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Originally Posted By SuperJlarge: 224 Valkyrie 24”+2gas Rainier Ultramatch, 1:7.5t. I tried the FGMM 80.5’s yesterday and averaged .67moa across 20 shots. One group isn’t pictured. I then went to my club’s 500yd range and rang the 6 or 8” plate consistently, starting off with a first round hit using the approximate velocity listed on the box (2920fps used) and stacking the next 4 right on top of it. Overall, this looks like a great off the shelf option for the 224Valkyrie. IMO, this cartridge shines with 80-85gr bullet weights. You get great velocity with good BC. Just because a heavy 90 or 95gr bullet has a great BC doesn’t necessarily mean it’s the best long range option. https://i.imgur.com/OrgCH91.jpg https://i.imgur.com/8OxmfyS.jpg View Quote Very nice. |
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*Hold on to your AR-15s. Their magic must be very powerful, or they wouldn’t want them.*
JAFOM.... Just another fat old man. TOGC,IADC |
I’m always a bit surprised at how well FGMM does in 168/175 for a .308. I (did) buy some whenever there was a deal to be had to patch me through those spells when I don’t have time to reload. Bolt guns and the LaRue gas gun eat it up.
Of the 10 or so .223 rifles I’ve loaded for, none of them like Hornady 68 or 75 gr pills so far as I could tell. The only Hornady bullet I’ve had any real luck with other than plain old 55 gr SP’s is 65 gr VMax. All the rifles would print respectable groups with Sierra’s anywhere from 52 to 77 gr regardless of twist. Interested to see how the LT 6.5 works out once you get some rounds through it. I’ve had real good luck with every LT barrel I’ve put through the paces. |
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Slow is smooth. Smooth is fast.
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That is interesting.
Over the last couple years I have been experimenting with a practice load, something that would shoot sub MOA without a lot of effort. This was the result of mixed headstamp brass, sized and trimmed to 1.750, then run through my Dillon 1050 using TAC powder and 69 Nosler CC. Rifle is a trued Remington 700 with an 18" 1:8 Bartlein. Attached File Quite a bit of vertical dispersion but it includes the cold bore shot and was well under an inch at 100. I probably should have shot more groups but was having too much fun shooting steel out to 500 yards, with a load that took very little time to make. |
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Originally Posted By SuperJlarge: Australian Outback 69smk update: It isn’t much of a surprise if you’ve shot the ADI 69smk’s before, but this ammo shoots good when matched up to a rifle it likes, even in a driving rain. On several of the groups, there would be a core cluster that was really impressive, but then I’d get some outliers. Since I felt I had good fundamentals today, I fired the final group without the suppressor to see if the harmonics were the issue, as well as to get data on the POI shift. While the final group was one of the better groups of the day, it equaled the first suppressed group, so it may just be part of the natural variance of factory ammo and not negatively impacted harmonics. Shot as normal, Harris bipod w/ small rear bag. https://i.imgur.com/wbgcGHP.jpg View Quote Interesting change suppressed. Just one suppressed group? |
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Cincinnatus
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Originally Posted By SuperJlarge: X-Caliber 6.5 Grendel, 18” Nitrided 1:8 Vortex PST II 3-15 Hornady Black 123 eld-m Just the initial teaser; the rain started coming down too heavy to continue additional testing. I’ll update this post once I get back out to run 20-25 through it alongside the LaRue UU 6.5grendel. https://i.imgur.com/tD9HcBe.jpg View Quote If you get the flyer figured out for the grendels let me know |
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Cincinnatus
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Originally Posted By sea2summit: Interesting change suppressed. Just one suppressed group? View Quote 3 suppressed, 1 without. Oddly enough, it came out dead on at a .3mil shift. I believe my lighter cans typically induces right at .1-.2mil with that barrel contour. I don’t recall running my 16oz (heaviest I have) on that contour, but it might be interesting to check one day. It typically just serves time on the magnums, which don’t get out that often. |
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Originally Posted By SuperJlarge: The potential future Mrs. SJL seems to think it does “good enough” suppressed and pointed out that I just need to keep practicing. ADI 69 SMK’s, lot 2033 ARC Nucleus, 26” Bartlein. I feel this ammo has been proofed enough. Need to try it in a few different AR’s to see which ones will do well with it. https://i.imgur.com/dnYYJfm.jpg https://i.imgur.com/DrYvArn.jpg View Quote shesrightyouknow.gif |
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Cincinnatus
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As always great to see all these results.
Thank You ! |
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*Hold on to your AR-15s. Their magic must be very powerful, or they wouldn’t want them.*
JAFOM.... Just another fat old man. TOGC,IADC |
@bfoosh06
Thanks for the kind words. I’ve still got The various types of 223/5.56 ammo to get on paper that you so graciously provided. Once I got setup with a range to shoot at frequently, I had become a bit enamored in the 224Valkyrie. I’ve been cleaning a few of the 223’s, so they’ll be back out soon. And while it wasn’t on your barrels of interest, I doubt we’ll see much more from the BCA barrel. I ran the borescope down it and it looked rough!! I know there’s a place for barrels in that price range, but the difference between it and a barrel that is 150-200$ is night and day different. Severe railroad tracks from the rifling process and pits and blemishes abound. I’m actually surprised it shot as well as it did for a few groups just based on how badly it copper fouled with limited rounds. |
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Originally Posted By SuperJlarge: @bfoosh06 Thanks for the kind words. I’ve still got The various types of 223/5.56 ammo to get on paper that you so graciously provided. Once I got setup with a range to shoot at frequently, I had become a bit enamored in the 224Valkyrie. I’ve been cleaning a few of the 223’s, so they’ll be back out soon. And while it wasn’t on your barrels of interest, I doubt we’ll see much more from the BCA barrel. I ran the borescope down it and it looked rough!! I know there’s a place for barrels in that price range, but the difference between it and a barrel that is 150-200$ is night and day different. Severe railroad tracks from the rifling process and pits and blemishes abound. I’m actually surprised it shot as well as it did for a few groups just based on how badly it copper fouled with limited rounds. View Quote @SuperJlarge No Rush at all !! Seriously ! .... Take your time , we aren't on a schedule , this is all for entertainment and knowledge. Lol, we all have enough stress in our lives. I don't know if I could even spend money on some brand barrels, I have grown out of blaster barrels ( still have those CL firearms, that I grew up with ) Lol... that might be heck on Earth for me. Trying to get a poor shooting, luck of the draw, poorly produced barrel to produce decent groups, knowing all along I am just wasting quality ammo... with every pull of the trigger. As for the BCA barrel... sounds like it would be a perfect candidate for the Tubbs Final Finish and or TMS. Let me know, I can order them up and have them shipped to you. Naturally, All of that depends on how much spare time you have ..... Lol |
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*Hold on to your AR-15s. Their magic must be very powerful, or they wouldn’t want them.*
JAFOM.... Just another fat old man. TOGC,IADC |
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Good to see you and the future Mrs Large having so much fun together.
I remember when you just started dating. Is there a wedding date yet? |
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Originally Posted By TXBO: Good to see you and the future Mrs Large having so much fun together. I remember when you just started dating. Is there a wedding date yet? View Quote Thanks for the kind words. 3+ years with no real drama is a success in my book. Hate to mess that up with how 2020’s been. We may re-evaluate it next year, but I feel like 2021 is waiting in the dark ready to shout “hold my beer”. |
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Originally Posted By SuperJlarge: Thanks for the kind words. 3+ years with no real drama is a success in my book. Hate to mess that up with how 2020’s been. We may re-evaluate it next year, but I feel like 2021 is waiting in the dark ready to shout “hold my beer”. View Quote LOL. Merry Christmas to you both. Cheers. |
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Excellent thread! Just burned all the way through it. Thanks for all the work you’ve put in!
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"He had the right hand of the devil strapped tightly to his side."-The Last Cowboy
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I read through this whole thread at work, where I have limited internet access and then had to pull it back up after I got home to see the pictures. Great thread and impressive shooting. I wish I was equipped to test out countless loads and tons of barrels. Maybe some day
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Very nice shooting.
I’m starting to wonder about the powder/loads of the white box. Did my first stuff for the .260 and even at .2 grain over max load I had no pressure signs or swipes on the brass (130 ELDM) but the white box 130’s have enough swipe mark I had to take a dremel to them to have them fit the gauge and have pressure signs at the primer. Faster burning powder in the factory load maybe? Anyway, haven’t been able to finish load development yet. |
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Cincinnatus
“ Cats arent tactical, or very aggressive units.” Mettee |
All these lovely small groups.
I really enjoy looking at the various results, Thanks for all your time sharing your results. And it always surprises me how well Horn. 140gr AG can shoot. |
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*Hold on to your AR-15s. Their magic must be very powerful, or they wouldn’t want them.*
JAFOM.... Just another fat old man. ________________________________ TOGC,IADC |
Sorry to hear about the Federal ammo.... I had a second batch of 120gr Fed. OTM pierce primers ... 6 of the 10 I fired, before noticing the primers. ( first batch was great )
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*Hold on to your AR-15s. Their magic must be very powerful, or they wouldn’t want them.*
JAFOM.... Just another fat old man. ________________________________ TOGC,IADC |
Originally Posted By bfoosh06: Sorry to hear about the Federal ammo.... I had a second batch of 120gr Fed. OTM pierce primers ... 6 of the 10 I fired, before noticing the primers. ( first batch was great ) View Quote I’ve known it was warm, but I haven’t experienced this before. 2 of the 10 cases were ok, which could have been due to the charge. That said, I had left the ammo in the car, so it was subjected to sustained 40F temps for several hours. Perhaps the cartridges experienced the “beer can” effect, going from a cold state to warm (chamber), and had a minor amount of condensation that resulted in increased pressure. |
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Originally Posted By SuperJlarge: @USMC_JA Thanks for the info. I’d still recommend getting a comparator kit for gaining accuracy. Hornady Comparator Kit View Quote X2. I was chasing coal on some loaders and this was recommended to me. I got the kit and discovered most on my loads were actually +-.002 or less. Saved me a huge amount of time. Now, depending on the purpose of the load I just seat and sort by ogive length. Anything outside my tolerance goes into the fouling group. The rest go into my precision group. |
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Originally Posted By SuperJlarge: This thread was always intended to be informative and to help others. So with that, hopefully someone will learn from my error. I cleaned the Ballistic Advantage 6.5creed barrel following the FGMM testing where I was piercing primers and decided to go back out to the range to fire the remaining FGMM rounds and to test the impact of hydraulic dented cases (over lubed during sizing) and loose necks on their impact to precision. The first group was the dented case group, which included the Cleaned Cold Bore (CCB) shot. I don’t recall that there was any significant feel to neck tension with any of the rounds that were in this group. Much to my surprise, the rounds shot very well. The next group was the 4 remaining FGMM 130’s. They shot fine and none had a pierced primer. This was better results than previously, but the cases did have strong ejector marks. The final group was the rounds that I loaded and deemed as having loose neck tension. I’m not using a gauge, but it’s based solely on feel when sizing. Those of you who have loaded quite a bit probably know exactly what I’m describing. These rounds had a similar POI, but the group wasn’t what I would have expected from consistent neck tension. It also appears that 3 of the rounds had a similar neck tension than the remaining 2, but I didn’t note that in my reloading book, so it’s pure speculation. Here’s where the problem begins. After the last group, I started policing more of my brass. I had sat up my rifle case beside of me when shooting the FGMM to ensure it was easily retrievable, but did not do that with my handloads. When I looked at the handloads, which never have caused pierced primers, I noticed that several had been pierced. When taking the gun apart when I returned home, I removed the bolt from the carrier (I did not perform this step after the FGMM rounds initially, which was a mistake). When taking it apart, I noticed 3 things. 1) the retainer pin was incredibly difficult to remove. 2) Small portions of the primer fell out from the inside of the bolt and 3) The firing pin had suffered deformation. TLDR: If you pierce a primer, go ahead and disassemble the bolt and clean it thoroughly, as it can have some bad affects on the firing pin/retainer pin. If anyone stumbles across a DPMS patterned firing pin and retaining pin, please feel free to send me an IM https://i.imgur.com/f6wXZf5.jpg https://i.imgur.com/sGkVJJH.jpg https://i.imgur.com/fTxlP2p.jpg Hydraulic dents https://i.imgur.com/qfrxEhH.jpg View Quote Had some minor hydronic dents due to over lubing my last batch of Hornady brass. I honestly can’t say my groups suffered. I processed my new Lapua brass and used a neck iron on them. Bullet tension is very noticeably lighter than the other brass. I think I may need to buy a collet sizing die. |
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Ummmm something about 6C
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Cincinnatus
“ Cats arent tactical, or very aggressive units.” Mettee |
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I have some easy questions...
*What is your favorite barrel? *What is your favorite cheap barrel? *What is your favorite barrel and factory ammo combination? |
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Originally Posted By SuperJlarge: I was pretty impressed by the results of the Geco 5.56 55gr fmj in the 16” RA Match barrel. Being as this was my first time shooting this ammo, I’m not sure if this is typical or if it usually performs better. I do know this barrel has a longer freebore than some of my other match barrels. https://i.imgur.com/HZmurqS.jpg Years ago, when this upper was first assembled, it shot the 75gr Hornady HPBT very will during initial testing. Unfortunately, recent testing did not produce the same results. With multiple moves and poor note taking when I was younger, I didn’t have a great starting point for this barrel. Thinking that the jump was the issue, I decided to evaluate seating the bullets closer to the lands to see if there was improvement. Note: There is a typo on the 4th target. The BTO was 1.886 and required single loading due to COAL exceeding mag length. All other rounds fit in the ASC magazine, but all would not fit in a Pmag/Lancer. https://i.imgur.com/n4lCUr6.jpg Confirmatory testing will be performed to see if the 1.883 BTO /-.002 is a better COAL for this rifle/bullet combo. View Quote Geco 223 and 5.56 have been above average in accuracy from several of my barrels including : Ranier Ultramatch 18" (Shilen blank), Rock Creek barrel via Denny's Guns Operator barrel 16", LWRCI 16", and a LaRue Stealth (old barrel from 6+ years ago) 16". My boxes are from several years ago, but I assume they're still producing a good product. |
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"History teaches us that men and nations behave wisely once they have exhausted all other alternatives."-Abba Eban
"I like it both ways, but still mainly mouth it" -gonzo_beyondo |
While Geco is still good stuff, I have found recent lots nowhere near as accurate as from 6-7 years ago.
I used to be able to get consistent MOA or better 10 shot groups with it which was amazing for 55gr FMJ. Now its more like 1.5 MOA which is still well above average. |
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Originally Posted By jb2c: I have some easy questions... *What is your favorite barrel? *What is your favorite cheap barrel? *What is your favorite barrel and factory ammo combination? View Quote Obviously it’s a bit of a tough question and may change in the future. Favorite barrel currently would probably be my Rock Creek 223 wylde from Rainier Arms. It’s produced some ridiculously great groups. It has also performed great at distance. As for barrels in general, I’m a big fan of Bartlein and just recently picked up a few blanks from them for bolt gun builds. All of my current match rifles have Bartlein barrels. I’d really like to get a Bartlein/Krieger from WOA, Craddock or CLE to test. I believe any of those would perform exceptional. For the large frame, my Ballistic Advantage has been great for accuracy, but the RLGS for a 6.5creedmoor impacts reliability for some hotter rounds. My LaRue UU 6.5creed has been super reliable and almost as precise with the limited rounds I have with it. Cheap barrel: Hands down, the Rainier Match is a fantastic “inexpensive” option. These are on sale (pre Corona) for 159-189$. The bore has been free of major imperfections/voids and the chamber was cut satisfactory in all that I’ve borescoped. It would be nice to test a PSA and BA barrel, but recent supply/demand has prevented me from getting one. Favorite barrel/ammo combination: Small frame: RA Rock Creek w/ ADI 69gr Large frame: Both the BA and LT 6.5 creedmoor have shot the Hornady 140 eld factory load very well. |
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