I am of the opinion that every rifle (in good shape) can be made to shoot. I have been frustrated with an AR-15 rifle I built specifically to be an accurate rifle. It has a heavy 20” Rock River stainless barrel.
I have been to the range a number of times, trying a broad range of loads with different powders (with 77 gr Nosler and Sierra match bullets) and each time the results were dismal. Groups ran in the range of 1.5” at 100 yards.
The rifle is shot off sand bags and is topped with a good fixed power 20X scope.
My grandson wants to shoot a rifle match next week. He is 10. He has never shot a match before, so this will be a new experience. It is only 300 to 600 yards, so wind should not be too big a challenge for him. I think an AR-15 would be a good rifle for him since the butt length is adjustable, and recoil won’t be an issue.
Today I went to the range, testing yet another powder, looking for a load that will group. Because tests with the 77 gr bullets have been so poor, I decided to try a 60 gr HP bullet. My experience has been that this bullet has worked well in many rifles.
When I went to load, I found the ChargeMaster was full of N140, so decided to try the 60 gr bullets with that powder. At the end of the loading session, I loaded 10 rounds with the N140 and the Sierra 77MK that previously refused to group.
I loaded 10 rounds of each powder charge for the 60HPs, 24.0, 24.5, 25.0 & 25.5. My plan was to shoot 5 of each in two different rifles – the heavy Rock River barrel rifle and a plain Jane Palmetto State Armory 16”. I shot two groups with a rifle, then switched rifles and shot the second rifle while the first cooled. 10 shots made the heavy barrel warm. The ordinary barrel got quite hot.
The 60s were only fair in the heavy barrel rifle, getting better with the hotter loads. The 25.5 N140 groups a hair over 1 inch. Next time out I will try 25.8gr.
The PSA shot the mild load (24.0 gr) the best. 0.8” is good (I think) for a AR-15. I will try it again, to make sure it was not a fluke. In case I need an accuracy load for the PSA.
Since I had a big bucket of primed brass (Norinco brass – Remington primers) I loaded 10 rounds with the Sierra 77. 23.0gr of N140 is a fairly hot load, probably round 3,000 fps. This one load of the 77s grouped 0.5” in the heavy barrel. This made my day. At last! A decent group!
I will load larger samples of that load, with additional loads of plus and minus 0.3 gr, to see if this load is real, and if a tweaked version is better.
I have tried this 77gr Sierra match bullet with RL15, 4895 and BLC2, plus several non-canister powders. Groups ran around 1.5”, or more, so 0.5” with N140 sure looks good.
I have seen other situations where a rifle would only perform with a given powder. I was getting close to giving up on this one, since I had tried so many different powders.
I have been to the range a number of times, trying a broad range of loads with different powders (with 77 gr Nosler and Sierra match bullets) and each time the results were dismal. Groups ran in the range of 1.5” at 100 yards.
The rifle is shot off sand bags and is topped with a good fixed power 20X scope.
My grandson wants to shoot a rifle match next week. He is 10. He has never shot a match before, so this will be a new experience. It is only 300 to 600 yards, so wind should not be too big a challenge for him. I think an AR-15 would be a good rifle for him since the butt length is adjustable, and recoil won’t be an issue.
Today I went to the range, testing yet another powder, looking for a load that will group. Because tests with the 77 gr bullets have been so poor, I decided to try a 60 gr HP bullet. My experience has been that this bullet has worked well in many rifles.
When I went to load, I found the ChargeMaster was full of N140, so decided to try the 60 gr bullets with that powder. At the end of the loading session, I loaded 10 rounds with the N140 and the Sierra 77MK that previously refused to group.
I loaded 10 rounds of each powder charge for the 60HPs, 24.0, 24.5, 25.0 & 25.5. My plan was to shoot 5 of each in two different rifles – the heavy Rock River barrel rifle and a plain Jane Palmetto State Armory 16”. I shot two groups with a rifle, then switched rifles and shot the second rifle while the first cooled. 10 shots made the heavy barrel warm. The ordinary barrel got quite hot.
The 60s were only fair in the heavy barrel rifle, getting better with the hotter loads. The 25.5 N140 groups a hair over 1 inch. Next time out I will try 25.8gr.
The PSA shot the mild load (24.0 gr) the best. 0.8” is good (I think) for a AR-15. I will try it again, to make sure it was not a fluke. In case I need an accuracy load for the PSA.
Since I had a big bucket of primed brass (Norinco brass – Remington primers) I loaded 10 rounds with the Sierra 77. 23.0gr of N140 is a fairly hot load, probably round 3,000 fps. This one load of the 77s grouped 0.5” in the heavy barrel. This made my day. At last! A decent group!
I will load larger samples of that load, with additional loads of plus and minus 0.3 gr, to see if this load is real, and if a tweaked version is better.
I have tried this 77gr Sierra match bullet with RL15, 4895 and BLC2, plus several non-canister powders. Groups ran around 1.5”, or more, so 0.5” with N140 sure looks good.
I have seen other situations where a rifle would only perform with a given powder. I was getting close to giving up on this one, since I had tried so many different powders.
