Had a issue today with my WK

I just figured out myself that it looks like my rifle is short throated. I tried chambering and ejecting a round of the Hornady v-max without firing it and this was the result.

View attachment 201643

You can clearly see the mark from the case where the bullet was seated plus there is a significant mark forward of that showing that the bullet jammed into the bore because the throat is too short.

It was stuck hard enough that the bullet was pulled pretty much out of the case by the time I got it ejected from the rifle. I finished pulling the bullet with my fingers.

This is definitely what is causing the pressure issues, at least with the Hornady v-max. Although I didn't have as serious of issues with this ammo as Smokinyotes did I still had fired brass with pressure signs. I didn't try this with any other ammo to see if it showed the same signs.

I'll be contacting Kodiak Defense
 
jiffx2781 said:
I just figured out myself that it looks like my rifle is short throated. I tried chambering and ejecting a round of the Hornady v-max without firing it and this was the result.

View attachment 201643

You can clearly see the mark from the case where the bullet was seated plus there is a significant mark forward of that showing that the bullet jammed into the bore because the throat is too short.

It was stuck hard enough that the bullet was pulled pretty much out of the case by the time I got it ejected from the rifle. I finished pulling the bullet with my fingers.

This is definitely what is causing the pressure issues, at least with the Hornady v-max. Although I didn't have as serious of issues with this ammo as Smokinyotes did I still had fired brass with pressure signs. I didn't try this with any other ammo to see if it showed the same signs.

I'll be contacting Kodiak Defense
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If you still have any of these intact rounds, can you measure the OAL off the ogive, or end of bearing surface length, and compare it other manufactures of ammo that you might have? Are you sure its a short throat? Could be a long bearing surface on the ammo.
 
Cameron SS said:
If you still have any of these intact rounds, can you measure the OAL off the ogive, or end of bearing surface length, and compare it other manufactures of ammo that you might have? Are you sure its a short throat? Could be a long bearing surface on the ammo.
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I'm not going to disagree with you. That's still a possibility. My calipers are at the shop and I'm home early so measurements won't happen tonight.

I do know that the Hornady v-max is loaded long. Almost to max mag length. The only thing that leads me to my assumption of the WK's chamber being short throated is that I've ran this ammo through 2 other Wylde chambered rifles without issue.

Only other 223 ammo I have handy to compare against is the Federal Premium 55gr NBT and it is noticeably shorter than the Hornady. I actually think the FP will run in my WK without issue. I'm going to give it a try before I get serious about sending my rifle into Kodiak but I will still make them aware of the Hornady issue anyways.

Federal Premium on the left. Hornady v-max on the right.

View attachment 201660

Judging by the marks on my v-max bullet I pulled out of the WK180-C I don't think the Federal ammo will have the same issue.

Anyone using the Hornady should stop using it immediately.

All too often what is perceived to be a firearm issue ends up being just a matter of finding compatible ammo. Hopefully the Federal works in mine, it's better ammo anyways.
 
jiffx2781 said:
I'm not going to disagree with you. That's still a possibility. My calipers are at the shop and I'm home early so measurements won't happen tonight.

I do know that the Hornady v-max is loaded long. Almost to max mag length. The only thing that leads me to my assumption of the WK's chamber being short throated is that I've ran this ammo through 2 other Wylde chambered rifles without issue.

Only other 223 ammo I have handy to compare against is the Federal Premium 55gr NBT and it is noticeably shorter than the Hornady. I actually think the FP will run in my WK without issue. I'm going to give it a try before I get serious about sending my rifle into Kodiak but I will still make them aware of the Hornady issue anyways.

Federal Premium on the left. Hornady v-max on the right.

View attachment 201660

Judging by the marks on my v-max bullet I pulled out of the WK180-C I don't think the Federal ammo will have the same issue.

Anyone using the Hornady should stop using it immediately.

All too often what is perceived to be a firearm issue ends up being just a matter of finding compatible ammo. Hopefully the Federal works in mine, it's better ammo anyways.
Click to expand...

The shoulder looks the same on both but the neck of the case looks longer on the Hornady as well. What is the overall case length of the Hornady, and is it in spec?
 
jiffx2781 said:
I'm not going to disagree with you. That's still a possibility. My calipers are at the shop and I'm home early so measurements won't happen tonight.

I do know that the Hornady v-max is loaded long. Almost to max mag length. The only thing that leads me to my assumption of the WK's chamber being short throated is that I've ran this ammo through 2 other Wylde chambered rifles without issue.

Only other 223 ammo I have handy to compare against is the Federal Premium 55gr NBT and it is noticeably shorter than the Hornady. I actually think the FP will run in my WK without issue. I'm going to give it a try before I get serious about sending my rifle into Kodiak but I will still make them aware of the Hornady issue anyways.

Federal Premium on the left. Hornady v-max on the right.

View attachment 201660

Judging by the marks on my v-max bullet I pulled out of the WK180-C I don't think the Federal ammo will have the same issue.

Anyone using the Hornady should stop using it immediately.

All too often what is perceived to be a firearm issue ends up being just a matter of finding compatible ammo. Hopefully the Federal works in mine, it's better ammo anyways.
Click to expand...

Forget the calipers. That picture says it all.

OF course make Kodiak and all of us aware, but for me, that would not be an issue. For others it might be, and to each their own.

This is certainly a compatibility issue. I'm sure Kodiak will work a solution for anyone who needs one.
 
jza said:
Could someone educate me as to why they would chamber this in 223 Wylde over 5.56? I've shot a lot of .223 out of rifles chambed in 5.56. Have I been doing something wrong?
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223 wydle is nothing more than an excuse for sloppy manufacturing and the answer to a problem that never existed. I was down to buy a WK until i found out it was in 223 wylde. Now i will hold off until they are offered in a different caliber .
 
mmcintyre1220 said:
223 wydle is nothing more than an excuse for sloppy manufacturing and the answer to a problem that never existed. I was down to buy a WK until i found out it was in 223 wylde. Now i will hold off until they are offered in a different caliber .
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I'd suggest maybe you do some research on the subject. I'm sure Bill Wylde would not agree with your determination.

Jiffx: you should mic those Hornady rounds. I've not seen factory .223/5.56 that wouldn't chamber in anything other than a custom cut/chambered barrel. Don't discount the possiblity the reaming of your chamber was done incorrectly.
 
***update***

So I'm 90% convinced the Hornady v-max problem is only an ammo compatibility issue. I'll cover the other 10% that still leaves a little doubt in a bit.

I just tried 20 rounds of the Federal Premium 55gr NBT and 20 rounds of Winchester white box 45gr JHP varmint ammo. Neither ammo showed any pressure signs. I also chambered and ejected (without firing) a couple rounds of both and none showed any signs of being jammed into the bore like the Hornady was.

I took a couple measurements of the 3 ammo types:

-Hornady 55gr v-max
Cartridge OAL 2.241
Case Length 1.754

-Federal Premium 55gr NBT
Cartridge OAL 2.177
Case Length 1.737

-Winchester white box 45gr JHP
Cartridge OAL 2.215
Case Length 1.751

Now the measurements of the Hornady and Winchester aren't too much different. The only thing different is that the Winchester bullet starts to taper as soon as it is out of the case whereas the Hornady v-max has a long bearing surface that comes out of the case a ways before the bullet starts to taper. It's the long bearing surface of the v-max that is causing it to jam into the bore of my rifle.


Now the part that still causes me to doubt that this is entirely an ammo issue is that I've ran over 1500 rounds of the Hornady through various rifles without issue.

As beltfed said "I've not seen factory .223/5.56 that wouldn't chamber in anything other than a custom cut/chambered barrel. Don't discount the possiblity the reaming of your chamber was done incorrectly."


I've ran it through 3 different 5.56 chambered rifles. No issue. Yes I know the 5.56 has a longer throat.

I've ran it through 2 different 223 Wylde chambered rifles. Again no issue. At least until I tried it in them again today.

Fired a few rounds of Hornady in each of the Wylde chambered rifles. Fired brass showed no pressure signs. However when I tried chambering and ejecting a couple rounds without firing them the rounds from both rifles did have faint marks where they contacted the lands.

These marks were the same on rounds from both my other Wylde chambered rifles. They were no where as severe as the marks left on the round out of my WK's chamber and were not severe enough that the bullet would be jammed into the bore like is happening on my WK.

From my observations the Hornady v-max is loaded too long to use in my 223 Wylde chambered rifles. Not just the WK.

Now the part that is still leaving me believing that the chamber on my WK is short throated is due to my visual comparisons of unfired rounds ejected from the WK and two other Wylde chambered rifles.

Although the two other rifles did leave contact marks on the bullet they were wery faint. Whereas on the WK the rounds were clearly jammed into the bore far enough to get stuck and come apart when extracted.


Now that I have a better idea what's going on here should I simply stick to using ammo that I know is compatible with my WK? It's not the first rifle I've had to figure out what ammo works best in it.

Or should I see if Kodiak wants it back for inspection? Just to be on the safe side.
 
jiffx2781 said:
***update***

Now that I have a better idea what's going on here should I simply stick to using ammo that I know is compatible with my WK? It's not the first rifle I've had to figure out what ammo works best in it.

Or should I see if Kodiak wants it back for inspection? Just to be on the safe side.
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Contact Kodiak. Either way they need to be aware of the issue, and if they want to inspect your rifle, they'll let you know.
 
.223 wylde is a such a joke. Just chamber in 5.56. Its not wolverine's fault that the market calls for it but I wish it wasnt even an option.
 
Yea, kodiak may want to know that their rifle doesn't shoot within spec ammo and most people won't like the idea their rifle has been chambered incorrectly.
I would never hold onto that rifle, it's under warranty, get it fixed. It also ruins it's resale value.

It sucks to happen, hopefully you guys get them back quick.
 
Smokinyotes said:
Mine is going back to Kodiak to be throated so I can shoot all 223 ammo.
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Will this be necessary for all of the WK-180's out there? I got mine but have not had it to range nor do I have a vast knowledge on how to check for these issues. How do I know if something is wrong? Please advise, as I was gonna go by the range this weekend if I can make it out and do the break in procedure per the manual and just some general shooting.
 
My Third Eye said:
Will this be necessary for all of the WK-180's out there? I got mine but have not had it to range nor do I have a vast knowledge on how to check for these issues. How do I know if something is wrong? Please advise, as I was gonna go by the range this weekend if I can make it out and do the break in procedure per the manual and just some general shooting.
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So far it has only been an issue with the Hornady varmint express 55gr vmax. Avoid this ammo and your rifle should run like a Swiss watch. Your rifle does not need to go back, just don’t shoot the vmax or any ammo with a long COL and long bearing surface. As far as knowing if something is wrong you will know if you inspect your brass, blown or pierced primers are a pretty good indication that something is wrong.
 
winnipegger said:
.223 wylde is a such a joke. Just chamber in 5.56. Its not wolverine's fault that the market calls for it but I wish it wasnt even an option.
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Seriously. My accuracy shooting .223 from 5.56 chambered rifles has been fine. I guess I could squeeze out some tighter groups with this 223 Wylde...
 
Smokinyotes said:
So far it has only been an issue with the Hornady varmint express 55gr vmax. Avoid this ammo and your rifle should run like a Swiss watch. Your rifle does not need to go back, just don’t shoot the vmax or any ammo with a long COL and long bearing surface. As far as knowing if something is wrong you will know if you inspect your brass, blown or pierced primers are a pretty good indication that something is wrong.
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Nope, see the pics I posted - S&B 69gr 223 (marked 5.56 on case) is the same blowing primers. I measured it against AE 55 bulk and AE 62 and it is also 'long' like the vMax.
 
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