Accuracy of North Eastern Arms 18" DMR barrel? Pet loads?

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bobbynewmark

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I have used 55gr and 62gr so far with terrible results.. handloads and factory both stink..

How is everyone else doing with this barrel?

next try is 70-80 grain projectiles

1:7 twist BTW
 
Before all the haters show up im gonna throw some suggestions around.

Check your barrel nut, headspace and your rail. See if anything is loose, rattling or outta whack.

my coworker had one and said it wasnt a bad gun. So if u cant hit the broad side of a barn, something is up here
 
headspace is perfect.. using AR optic in a PEPR mount... all is snug.. barrel nut is torqued to spec... trigger is short smooth and light single stage

all I can think is A2 flash hider, ammo, barrel quality, or bullet weight

shooting at 140 yds from a bench w/bipod with 3x9 scope at full power
 
What bullets? Try the gold standard, 69 gr Sierra MK (for me anyway), and some 55-60 gr FB bullets (V-Max are easy to find and priced right). I've also been having good results lately with Hornady 75 HPBT's. Avoid anything that NEEDS a 1 in 7 or 8 twist. It may be marginally stable in cold dense air, so stay away from the VLD's and the 75 gr A-Max. Your trying to reduce the variables not introduce them after all.

What exactly do you mean by terrible results? Also, you know for sure the scope is good? I've had some frustration working up a load only to discover the scope was screwed when I put it on a rifle with a load that I knew grouped well.
 
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Is the barrel nut tight? even .001 inch of slop will open groups considerably. Loose barrels are a known issue with NEA.
 
scope works great at 50-75 yrds so I think it is ok..

I have tried Norc 55gr... Hornady 62 grain and bulk 55 grain FMJBT, and around 100 of the red nylon tip ones (a-max? v-max?) Used Varget and Benchmark so far for powder...
 
My 18" has never been a great shooter with the light bullets, but shoots Hornady 75 HPBT's fantastic.

I honestly don't know why it's like this, but, that's how it goes. It seems to defy all logic. I installed the barrel myself 3 years ago, and, it's as tight as I can get it.

Just doesn't shoot the light bullets all that well.
 
Can the folks talking about "fantastic" or "terrible" results post the group sizes to help us understand what they mean?

I don't have an NEA DMR barrel but with a Rainier Arms 16" Ultramatch, I've only recently started to get MOA performance using 77 grain SMKs over 24.8 grains of Varget. Optimized 55 grain loads at best, are 1.75 to 2 MOA for me.
 
at 140 yards I am all over a 100 yard standard rifle target... like buckshot at 40 yards from 12" hogleg :) sigh.... Those types of targets I don't take photos of
 
bobbynewmark said:
I have used 55gr and 62gr so far with terrible results.. handloads and factory both stink..

How is everyone else doing with this barrel?

next try is 70-80 grain projectiles

1:7 twist BTW
Click to expand...


Please elaborate? You can expect about 4MOA and less with cheap rifles with cheap ammo. 1/7 55 up to 62 grainers.

Are we talking like 12" @ 100m grouping here?

Cheers.
 
Out of curiosity, I bought one of these barrels a while back when they were first offered. After installing it on an upper, I had to experiment with different bolts to find a combination that headspaced. Selective assembly. Installed a high power scope and was going to write a review of how the barrel shot with various loads, thought folks might be interested. Unfortunately one of the company shills kept butting in with glorious reports of the half-minute performance he was getting, so I dropped the project.
Anyway, groups around 2 minutes aren't difficult to get, smaller can happen. OK barrel, nothing to write home about.
 
tiriaq said:
Out of curiosity, I bought one of these barrels a while back when they were first offered. After installing it on an upper, I had to experiment with different bolts to find a combination that headspaced. Selective assembly. Installed a high power scope and was going to write a review of how the barrel shot with various loads, thought folks might be interested. Unfortunately one of the company shills kept butting in with glorious reports of the half-minute performance he was getting, so I dropped the project.
Anyway, groups around 2 minutes aren't difficult to get, smaller can happen. OK barrel, nothing to write home about.
Click to expand...

headspace was perfect with my Forster 5.56 gauges.. but I do have another brand new bolt/carrier.. I will give it a shot.

What was your load for 2 MOA ??

I knew I chose poorly when the bolt extension was peppered with rust on delivery... Vendor directed me to NEA, where I got zero interest from them :( Cleaned up with a metal dental pick and some 3m pads.. but still WTF? Also.. I can't tell if it is polygonal rifling as advertised... To my eyes it looks like plain old rifling?
 
tiriaq said:
Out of curiosity, I bought one of these barrels a while back when they were first offered. After installing it on an upper, I had to experiment with different bolts to find a combination that headspaced. Selective assembly. Installed a high power scope and was going to write a review of how the barrel shot with various loads, thought folks might be interested. Unfortunately one of the company shills kept butting in with glorious reports of the half-minute performance he was getting, so I dropped the project.
Anyway, groups around 2 minutes aren't difficult to get, smaller can happen. OK barrel, nothing to write home about.
Click to expand...

I remember that thread. And people wonder why some hate NEA. Not only is their product subpar but their PR absolutely blew dead goats. Remember the professionals don't use sights on their short barrel shotguns, that's why we don't provide bead sights on our barrels post.
 
My default load for .223 in anything semi auto is 25.5 gr of benchmark and either a Nosler Ballistic Tip or a PRVI spritzer in 50gr...

I have/had 2 NEA barrels (one 7.5" and a 18"). The 18" was good for 1.7"-2.5" on paper with those rounds. The 7.5" I never "papered" but it was good for 10/10 on a 12" gong at 250y off the bench..... Not so much unsupported....

For comparison, the 18" was shooting norc surplus at about 4.5" @ 100y.

I found the NEA barrels to be adequate performers in the AR platform..... My luck with Bolts, not so much.....
 
Worse come to worse. Even a no name brand ammo should still do 4-6 moa at 100yd. My suggestion would be try heavier grain as most others have said. 69 to 75 even 77gr. Do a baseline there and see what you get. I know my barrel doesnt like 69smk and hornady superperformance 75. But regular hornady 75 is moa all day long
 
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