I am posting this on every gun forum I visit. A couple of years ago I bought some PMC 6.5x55 ammo on sale, and just recently got around to trying it out. I have been shooting and reloading for over forty years, so I should have caught the danger signs on the first shot, but I guess I wasn't expecting any problem with factory ammo. The recoil seemed a little much, and the bolt was hard to open, but I didn,t inspect the cases until after I fired the fourth round. When I fired that one, my right hand was knocked off the trigger and stock, and I felt a sharp rap on my thumb. When I finally pried the bolt open I found a blown primer and black soot in the reciever. Then I checked the other fired cases and found badly flattened and cratered primers. There were no bright rings that would indicate excess headspace, and I have not had any problem with other factory ammo in that rifle, so I believe the powder charge is the problem. I pulled the bullets on the remainder of the rounds and found 43 grains of a very fine grain ball powder. I reloaded the cases with a safe load of 4350 and everything works ok.
All I got was a very sore and swollen thumb where it was struck by the cocking piece, so it could have been much worse. But, if you have any of this ammo, don't fire it, you may not be as lucky as I was. The lot # is 6.5MA-030, and it is 144 gr FMJ in a green camo box. I'm not trying to knock PMC, just a friendly warning on this particular lot.
All I got was a very sore and swollen thumb where it was struck by the cocking piece, so it could have been much worse. But, if you have any of this ammo, don't fire it, you may not be as lucky as I was. The lot # is 6.5MA-030, and it is 144 gr FMJ in a green camo box. I'm not trying to knock PMC, just a friendly warning on this particular lot.