Problems with Barnes VOR-TX 110 Grain 300 Blackout

AR/M4 Beyond 5.56/.223
1

Rifle is relatively new with approx 350 rounds through it, zero malfunctions whatsoever and accuracy has been very respectable. Upper is an AeroPrecision 8" that is essentially shot nearly exclusively with a 762-SDN6 attached; lower has an H2 buffer; BCG is a complete Centurion C4.

As you can see from the first group, I have no ejection swipes or signs of potential headspace issues, rifle ejects nicely and will function on subsonic ammunition with and without suppressor attached. I have never seen anything in the brass from Ozark Ordinance, Remington and Hornady subs that is remotely close to what I see in the Barnes sampling; no ejector marks and never a problem with primers.

The bottom group composed of Barnes ammunition is clearly showing ejector smears (though not consistently) and on an average one of every three rounds will either experience a popped or a primer with a loose pocket? Seems to me perhaps the Barnes is just loaded quite a bit hotter, but I haven’t read anything similar to this online.

I have contacted Barnes and am waiting for them to get back in touch with me, but I would like to cull the crowd here in the meantime to hear your thoughts; again no malfunctions of any kind and I am getting a consistent 3/4-1" at 50 yards shooting prone unsupported.

Help?

2

I’ve run a lot of that ammo without the mentioned issues, not saying a “hot” lot isn’t possible. Potentially could be a chamber and/or bore issue, so it may not be a problem with the ammo. Reply back when you get a response from Barnes.

3

I absolutely will, sadly I am still waiting to hear anything.

Normally I would lean towards a chamber issue as well, but it is ONLY with the Barnes ammunition that I am getting any sort of ejector mark and primer issue. I am not seeing anything in the brass that indicates that the primer is actually “pierced” it almost appears that the pockets might be loose.

All I have ever heard about this round has been positive, but after doing a bit more reading around there does seem to be a decline lately (reading from 300blacktalk).