Scoped it, shot it, opinions?

[hkdcamcain]

Well, i built myself an AR 15 from Palmetto State Armory, and ive learned that the irons arent my favorite thing in the world. i can make about an 2.25 inch groups with 5 shot at best(50 yards lol). its got a 1/7 twist, and i have been shooting basic 55 grain hornady steel cased ammo.
So finally i took the initiative and dropped some cash for a scope.
Vortex diamondback with BDC reticle, 4-12x.
http://i1107.photobucket.com/albums/h394/Cam_Cain/2012-06-25_18-10-11_798.jpg

I tried some Ultramax 62 grain, and got it scoped with it. I was consistently making 1.75 inch groups at 100 yards (no rest). and the second notch on the reticle is perfectly sighted at 50 yards, so i was able to go back and forth easily. of course there were a few just off the rocker bullets that decided to be inconsistent.

60 grain handloaded Hornady V-max with 24 grains of win 748 got me within 1.5 inch at 100 yards.

I was wondering what others thought i should try? Would you think heavier bullets would make much of a difference?
I hope this isnt peak accuracy for an AR.

[5pins]

What kind of accuracy where you expecting? 1.5 inches is not that bad for a run of the mill carbine.

[hkdcamcain]

Well i am hoping for at least one inch.
I suppose i did word my question poorly.
Currently i have tried run of the mill 55 and 62 grains, as well as some hand loads ranging in powder with a 60 grain bullet. I was wondering what would be recommended to try, should i go up to a slightly heavier bullet and see if accuracy improves (given there seems to be very little straight info on the 1/7 twist)? granted bulk is never accurate, i do however expect 1 inch at least for my hand loads once i figure out what it likes.

Also planning for a rest and muzzle brake in the future. I have a lot of open fields, and one of which is almost 400 yards. im hoping to make it moderately accurate out to 200 for the damn coyotes. Had them get one of my goats a few weeks back, its what prompted my scope purchase.

Currently i own a 30-06 pump on which i broke my scope and its off on warranty repair from Leupold, and 2 22 caliber rifles. The rest of my collection ranges from handguns of all calibers. nothing i can reach out and touch these damn things. They dart off before i get close with the dirt bike or four wheeler.

[Paulo_Santos]

Try some of the Sierra 69 or 77 GR SMK or the more affordable, but generally not as accurate Hornady 68 or 75 GR BTHP.

[hkdcamcain]

i assume you mean Sierra 69 grain handloads? or just out of the box? i may load 20 of each and try a few groupings

Whats wrong the the Hornady? i was under the impression they were top notch ???

[Paulo_Santos]

i assume you mean Sierra 69 grain handloads? or just out of the box? i may load 20 of each and try a few groupings

Whats wrong the the Hornady? i was under the impression they were top notch ???

You can handload them or you can buy the ammo from Black-Hills. Hornady is top notch, but since their bullets have a secant ogive, some barrels don't like them as much as the regular bullets. You just have to try them and see.

[Paulo_Santos]

i assume you mean Sierra 69 grain handloads? or just out of the box? i may load 20 of each and try a few groupings

Whats wrong the the Hornady? i was under the impression they were top notch ???

You can handload them or you can buy the ammo from Black-Hills. Hornady is top notch, but since their bullets have a secant ogive, some barrels don't like them as much as the regular bullets. You just have to try them and see.

[markm]

1.5 inches is very good for a mil spec barrel. As Paul Santos said, some SMKs might get you to an inch. Generally the best we get out of regular Chrome lined bbls is 1". Our knock out load is posted in the ammo forum here. If you don't want to load the ammo, Federal Gold Medal Match is available with the SMKs. That's the only factory load I'd ever consider acceptable.

I've found that every caliber of Black Hills I've ever personally inspected was mediocre ammo at best. We've put every measurement we know how to on BH ammo, and I haven't found ONE THING they do well... bullet runout, brass weights, primer seating, etc. I guess there's so much bad ammo on the shelves these days, BH is considered good. When someone gives me Black Hills ammo, I pull the components down and try to salvage what I can to make decent ammo.

[hkdcamcain]

A local friend is saying try the 69 SMK with some Win 748, and i believe he said CCI, he is getting .75 @ 100 yards off of a bench rest with a 20 inch barreled PSA rifle, same 1/7 twist and scoped.

The 69 SMK load listed in the ammo forum, which is surprisingly small lol, is that for a bolt or autoloader? i saw they mentioned a remington 700.

[markm]

The 69 SMK load listed in the ammo forum, which is surprisingly small lol, is that for a bolt or autoloader? i saw they mentioned a remington 700.

That's our load and it's a laser beam out of every gun we've tried.... Gas and Bolt. The Wolf primers are as critical as the H322.

Our bolt gunsmith loves 748. I have a ton of it, but prefer the temp stability of the H322 since it flow through my Dillon about as good a ball powder. I shoot almost no ball powder these days.

[hkdcamcain]

I have a Uniflow powder measure, ive always used ball when ever possible for consistency. Ill have to try this load out next pay check. i have 55 or so 60 g vmax left to use. is the 69 smk cannelured? (spell) and does it fit in a magazine? Appreciate the input! once i wear this barrel out i plan to drop a 20 inch barrel in.

[markm]

Sierra doesn't cannalure any matchkings except for that Mk262 mod whatever 77 grain bullet... and they didn't want to cannalure that. We load it to mag length at the same die setting where a 55 gr Hornady FMJ cannalure is positioned for depth. Matchkings are tangent ogive and aren't very depth sensitive. We put a light factory crimp on the case neck since that die is in my Dillon already. It certainly doesn't hurt accuracy, and might just uniform case neck tension a little bit.

[hkdcamcain]

Sweet, thanks for the info, i plan to try that out as soon as i can. gotta play a bit more with the 60g i have left and see what they can do then ill buy that setup and try it. I am using Redding Dies, and an rcbs rock chucker, ive never had a problem with em. Only issue ive ever had is the cheaper tul ammo in 55 grain would come apart. looked like a shotgun hitting the paper.

Have yall ever tried the pulled ammo?
http://www.midwayusa.com/product/3214540070/surplus-pulled-bullets-22-caliber-224-diameter-62-grain-m855-full-metal-jacket-boat-tail
I was debating a cheap load i could plink with on the side besides my accuracy loads and 1000 rounds for 84$ sounds fun.

also, the only reloading manual i have is an old hornady manual, 2007, 7th edition. It tops out at 60 grain for the 223 rifle. service rifle data only has 68 and 75 grain data. what would you recommend? the sierra book or a newer hornady or maybe the speer?

[markm]

I'm always leary of pulled bullets. But if those are as nice as the pic, that's not a bad option. We are using Hornady 55 gr SP bullets for about that same price. All the panic buyers bought up every last 55 gr FMJ, so we subbed the soft points which were the exact same price.

I used to hate SS109 bullets because you have to ajust your die. The bullet ogive is different, and they'll seat too long if you don't adjust the die down a little. But now I have a competition seating die that is adjustible with a dial. I can come up and down for different bullets with ease.

[Paulo_Santos]

My favorite bullet bullet to reload is the Hornady 55 GR FMJ. You can get them in the bulk pack. They are very accurate for FMJ bullets because they are very uniform.

[hkdcamcain]

@Paulo_Santos: What twist rate are you shooting it out of?

[markm]

In reference to Paul's comment. I too reload the Hornady FMJBT W/C. It's a 1.5 MOA bullet out of most of our guns with magnified optics. That's pretty respectible for ball ammo. And much better than any other 55 gr FMJ bullet.

If it wasn't for my lunatic buddy who buys MatchKings by the gallon, I'd just shoot the hornady 55 gr FMJ all the time.

[hkdcamcain]

Main goal was a round i can take a small target (coyote) out with, i feel sure i can do it with my current load, but id hate to just be throwing wounds down range when i could spend the time to make a killshot bullet. Thats why i chose semi-auto. If at first you dont succeed, keep pulling the trigger(worst case scenario, faster than trying to bolt another round before the animal takes off)... i will have to try the 55 grain load out, i was using the 60 to try and get a decently accurate round, and as you said, i saw around 1.5 moa with the V-max, so i wonder if my groupings would just get worse with a 55?

Oh, and something i forgot to mention, i first tried dialing in my scope on the Hornady Steel Cased ammo, and i did 2 shot groups to dial it in initially. I can cover the 2 shot groups with a dime at 100 yards, they were right on top of each other every time. I steer clear of the steel cased, but my girl didnt know when she bought it for me. I am interested to hear opinions on that one lol.

[Paulo_Santos]

@Paulo_Santos: What twist rate are you shooting it out of?

LMT Piston Upper (1:7" twist). It is an honest 1.5 MOA bullet (10 rounds) with several powders (H322, Benchmark, H4895, Varget, and X-Terminator).