Soldier Question

[mruckman75]

Hey everyone! I'm looking for some advice as I am new to the civilian AR hobby. I just purchased a Noveske Afghan 14.5" with a 1 in 8 twist barrel ,should be here sometime next week. I have matched that with a Noveske lower that I picked up at Cold War Shooters outside of Fort Bliss (El Paso) TX. My question is really about ammo - What grain bullet is ideal for this type of setup and what do you guys tend to use? I have to admit, in all the trigger time I have had in over 11 years the Army, I never paid much attention to ammo specs until now. I have read that some .223 ammo will fragment at the high velocity produced by 1 in 10" twist and below.

Thanks in advance for the help

Matt

[TigerStripe]

Thanks for your service! You can use any load from 45 grain to 77 grain out of a 1:8 barrel. Yours should shoot most if not all pretty well. The ammo you use is pretty much determined by what you intend to do with it. The 75 and 77 grain ammo should shoot really well out of your carbine. They're almost all match ammo, great for shooting targets and they're probably the best at taking people out as well. 75 and 77gr bullets will fragment at a lower velocity which makes it good for shooting out of a 14.5" M4-type. But,there are much wiser people here than I am.


TS

[MerQ]

A lot depends on your weapon and like the poster above said you can shoot a wide variety of ammo. 55 and 62 grain is the most common on store shelves (it's also what most MIL ammo is.) Match ammo is better for groups but tends to cost a bit more. For practice though the 55 or 62 gr stuff should be fine but for groups or home defense I believe match is better.

For my Noveske barrel I've seen the absolute best groups for me using 68 or 69 gr Federal commercial loads. Hornady and Black Hills (I believe) 75 and 77gr work very well too. A friend of mine gave me some of his to try out. Occassionally there is Mk 262 floating around that is supposed to shoot very well (I can't confirm from personal experience) but it costs a bit more than the other match stuff I hear (cool factor and rarity I suppose.)

[mruckman75]

Guys, thanks alot for the help so far.

As soon as I get everything put together I'll let you know how everything works out. Stay tuned because I'm sure that I'll have alot more questions for you.

One more thing.. I was given a MK 4 CQT as a gift and plan to install it on the weapon when all the parts get here. I like the concept as I used something similar over in the big sand box- Any of you guys ever used this optic? If so let me know what you liked/didn't like about it.

Thanks Again,
MR

[MerQ]

I think the general consensus from most people is that it should be fine for the range or 3-Gun.

I would look at an Aimpoint or EOTech for home defense or a MK4 MR/T (1.5x-5x) would be a better range optic if you wanted to stay with Leupold. I've personally only handled one in the store myself and don't have shooting time behind one. If it were a gift though I would FIND a use for it though or sell it and put the money toward what I really wanted. Try it out though first and see if it works for you.