Hey all, today I was at the range shooting my M&P sport. I have the 5r 1/8 twist version. I was shooting some 55 gr fmj tula ammo I bought earlier this year. I shot a full 30 rd magazine full of this stuff. I have never had trouble from it before but today it was keyholing like crazy. Just to make sure it wasn't my gun, I fired a full 30 rd mag full of quality brass reloads and all were within a 2" circle dead center of where I was aiming. Does anybody know why this is happening and what if anything I can do to alleviate this from occurring. I have a lot of tula and I like it for just plinking but I hope it all is not like this. Please no "Should've never bought Tula ammo" comments please.

So, just to clarify, the other ammo did not keyhole?

That is correct! Not the first one. It was a awesome group.

It could be a bad batch of Tula. Try a different batch.

it might be. I bought this ammo during the 223 shortage earlier this year. it might have been a rushed batch and QC wasn't as up to par as it should be. Might I add that not all the shots keyholed. Only about 1/2 did.

Could be bad ammo. The projectile could be out of spec, light powder charge, etc...

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-John

If it only does that with Tula ammo, but not XM193 or other known quality ammo, then I wouldn't worry about it too much.

TULA = J.U.N.K.

It only does it with Tula ammo and only as of late. Tula has been great up until late. I must have a bad batch of tula or something because everything else ammo wise ive shot is fine and great shooting and accurate

Could be a bad batch. I had a Chinese AK in 5.56 and used quite bit of Tula in it with no problems. Then one day it started choking on the Tula. Brass cased still worked OK. I sold off the Tula and bought more brass cased.

I would try cleaning the bore really good with JB Bore Paste. It might help. I never tried it but I should have.

This could be it. The bullets' out of spec, probably loose in the barrel that they don't catch the rifling.

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_It was love at first shot_

Probably got a bad batch. Use Tulammo all the time w/ no issues

Sounds like you already know the answer but you don't like it.

Use quality brass cased ammo....no more problem! See I did not say "tula= J.U.N.K" even if thinking it.

Pull a bullet and measure it. End of story.

Sell this ammo (with full disclosure about what it does in your gun), lest you lose confidence in your rifle, which would be unfortunate.

I just went to sight in my new MP 15 sport 11 with .223 Lake city, 55 gr. ammo. 99 out of 110 rounds KEY HOLED and 4" groups at 50 yards! ***!!!
I willtry with some 5.56 55 gr winchester tomorrow. If this repeats, this rifle is going back!! Not happy!!

Several years ago when I became interested in ARs, I bought a variety of cheap ammos, eight or ten, loaded with 55 grain and 62 grain FMJ bullets, though i don't recall trying TULA, whatever that may be. Anyway, the cheap ammo was a waste of money if you have any interest in accuracy. Match factory ammo is far better but expensive. Good handload development with quality components will make the best ammo, capable of equaling or exceeding the accuracy of factory match ammo.

However, there always seems to be a demand for the cheap stuff. Some of it may shoot well in some guns, but it's unreasonable to have high expectations.

I've never had a problem with Tula.

I have mainly ran Tula steel ammo in my Sport 2 (rifle was bought new last year) as at the time that was about all I could get for ammo. And it has worked well enough for me to get used to the AR platform.
If anything, some rounds seem to sound almost softer, but in general they have been ok for what i am using them for.
The image was recently at 50yds while I was sighting in my new Holosun; 8 of 10 were in (for me and my eyesight) a nice group. The other 2 i will blame on the rounds lol.
I may not plan to buy any more of this stuff but i have not had any real issues with it. And if that was the only ammo on the shelf i likely would grab more if truly needed.
My .02

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The answer (even from nearly 7 years ago ) is probably:

Keyholing is a sign of bullet instability. This could be due to out-of-spec ammunition for that particular gun, a faulty barrel, or both. If a rifle doesn't shoot well with any ammunition of varying brands and bullet weights (as may be the case in post #17 above) it may indeed require a trip back to the factory.

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Alan
SWCA 2023, SWHF 220

Brand new M&P AR15. First 150 rounds of 55.6 Winchester target ammo without issue. Same gun, same ammo, second time to the range and two rounds failed to feed out of 60. Both had straight line indentations on the neck of the casings. Gun well oiled and clean. Maybe too wet?