AR Sponsor
Posted: 6/24/2012 4:25:38 PM EDT
|
I've been wanting to compare several different types of ammo, in one gun, in one day, trying to be as even as possible.
So, today I did it. Ammo; 223/5.56 55 grain FMJ WPA Polyformance 30rnds 5.56 M193 Prvi Partizan 55 grain 30rnds 5.56 PMC XTAC 62 grain 20rnds .223 American Eagle 55 grain 30rnds Gun; Spikes Tactical mid-length upper, Palmetto State lower, Spikes Tactical battle trigger, Nikon Buckmaster 10X50 scope. Weather; about 70*, little to no wind, dry. Rest; 2 4x4 blocks and military blanket, on a bench. Distance; 100yds. Method; Held on target, took my time, squeezed off shot. Fired about a dozen shots to tweak scope, then aimed at center of target with each shot. Fire 4, swap magazine to different brand, fire 5th (round in chamber) at same target, switch to next target with fresh ammo. repeat. Mags were marked, so I knew which target to aim at. Results; No-one is going to beg me to be on their rifle team 
Wolf put the most in the white, but a few rounds sounded underpowered. I actually looked more than once to see if action cycled. I liked the looks of the PrviPartizan, but many of those rounds hit completely off to the left side of the target. PMC was another good looking round, with ballistic tip, and possibly the most accurate. AE all hit high, but not too bad grouping. All brass rounds ejected right and slightly forward, the steel cases were slightly rearward. Barrel got hot enough to cause heat waves in the scope. The other target was what I used to tweak the scope, and then just shot at when I was done, using a mag loaded with different brands, so I don't know which were what. Oddly enough, just getting the scope on target and pulling the trigger was more accurate than taking my time, or maybe I just shoot worse at orange targets!?! Conclusion, find an ammo you like, adjust sights to it, practice, and stick with it. 
|
|
Good review, but I suspect you're right about orange targets not suiting your eye. I don't have a problem with them but several guys I know just can't group anything on orange. Put up an NRA target and they chew up the X.
Only one of those loads I've tried is the PPU and my rifle likes it. Seems to like all M193 though. ETA: edited for thought it was another thread.. lol |
|
Update:
Got a chance to try again, with black targets this time. The circled holes were from an earlier shoot, the uncircled holes were from today. No PMC, I used all I had last time, but a friend showed up (thanks James) and let me shoot some Lake City, XM193 55gr. The results were much better; PRVI PRTIZAN still shot low left, but grouped better. 
Wolf still seemed OK; 
AE was what I sighted with, so it hit pretty good; 
But, as I should have known, the Lake City was the best; 
|
|
Yup! I still have a bunch of Wolf, American Eagle, and PrviPrtzin to use up, but I won't bother adjusting the sights. I still want to try some PMC on the black targets and see how it does.
I might even try some "match grade" and see what happens, although I won't buy that in bulk. $$$$$ |
|
It is normal and expected that different ammo will print to different spots around the target. This is why when you find the right ammo for a particular gun, you stick with it. Technically you should still verify sighting when you change from one lot of ammo to the next. Now in your case, something is wrong somewhere. With the gun and scope you have, I don't see why you aren't shooting quarter-sized groups at 100 yds. Your shots are all over the place. Most likely the cause is your technique, although there are plenty of hardware problems that could cause that.
I had my 16" middy with 4x32 scope zeroed, but the reticle glass inside clocked on me. I came home and fixed it and went back the next day to verify sighting. I had to take the scope off and also take it apart, so I figured on having to do a correction, but I had no idea how much of one. So i fired three rounds fairly fast to see where it was shooting. It was right about two clicks but not too bad. I took my time with the next three shots after making the adjustment, and this is what I got. This is the best I have shot with a carbine. If I can do this, anybody can. I also forgot my darn sandbags when I went back and had to shoot off of wood blocks cushioned with a cleaning cloth. Maybe a better trigger will help you - it helped me. I put in a single-stage ACT/ALG trigger, which is not fantastic but is a big improvemet over what I had. 
|
|
What ammo are you using 1saxman?
I feel that using the same point of aim, the majority of hits should have been in the same area, and they were, just the cheaper ammo spread out the hits more than the good stuff. If the ammo didn't matter, then even if all hits were 6" off the bullseye, they should have all been inside a 4" circle. I don't think that even if I adjust the sights to one ammo or another, the results will be much better, but hey, another morning of experimenting will be fun too. I have a Spikes battle trigger, which is an improvement over the stock one, but a better trigger would definitely help. |
|
I was using some handloads I had made in 1996. 62 gr steel-core in once-fired Lake City brass. Pretty much SS109 or M855. I had basically ignored this ammo until I recently tried it in this particular 1:7 carbine, and it shot as good in it as the 75 gr I bought especially for it. Now I wish I good get another case of it but its too late, as the man who made it had to quit reloading because of Arthritis.
Anyway, the reason I commented on your shooting was I saw you were using a 10x scope. Basically, if you had shot those targets with iron sights, they would still be poor, except maybe the last one. With a 10x scope, you should be easily shooting into 1" with any reasonable ammo. I'd suggest you find somebody who can shoot pretty well and ask them to coach you. I would help you if I had any idea what you're doing wrong or maybe what's wrong with your rifle/scope. |
|
I would certainly accept any suggestions.
Of course handloads should be better than factory loads. I do want to try some match grade. I know I can shoot fairly good, I do real good with my Ruger .22mag. bolt action. That has a real good oem trigger. I really don't think I did anything different between ammo brands, just that lower grade isn't as accurate. |
AR Sponsor