I just took my new SR-15 E3 to a gun course. I used Fiocchi 55 grain FMJ (223A) ammo. There were no failures of any kind with this ammo.
I ran out of Fiocchi and had to switch to Tula .223 Rem 55 gr. FMJ. The SR-15 E3 did not like this ammunition. The firing pin would strike, but fail to fire. The rounds fed every time; every other primer failed to ignite.
I would prefer it if this gun could handle low priced, steel cased ammunition, but I’m not going to get annoyed. The ability of the gun to shoot this ammo will just increase the amount of shooting I do with the gun.
Any ideas what would cause this? Is this a common problem with SR-15 E3’s? Most importantly, how do I fix it if at all possible?
This sounds more like an ammo problem than a KAC problem.
Did you try to fire the ‘once hit’ rounds through a different gun? If so, how was that result?
Do you have any pictures of the primer strikes of the fail to fire rounds?
Tula ammo sucks, if you want to use steal cased ammo for training try the Hornady TAP training ammunition. Only a few cents more per round and much better quality than Tula/Wolf/Brown Bear.
I haven’t tried Tula in my SR-15 but it eats everything else I’ve fed it. Just put 2k of the Hornady TAP training through it without a single problem. FWIW, sounds like an ammo issue.
It’s clearly an ammo problem. I was just wondering if the SR-15 had a short firing pin or something.
I did not take any photos of the ammo. I was in the middle of a class, so I just did the remediation and kept firing. Clearly, the gun was completely safe with a Tula round in the chamber and safety off…it was that bad.
Hornady TAP training ammo…I will acquire some to test with. I will also go to the range and test the Tula ammo again.
I can confirm 1k of Centurion, 2k of privi, and 1k of fiochi shot (all 55gr) in my SR-15. I also have around 1k of federal “value pack” 55gr fmj (stuff from Walmart) and other misc brass ammo.
I have never had any malfunction. My version of cleaning is wiping the bolt and sending a couple of patches down the barrell.
ill bet its not the casing. early e3 guns dont like low power ammo. i had this same issue, the gas port needs to be opened up a bit to work with cheap stuff. contract lawmens and shooters about it.
You need to contact June at Knight’s for RA #. just understand that if there is not a problem with your rifle you will have to pay for service and shipping. We will probably test the gun with PMC as our “low power” ammo test . If the gun runs that ammo it will be returned to you with nothing done to it. You might want to go out and try some of that type of ammo and at least get it well broken in before deciding you have an issue. The issue you described does not sound like a gas issue. Increasing the strength of the hammer spring can be very risky as a pierced primer can ruin a bolt and or firing pin. My recommendation is to use different ammo.