Need Help Tightening Up My Groups

[Former11B]

I agree with this. Also practice dime drills if you've never done them before. They will help to diagnose trigger control and follow through. Take your time when practicing fundamentals, pay attention to what your body is doing and find out what works for you.

+75% of precision/ long distance shooting comes down to how well the shooter can properly apply the basic fundamentals.

Also, I'm generally of the opinion that you don't need to shoot expensive or match ammunition out of AR's. I almost exclusively shoot mid-price rounds out of my AR's because (all except one) they have barrels under 16" and I'm using them inside of 300 yards. My wife's AR has a 20" barrel and she shoots that at longer ranges and that's the only AR that sees match .223 ammo.

50gr AE varmint tipped ammo is extremely accurate at 200yds which is further than most people shoot And Palmetto State Armory will usually sell it for less than 30 cents per round during a daily deal sale

[Stone]

Strike Eagle does not equal precision...

Agreed, there's no substitute for quality glass.

"pay attention to what your body is doing" This is huge. Check if your feet are flat on the floor or am I up on my toes. Are my shoulders relaxed or are they tensed up. Do I have a death grip on the rifle or am I holding her just right. As soon as you address the rifle do a head to toe body check. If your groups are off don't beat yourself up mentally! Most of all HAVE FUN!! That's what this is all about isn't it???

[din]

Check out ADI for ammo. They have a 69-grain SMK loading that you can find for around $12 a box, it should take the hurt off your wallet a bit while you sort things out.

[55grain]

I'm a beginner and this is my first post on this forum but I had exactly the same problem. At 50 I was on target and tight but at 100, less tight and high. An experienced shooter told me to simply zero at 100 yards. This means you would be low at 25 and still low at 50. Using the standard military zeroing target for 25 meters, set up at 50 meters, my group was at the bottom of the little black man in a line almost touching. But at 100 yards I was not perfect, because I am not that good and still beginning, but much better than before. Give my moron's method a try and at least you will be lower at 100 yards.

[JGifford]

The scope is just fine. I can shoot 1 MOA groups at 100 with a 4 power Nightforce. The ammo is OP's issue, as he is getting VERY similar accuracy to what I get with the same ammo, on the same day I punch 1-1.5MOA 10 shot groups using good ammo.

I have YET to find an AR15 that won't put 10 rounds of Gold Dot 75gr .223 into 1.5" or less at 100.

One issue I AM seeing with OP's shooting is that the groups have a horizontal dispersion. This would cause me to look reeeealll hard at that mount...make it tight...


Things I Would Do...


-Make sure the ADM mount is TIGHT.
-Buy some 75gr and 62gr Gold Dot. They have very different function characteristics, and you may well prefer the 62. It's accurate, too.
-Zero the optic with the round you pick...and leave it alone. All other ammo will be "training ammo", and it will land where it lands, and it will be close enough to kill pigs or pie-pans or steel poppers out to 200+, I bet!
-You do not need a high-powered optic. I do all of my accuracy testing with a 4 power Nightforce, or a 6 power Leupold. I manage the same groups Molon does with his 25x or whatever Leupold Competition scope, when shooting "duty grade" ammo. If you're shooting much under 1 MOA though, the extra magnification does tend to help...
-Sandbag the forend, make SURE it doesn't touch the barrel. Get comfortable. Find your zen. Use targets that guide you, such as those with a heavy "duplex". I LOVE targets like that with lower power optics. Here is an example of me applying what I told you and getting the results, using a 4-power Nightforce with a 2 MOA aiming point (FC2). You don't need "all the x's" to shoot groups at 100...