Nosler Ammo

[tward1604]

This past weekend I had the pleasure of shooting a Ruger No. 1 in 9.36x62. Well that settled any doubt that I need a 9.3, what a sweet little round.

However the Nosler ammo We were shooting had (6) rounds that failed to fire after 2 attempts and a 7th that did fire on the second trigger pull. All of the primers were flattened after shooting and some of the primer pockets seems out of round after firing.

We did take a box of Norma ammunition out and have zero failures to fire afterwards, in my eyes confirming the rifle was not at fault.

Has anyone else experienced this or other malfunctions with Nosler ammo?

 

[Hunter-Habib]

This past weekend I had the pleasure of shooting a Ruger No. 1 in 9.36x62. Well that settled any doubt that I need a 9.3, what a sweet little round.

However the Nosler ammo We were shooting had (6) rounds that failed to fire after 2 attempts and a 7th that did fire on the second trigger pull. All of the primers were flattened after shooting and some of the primer pockets seems out of round after firing.

We did take a box of Norma ammunition out and have zero failures to fire afterwards, in my eyes confirming the rifle was not at fault.

Has anyone else experienced this or other malfunctions with Nosler ammo?

Well, now that you mention it...
I had a .375 Holland & Holland Magnum 300Gr Nosler Partition soft point factory load misfire while on Safari in 2018.

Only that one time comes to mind. But it did happen.

 

[375Fox]

I hope it’s an isolated incident. I bought a significant amount of 450 Rigby ammo because it was half price.

 

[ET1775]

This past weekend I had the pleasure of shooting a Ruger No. 1 in 9.36x62. Well that settled any doubt that I need a 9.3, what a sweet little round.

However the Nosler ammo We were shooting had (6) rounds that failed to fire after 2 attempts and a 7th that did fire on the second trigger pull. All of the primers were flattened after shooting and some of the primer pockets seems out of round after firing.

We did take a box of Norma ammunition out and have zero failures to fire afterwards, in my eyes confirming the rifle was not at fault.

Has anyone else experienced this or other malfunctions with Nosler ammo?

Nosler factory ammo or reloads? Could the rifle have a weak firing pin spring, out of spec pin or chamber, etc?

If factory ammo, were all the FTF rounds from the same lot? If so call Nosler and let them know, it could be a known issue or recall.

I shoot their ammunition and components extensively and have never had so much a one issue.

 

[tward1604]

Nosler factory ammo or reloads? Could the rifle have a weak firing pin spring, out of spec pin or chamber, etc?

If factory ammo, were all the FTF rounds from the same lot? If so call Nosler and let them know, it could be a known issue or recall.

I shoot their ammunition and components extensively and have never had so much a one issue.

Nosler factory ammo. I originally thought the same about potentially the gun being the issue but the Norma ammo fired without any issues. The rifle will be taken to a gunsmith to be checked over as well. All the misfires were out of the same box.

 

[Marc Ret]

Which particular 9.3x62 Nosler load? 250gr Accubond?

Nosler factory 9.3x62mm ammo

I recently bought some Nosler Trophy Grade ammo with the 250 gr AccuBond from the overstock at Shooters Proshop. I went to the range and shot some PPU 286 gr ammo and Nosler 285 gr AccuBond before shooting the 250 gr ammo. I fired 10 rounds and then noticed the cases. Some had the primers fall...

www.africahunting.com

 

[Jeff 907]

I’m with ET1775. Call Nosler let them know. It could still be a firing pin spring or something around there. I’m sure ammo brands use different primers and the Norma might not need as hard of a strike to fire.

I have had zero issues with Nosler ammo. But curious to know the cause of the FTFs.

 

[ftrovato]

In my opinion send all the cartridges back to Nosler for them to investigate.

Then have the gun gone over by a qualified gunsmith. I would want to clean the bolt, replace the firing pin and firing pin spring to regain faith in the rifle...but that's just me.

 

[tward1604]

Which particular 9.3x62 Nosler load? 250gr Accubond?

Nosler factory 9.3x62mm ammo

I recently bought some Nosler Trophy Grade ammo with the 250 gr AccuBond from the overstock at Shooters Proshop. I went to the range and shot some PPU 286 gr ammo and Nosler 285 gr AccuBond before shooting the 250 gr ammo. I fired 10 rounds and then noticed the cases. Some had the primers fall...

www.africahunting.com

it was the E-Tip ammo.

 

[Puddle]

Yup. Nosler 9.3x62mm ammo failures here as well. Turned out their QC during acceptance of whoever makes the brass was a bit sloppy. The primer pockets were too deep. Then their QC of the primered brass failed as you could see (now that the problem was obvious) that the primers were seated a tad too deep. Consequence? Light primer strikes. So much for hand-inspected, Trophy Grade ammo, eh?

However, they did offer to send me a hat. I declined. I figured the size would end up being wrong.

 

[CoElkHunter]

I hope it’s an isolated incident. I bought a significant amount of 450 Rigby ammo because it was half price.

Wouldn't matter if they worked or not as long as you're not hunting DG with them. At half price and the cost and scarcity of 450 Rigby brass you're way ahead even for once fired brass. They're STILL $80/box along with 500/416NE. And .416 Remington at $85/box. Less than .338WM IF you can find those! Since my DREAM rifle in .458 or 500 B&Ms are now apparently unobtanium, I thought about buying a case of the 450 Rigby. But now even the CZs in that cartridge seem to be MIA at any reasonable price. Sucks to have gotten into the African large bores a few years too late. LOL

 

[poco]

In my opinion send all the cartridges back to Nosler for them to investigate.

Then have the gun gone over by a qualified gunsmith. I would want to clean the bolt, replace the firing pin and firing pin spring to regain faith in the rifle...but that's just me.

X2 , weak spring, gunk on spring ?
gun smith and nosler customer support

 

[ftrovato]

I'd ask a good gunsmith. I've seen excessive dust when hunting out west (after driving on dusty roads for days) cause light strikes & 40 below zero in Canada causing light strikes. A gunsmith I used to use (rest his sole) claimed to dissemble, degrease and use dry graphite as s lubricant. I suspect his method worded for me since I never had a problem....

 

[rgsiii]

I have shot a several boxes of Nosler 9.3x62 ammunition with no problems.

 

[tward1604]

The gun will be going to a gunsmith for a once over. It’s not a dirty gun yet . It is a new gun (not that being new makes it immune to mechanical issues).

And like I said the Norma ammo went off and functioned perfectly.

I was very surprised to see that many misfires, especially in one box.

 

[Trophyhunter01]

I shoot that Nosler Trophy Grade in my RUM never an issue, just shot some last Saturday. Nothing is 100%, sounds like a bad batch with that many in one box.

 

[Lbarr265]

This past weekend I had the pleasure of shooting a Ruger No. 1 in 9.36x62. Well that settled any doubt that I need a 9.3, what a sweet little round.

However the Nosler ammo We were shooting had (6) rounds that failed to fire after 2 attempts and a 7th that did fire on the second trigger pull. All of the primers were flattened after shooting and some of the primer pockets seems out of round after firing.

We did take a box of Norma ammunition out and have zero failures to fire afterwards, in my eyes confirming the rifle was not at fault.

Has anyone else experienced this or other malfunctions with Nosler ammo?

I had a similar experience some years ago with a 338 win mag rifle. Not with Nosler ammo, I’ll leave the name out of it since I determined the ammo wasn’t at fault. It would fire flawlessly on some ammo and have all sorts of weak primer strikes on others. I took your same approach and said it must be the ammo and was very prejudiced against certain ammo in that gun for years. Finally the “good” ammo started having problems too. A weak firing pin spring was to blame. Weak, not dirty, it did get cleaned several times in the course of my investigation.

When I ordered a new one I found it to be almost an inch and a half longer than the old one, both OEM parts. Turns out those stupid trigger locks certain gun stores use are to blame. It was stored cocked and locked for an undetermined number of years, (I think about 10 years based on manufacture date to date of new gun purchase) with no way to uncock the rifle or relieve spring tension for the whole time because they never took the trigger locks off. As a result by the time I got it, I was seeing weak strikes where some primer brands would detonate and some wouldn’t. I put a new spring in and it now fires all ammo well, including stuff it never had before.

Your problem may or may not be the same, but springs are cheap and not too hard to replace in most guns. Might be worth a try.

 

[Rare Breed]

Yup. Nosler 9.3x62mm ammo failures here as well. Turned out their QC during acceptance of whoever makes the brass was a bit sloppy. The primer pockets were too deep. Then their QC of the primered brass failed as you could see (now that the problem was obvious) that the primers were seated a tad too deep. Consequence? Light primer strikes. So much for hand-inspected, Trophy Grade ammo, eh?

However, they did offer to send me a hat. I declined. I figured the size would end up being wrong.

A shame. I love their unprimed brass for my 470 NE DR. It seems thicker to me than others…could just be my imagination. Given I handload and inspect each. No problem thus far with primer pockets

 

[375Fox]

Wouldn't matter if they worked or not as long as you're not hunting DG with them. At half price and the cost and scarcity of 450 Rigby brass you're way ahead even for once fired brass. They're STILL $80/box along with 500/416NE. And .416 Remington at $85/box. Less than .338WM IF you can find those! Since my DREAM rifle in .458 or 500 B&Ms are now apparently unobtanium, I thought about buying a case of the 450 Rigby. But now even the CZs in that cartridge seem to be MIA at any reasonable price. Sucks to have gotten into the African large bores a few years too late. LOL

The brass was really 50% of reason I bought them. The price for brass only was nearly same. I figured I couldn’t go wrong. I’ve only shot a handful so far I will find out as I go. The 450 Rigby is unfortunately a dying cartridge. Hornady even stopped making factory ammo for it.

 

[krish]

A shame. I love their unprimed brass for my 470 NE DR. It seems thicker to me than others…could just be my imagination. Given I handload and inspect each. No problem thus far with primer pockets

Norma made safari grade brass and ammo for Nosler. Now it looks like Norma is no longer make safari ammo for Nosler.
Krish