SOCOM16 Range report

[Bull]

I had a few problems yesterday, with my SOCOM failing to fire, giving a light strike on the primer, and some times, jamming, while feeding another round. It would get about half way in, and jam. The light strikes were obviously getting closer, but failing to go all the way to battery. I was shooting Federal Premium 168 grain, and German MEN, 147 grain. Well, I needed to go back and be more thorough, in order to figure out what was going on, and after pulling the gun down, cleaning, lubricating, and checking everything over, I was worried about a little wear on my bolt's firing pin. So, I solicited someone to help me out, and went back today, with a pen and paper, and some ammo, to check it out. I shot 120 rounds of the Federal without a single problem. On the tenth round of the first magazine of German MEN, it jammed while loading a round. I shot 60 rounds of the German stuff, and had 3 jams, and one light strike on the primer, because the bolt was evidently not all the way in battery. Then I went back to the Federal, and shot another 80 rounds, without a single problem. So, apparently the SOCOM doesn't like the German MEN. At least mine doesn't. I know other people have said that they have SOCOMs, and their's shoot the German stuff great. It was interesting though, and probably something to keep in mind, that just changing ammo made such a big difference. I would imagine this could be the case with many other guns. Additionally, I've heard other's say that lighter weight ammo, such as 147 grain, would shoot better than 168 grain, but mine seems to be different. From what I have gathered, when testing out your rifle to get the most accuracy possible, it's best to try a variety of ammo, and in some instances, a variety of parts, such as the gas piston. How much this applies to other model rifles I don't know. But it makes sense to me, that every rifle will have a small amount of difference from others, which are just the same, and need their own specific tailoring, in order to shoot their best. Just thought I would share.

[610Alpha]

Thanks for sharing

[ssonb]

I have had problems with military 7.62x51 compared to Remington, Win,Fed 308.. even with the once fired brass. After a few weeks of research and expermentation It seems the mil brass is a touch thicker. I found that if I small base resized the brass and trimmed it .010 shorter It functioned like the .308 loads. I know it is a pain to pull bullets from a round. I did have a Saiga 308 that loved the stuff, You might be able to rent the German rounds to someone who has a Saiga .

[Bull]

Thanks ssonb. I'll have to keep it in mind.