you give me any specifics? What speeds were those running?
 
Some were just moderate speeds out of short barreled ARs. I haven't had any problems with the BTs. I tend to stick with match bullets now since the company that built both of my suppressors went down in flames shortly after I bought them.
 
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Thanks for the info. I just ordered some 55 gr nbt blems. I would just have a difficult time shooting any more of the varmageddons through the silencer without worrying. I hope the nbt's shoot well, and I know I will enjoy the much improved bc they have.
 
Tracking showed that my Harvester arrived at Sico on Monday. I just got off the phone with them and the rep said that it has been repaired and it is on it's way back to me! Wow! I will definitely look to their products for future purchases.
 
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