For anyone into Kalashnikovs, SKS's, or Heaven forbid Mini-30's or strange AR's, I ran into a problem that you should avoid. I purchased sixty (60) rounds of Norma ammunition at my local Academy Sports. Norma has been around a hundred years or more, what could go wrong?
I took it to my own back pasture range to fine tune some AK's at 100 yards. I had previously sighted these guns in at a public range at 25 yards, but due to time constraints I was unable to finish the job as thoroughly as I wanted to at the 100 yard mark.
I found the accuracy to be atrocious. In the moment, I thought it was just me. My under folder did not want to rest in the led sled well. My eyes are failing me more and more every passing day. The rifle was brand new. I never doubted the ammo.
I had fired one twenty (20) round box and was unable to satisfactorily group. In frustration, I changed to a rifle that I had had in the collection longer, to see if I could do better with a more familiar gun. I am glad I did, because this rifle is the least expensive in my collection.
The fifth round fired in the second box of ammo, made a low pop and smoke came out from under the bolt not the barrel. Long story short. Norma failed to drill a flash hole in the round. The primer went off. The cartridge did not. The primer launched itself backwards, and I found it in the receiver along with a piece of the cartridge lip that the extractor ripped off. The rest of the live cartridge was firmly plugging the barrel. Upon further inspection, I found that the actual primers were different from box to box. One box had silver primers and the other gold. Gold primers, bad!
The rifle is now with my gunsmith, who in his professional caution, did not alleviate my layman's fears that the barrel is forever spiked. Norma has not responded to my calls or emails. Has anyone else experienced something like this?
I took it to my own back pasture range to fine tune some AK's at 100 yards. I had previously sighted these guns in at a public range at 25 yards, but due to time constraints I was unable to finish the job as thoroughly as I wanted to at the 100 yard mark.
I found the accuracy to be atrocious. In the moment, I thought it was just me. My under folder did not want to rest in the led sled well. My eyes are failing me more and more every passing day. The rifle was brand new. I never doubted the ammo.
I had fired one twenty (20) round box and was unable to satisfactorily group. In frustration, I changed to a rifle that I had had in the collection longer, to see if I could do better with a more familiar gun. I am glad I did, because this rifle is the least expensive in my collection.
The fifth round fired in the second box of ammo, made a low pop and smoke came out from under the bolt not the barrel. Long story short. Norma failed to drill a flash hole in the round. The primer went off. The cartridge did not. The primer launched itself backwards, and I found it in the receiver along with a piece of the cartridge lip that the extractor ripped off. The rest of the live cartridge was firmly plugging the barrel. Upon further inspection, I found that the actual primers were different from box to box. One box had silver primers and the other gold. Gold primers, bad!
The rifle is now with my gunsmith, who in his professional caution, did not alleviate my layman's fears that the barrel is forever spiked. Norma has not responded to my calls or emails. Has anyone else experienced something like this?
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