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Posted: 1/29/2008 6:46:59 PM EDT
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Well it finally got here on friday (took almost 12 weeks)but weather and work have kept me from shooting it till today. Take a look at pic one to see why. first one to the range Guess it a good thing i got the winter trigger guard lol I was bothered a bit that the Caliber and twist were not visibly stamped on the upper anywhere, Mike said it was something he was remedying and would fix it if I wished later. The Fluting brought the weight down considerably as it is noticably lighter than My 20"SS BBl upper. Mike did a great job on the trigger and the rifle had a great fit and feel for me. here is pic of the rifle 23 inch BBl and 1-10 twist. I'll take some close up's when I get a chance. Rifle Mostly I was doing BBl break in. I put together 2 different safe loads to sight in Scope (6-24 X 50 Burris) and go through break in proceedure. I put 30 rnds through during break in and did it in 3-5 shot groups toward the end to see how it shot. Most groups were right around 1 inch. i249.photobucket.com/albums/gg211/ricky_arthur/100_2974_edited.jpg http://i249.photobucket.com/albums/gg211/ricky_arthur/100_2972_edited.jpg I was using 40 gr V-max with H 4895 and 34 gr Dogtown with Varget. I came home and loaded up some various loads to try for some better accuracy. I'm hoping for 1/2 MOA or better. I'll post more reports and pics if I can get to the range tommorrow. (it might storm again) Ricky |
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I braved a light snow and cold and was at the range this AM at sunup. Weather report called for windy conditions later and I wanted to take advatage of the morning calm. I loaded up 30 rnds of Dogtown 34 gr hp with Varget and H-4895. best group was .441 with 28.5 gr varget. .645 - .204 = .441 A little tweaking and I might have my load.  best group all groups gun pics gun pics close up It's snowing hard right now but If it calms I'll go try 28.3 and 28.7 to see if I can improve.  Ricky |
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Ricky...very nice looking piece....I like that 23" barrel What break-in procedure did you use? Gotta hand it to you...doing that barrel beak-in out in the cold... That's dedication....  Add a bunch of pine trees your range looks like my back yard...frozen tundra -35 wind chills on and off for the last three weeks or so.... edited to add 
Once you get her broken in proper and get some decent weather.....I doubt you will have any trouble meeting that 1/2 MOA goal... Good shooting....she's a keeper...P Dogs better look out.... |
Whew, I thought I was invisable for a while  thanks for a response.Yep, It's an armalite. 9divdoc, yep it was pretty cold, I had a buddy along for a while on the first shoot and he couldn't take the cold and went home. But it just kills me to have a new gun and not have a load worked up for it. Like I told my wife when I got home and showed her my groups, "I'll be satisfied in the 5's but I won't be surprised to get better" This is my first high end Build (high end for my budget )and I hope the Shilen select Match BBl lives up to my expectations. I have only had 2 over the counter rifles I couldn't get consistant sub MOA groups out of, a Ruger 220 swift and a Browning 7mm Mag. I don't own either anymore. I sold both to my BIL who was satisfied with the accuracy.On the Break in Proceedure, I used Mikes recommended method, which basicly involves determining when a BBl is ready to graduate to the next step by monitering the patches that come out during and after cleaning. Starting with 1 shot, clean and then small groups and clean etc. I felt It was pretty close to broke in with the first 30 rounds. At that point, after a 5 shot group I was getting very little copper and it cleaned up easily with a wet patch, 10 passes with Bore brush(thats more than I will use after It's got about 100 rnds through it), 2 dry Patches and then wet patch, then 2 dry. Again thanks for the comments everyone. Ricky |
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ricky_arthur, You may want to expirement with adjusting the OAL in .005 increments to gain some accuracy also. I know unfortunately that adds many more loads to test, but have been reading it can help immensely. I have never done this for any of my handloads yet. I've just chosen an OAL that has worked well for others with the same rifle, but... Might help. I have a Hornady OAL gauge, and a .204 Ruger modified case on the way. It lets you use the actual bullet you're going to use to determine OAL. |
In my bolt guns, I normally do that as a part of load development, but since the Magazine pretty much dictates OAL, it prettty much all comes down to BBL quality in the AR platform. Unless you want to turn your AR into a single shot, Oal is prettty much Set. Which is one of the reasons why the accuracy I've seen in some AR's is amazing. I know most of my Bolt guns that shoot 1/2 MOA could not do so if they were not close to the lands. What .204 are you loading for? Ricky |
Exact same setup as you. Actually talked to Mike at Dtech and finalized my order just hours before I found your post here. Mike recommended the 23" barrel length with the compensator. He recommended going with a 9-27"? bipod with 3 section legs, as he said when bench shooting, he wouldn't recommend using the bipod anyway. Never seen one online with that much height range. The only other difference in mine will be a vented handguard (the one with round holes in it, I don't know the manufacturer), and a Millett scope, TRS-1, 4-16x50. About my OAL suggestion... That's just something I've been reading about and never knew was so important before. Makes sense though that in the AR you may not be able to make it as long as you'd like. This will be my first AR. After a ton of research, DTech just ended up as the place to go. I want a rifle I can't blame any misses on. Friends have argued with me about the .204 having enough energy for coyotes, but my theory is you have to hit it before you have a chance at killing it, so I wanted something to shoot like a laser. I looked at bolt actions in .204, and realized I wasn't going to be able to touch anything I wanted for less than $800-1000, so figured I may as well spend the extra to go semi-auto, and have the flexibility to change uppers. The only high power I've had to use on coyotes has been a 700 BDL in .270WIN. I've had a hard time getting better than 2" groups at 100 with that, and just am not confident in it's accuracy in the field. Hopefully some load development considering OAL will improve that one. So you're saying i should buy an AR magazine and load up the variety of bullets I have here as long as possible? I was thinking I'd have to wait for the rifle and check the OAL for my specific chamber. Sounds like you're saying to make them as long as possible, just so they cycle through the magazine, is that right? |
Here are my recomendations, get a couple 10 or 20 rnd magazines. The 30 rounders are too long for shooting off a bench. On your Bi-pod, I agree with Mike and I take my bi-pod off when shooting from a bench as well. A compensator on a heavy BBl'd .204 will have very little actual effect, but It will look cool so if you like it go for it. On your OAL, just seat your bullets to give enough clearance for reliable Mag feeding. Thats about all you can do. With the 34 Gr dogtown bullets I'm shooting now, that OAL is 2.250. I shot another 5 shot .5 group yesturday in a driving snow with that combo ((I only shot one group because my brothers shot up all the rest I had loaded at milk jugs I set up, There were no misses ) I will load the 34 gr for PD's and some 40 gr v-max for coyotes.On your choice of weapon. Again, you made the right choice, both in Caliber and weapon platform. Your buddies who think a .204 is not enough gun for coyotes have probably never shot one. It's wicked lethal on anything Coyote size on down. Almost all of the serious coyote callers in My area have gone to the .204. It's far more pelt friendly than other popular Varmint rounds, and I havn't touched my .22-250 in over a year cause the .204 has so many areas where it excells. You will enjoy accuracy as good as thier bolt guns(probably Better) Far less recoil (so you don't lose sight picture) and instant followup shots=more dead coyotes! Now you just have to suffer through the 2-3 month wait. Haha  I wanna see your rifle when It's done so be sure to post it here. Ps, on your .270 try some different ammo or loads, mine is VERY picky. REM ammo will shoot groups that can hardly be covered with a pie plate. Federal premium will do easy MOA and My hand loads will do 3/4 MOA consistantly. Ricky |
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Update for ya: My DTech 204 is still a couple weeks out. There was a delay in getting Shilen 1:10 twist barrels. I have 1000 brass prepped and primed waiting for loading. The wait has been excruciating. I've planned alot of work for myself finding the right loads for the 204. I have 8 weights/brands of bullets, and 5 different powders waiting for test loads to be made up. That will make for quite a few combinations with the trickler. I'll let you know my results. In the meantime, I've figured out a great load for my 270. It's giving me great groups in both my 700, and a friend's Savage. I haven't played with OAL much, because the throat in my 700 is so long, I don't think this short 90 grain bullet will come close to the lands anyway. This one chrono'd a consistent 3500fps 10 feet from the muzzle, and still has much less recoil than a hot 130 grain load. Considering we're limited to shotguns for deer in my area, this 90 grain Sierra will be the only bullet I load for 270 from now on. Should be great for varmints. http://files.mleaf.net/270varget/54.2varget90grSierraHP.jpg http://files.mleaf.net/270varget/90grballistics.jpg |
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