Factory ammo ; off center flash holes

[LTH]

I shot at 3 deer last season at different times.
I hit one where I was aiming , 80 yards.
The other two were over a 100 yards. ( complete miss ).
I was using sciroccos that grouped well, after season , I de- primed the casings and found flash holes off center . Not all ,but some.
How bad is accuracy when you have flash holes off center ?

 

[rcmodel]

Not enough to miss a deer.

I have not tested it, but I would be surprised if you could measure the difference in group size.

rc

 

[PRD1]

So far as practical hunting accuracy is concerned...

you will be unable to tell the difference. In fact, the mis-location of the flashhole has little, if any, effect on accuracy, so long as the diameter is uniform.

PRD1 - mhb - Mike

 

[LTH]

Well I must have bumped my scope then .
Yeah , I was having some problems last year and been trying to pin point them.
I did buy a Nikon just in case and wanted one any way. I was using a Simmons. It was a gift !

Glad to know about the flash holes !!!!!

 

[JimKirk]

If you look at the anvil in a primer ... most have three "legs" ... unless one of the legs was covering the off centered flash hole ... the fire will come from the three "openings" around the legs anyway.... the fire is going into the charge regardless ...

I have never tested the difference ... while I would believe it could make a difference ... I don't believe it would be "large" enough to cause a miss on a deer at 100 yards ...

Since you have some cases with the off center flash holes ... test them on a bench to see if you can measure the difference against the correct holes and post the difference...

 

[Nature Boy]

Maybe a touch of buck fever? Never discount it. Happens to me every time a big one steps out and I've been hunting for decades.

I'd go there before looking at flash holes

I clean missed a big one this year, easy shot.....I know it wasn't my rifle or ammo. I spend enough time at the range to weed those out

 

[LTH]

Hey Jim kirk , I will have to do that when things slow down for me.
I would like to know too !

 

[Jesse Heywood]

Start by going to the range without removing or adjusting the scope. Shoot with the same ammo you missed with. See if the problem is with the gun or you. That's the only way to know.

 

[moxie]

If you were able to de-prime the cases using a regular sizer die or a universal de-capper, then they aren't much off-center. Certainly not enough to affect anything. The main problem with truly off-center flash holes is they break de-capping pins.

 

[LTH]

I caught it while using my FL die , then I took a eyeglass screw driver and punched them out
to keep from bending or breaking the de- capping rod.

 

[Walkalong]

The flash hole being off center did not cause the miss.

 

[Clint M]

Really bad off center flash holes may cause a flier in .5" groups, but would be easily in 1" of the group this being only a half educated guess . I think you may even have ignition issues from off center flash holes (the extreme end) before a degradation in accuracy over 1" at 100 yards. I prepped some brass years ago, and tracked the differences it made to accuracy very few things made a notable difference my experience the rifle would shoot .25" and under with just about anything.

What I seen was using a known off center flash hole or other piece of brass with known measurable variance is the impact would be just outside of the normal group. The problem I found trying to track this was it was not repeatable, that makes trying to document anything or explain it difficult

 

[LTH]

I re- sighted my rifle when I missed a second time ,( It was around 30* ) it was around 50 * when I sighted in the first time .

Looking back on things and learning about reloading , I didn't know if I was readjusting for off center flash holes or I was readjusting for a bumped scope.

I think using a led sled is too hard on a scope or maybe cheap ones.

I shot off of sand bags on the 2nd go around and this is what I'll do for now on ; use the sled to clean my rifles.

But like I said , when looking back and the flash holes being off , I didn't know what I was adjusting for .

I'm sure the scope jumped on me and it's not a flash hole issue.

 

[Clint M]

Some more info may help rifle, scope, cartridge, ammo etc. It may have well been the scope, optics have come such a long way and around $100-$200 now will get you a dependable scope for a deer rifle in the 3-9 range.

 

[LTH]

It was a Simmons scope in the 80.00 range ( Pro hunter ) on a Vanguard s2 3006. (2 years old )
The scope did real good the first year.

I bought two 8 point Simmon scopes before deer season in 2014 to put on a youth 7mm08 s2 and my dad's 270 70 win he gave me and when I sighted those two in , the targets looked like I was shootin' a 12 gauge.
Then I bought the pro staff for the 7mm08 and that cleared up the youth rifle. (3 9 x40)

I put one on my 3006 this year a few months ago.

For the 3006 ammo I've shot are fed. power shok, American whitetail ( horrible ) , Fusion ( horrible ) and sciroccos, all 150 gainers

I've only found 2 brands so far that give me sub moa,
The scirocco put the smack down on the one I did managed to take in 2014 .

I hope I can find a good load through hand loading this coming season.

 

[Clint M]

I would do a good going over of your rifle just normal maintenance, clean checking any visible things of note, check the action screws. Check your targets with clean cold bore versus fouled bore, you may have to hunt with a fouled bore which is no real problem with modern ammo. You have already addressed the scope if it was an issue, and rings etc. If your scope is variable power make sure you shoot it throughout the power range just to check it. Also make sure you practice with the gun you plan to use some, I know some of this sounds over thinking, but simply practicing with the firearm you plan to use can show problems that may arise.

Federal is my preferred ammo if purchasing ammo to hunt with ( I prefer my own loads) they have always done an outstanding job of producing reliable accurate ammo. Good luck, and I would almost bet you will be eating fresh venison next years hunting season.

 

[Potatohead]

Maybe that's why Ive been having such trouble hitting the Bullseye at the range lately..off center flash holes

Probably more like "off center aiming" in my case.

 

[gamestalker]

This hobby tends to bring out the OCD in some of us, at least for me anyway. For instance, I trim all my handgun brass, cause it makes my loads more accurate.

GS