Accuracy of the AR-15?

bcsteve

bcsteve

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Just bought myself an AR for Christmas from this board. I've been shooting for about 20 years but mostly with hunting bolt action rifle. I know what can be expected (or obtained) with a good bolt action but what kind of accuracy can I expect out of my AR? It's a low count, 20" Colt Sporter Match HBAR, chrome lined.

Thanks
 
You should be able to get moa out of that AR with decent ammo. I think anything in the 2" @ 100m would be do-able with boring regularity.
 
I've seen rack rifles capable of shooting sub MOA at 200 meters.

I've seen rack rifles capable of shooting only 4" at 100 meters.

That said, with decent quality ammo, and you doing your part, you should expect 2" groups or better at 100m.

Have a look at my website: http://www3.ns.sympatico.ca/coffee/ for some info on shooting AR's.

NavyShooter
 
I used to be able to shoot 10" groups @ 500m with iron sites, prone with shooting brace (sling) fairly consistantly that being center mass of human silouette targets. Course my eyesight was a tad bit better and I was much younger...oh and that was with a standard issue M16-A2 service rifle, nothing 'tricked out'
 
With my 20" bbl'ed Armalite... and some handloaded 62 gr. FMJ's that I sold to Belffed, I'm grouping inside 1.5" with boring regularity. My bench technique always sucked... :mad: Mind you, I don't compete at benchrest anyways. When I do smarten up and try to shoot the 6 lb trigger in between heartbeats, I'll often get sub MOA groups at 100 meters. :D Yup, that's with 62 gr. FMJ ball ammo. With match bullets, like my favourite 68 gr. Hornady Moly-coated, I'll obtain sub MOA with boring regularity...

Too bad I can't shoot like that during the rundowns of matches 4, 8 and 12. :rolleyes:

Cheers,
Barney
 
Cool, good to know. Now if Canada Post can hurry up a bit and and get my certificate and ATT here, I can get my AR and confirm this!
 
Don't forget, the rifle is capable of shooting much better than you are...most accuracy issues are with the shooter not the rifle. These guys are fairyly accurate out of the box but a lot depends on the shooter. Some of these guys are 'MOA Fanatics' and have accurized their ARs to death. If you can hit an 8 1/2 x 11 sheet of paper at 200-300m, you are doing well.


bcsteve said:
Cool, good to know. Now if Canada Post can hurry up a bit and and get my certificate and ATT here, I can get my AR and confirm this!
Click to expand...
 
echo4lima said:
\most accuracy issues are with the shooter not the rifle
Click to expand...
While I tend to agree with that, if you have to two clicking nicely, you will be frustrated with crappy ammo, and may start questioning the rifles accuracy.

If I'm shooting surplus ammo, I can be quite happy with a 3 or 4moa group.
 
Yes, there are many mitigating factors regarding accuracey esp. when you get into the realm of sub-MOA marksmanship. However, I believe that generally we were talking about AR, out of the box. The rifle will out shoot most of us, even those of us who may have shot service rifle compititions in the past. It won't key-hole out of the box, but you should be able to produce 2-4" groups with iron sights @ 100m with some practice.
 
I know the rifle will probably shoot better than I can , especially with iron sight. I know tha my scoped bolt action hunting rifles will shoot sub moa and if the group is larger, it's me. I want to know what accuracy should be expected from my AR (not me). From what you guys are saying, the rifle should be able to do sub moa without my input? Does that sound right?
 
I've owned several over the last 17 years and they all shot well. The oddest thing is the one I have now. It is only a colt thin whip barrel of 16" with no free float handgards etc just stock. I have absolutly tortured this thing and it's 1/7 chrome bore stands up. I have more often than not cooked it to the point that I can't even hold the cary handle! Now the kicker. I log the mileage. She has 7896 through her and with a scope still prints 1 MOA!

I don't deserve her

Moe
 
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