AR-15 iron sight accuracy/distance (bench-rest shooting)

Pietro Beretta

Pietro Beretta

CGN frequent flyer
Rating - 100%
54   0   0
Location
Ontario (G.T.A.)
What distances do you guys usually shoot your AR's at? At my indoor range I got 50 yards, and at Silverdale I got 100/200 yards. I find shooting bench-rest at 200 yards is quite challenging with the AR-15 (unlike my M1 & M14).

Just the sight picture is hard to pin-point at a human-sizes target at 200 yards. I have a match/thin post front sight and a carbine length sight radius. Barrel is a 1/9 16" HBAR using generally 55 gr. FMJ-BT (not by choice, but price & availabilty). Collapsible stock doesn't help out as a standard A2 would be a more solid platform. 10-shot grouping are not as tight as I'd like (as my M1 & M14) and are scattered on the whole page.

I'm interested to see what my groupings would be like with a full-size 20" 1/7 HBAR and possibly 69 gr. FMJ-BT or 77 gr. FGMK

What are you guys using for 100/200 yards+ target bench rest?
 
Last edited:
I know I'm dating myself ;) Back in the 80's, I used to compete in Service Rifle marches with an iron sighted AR15. These matches are shot out to 500y/m. This was before Elcans were issued and nobody had optics on their C7/AR15 rifles. As I recall, scores were a bit lower than today, but not by much. The AR15 peep sight adjust to 800m, although at that distance you need a pretty large target to be visible. SR is shot on man size (Fig 11) and half man size (Fig 12) targets. So, if you've got good eyesight, i.e. for you young bucks, iron sights are very good usable alternative. If all you're shooting at is 200y targets, it should be a snap providing your aiming mark is the proper size.
 
Regularly shot service rifle out to 300mw/ irons & 20 inch H-Bar, good accuracy.

A bunch of years ago before handloading was allowed for DCRA matches a fellow competed with a BORROWED AR , 20inch/ w. irons against bolt rifles set up for T.R.( mostly .308 's with Central ,& Parker Hale vernier sights ---- He won our Annual Prize Match, ranges fr. 300 to 600 metres with it, I was using an iron sighted TRW M-14 , ended up a losing third place. ----- So YES, if the operator can "hold hard" ,the thing can, & will shoot straight!
 
Nothing fancy ,verboten at the time ,We used issued coroded exteriored IVI.308,forget the pill weight,(probably 145 grain) and clean 62 grain IVI for the .556
 
Pietro Beretta said:
What distances do you guys usually shoot your AR's at? At my indoor range I got 50 yards, and at Silverdale I got 100/200 yards. I find shooting bench-rest at 200 yards is quite challenging with the AR-15 (unlike my M1 & M14).

Just the sight picture is hard to pin-point at a human-sizes target at 200 yards. I have a match/thin post front sight and a carbine length sight radius. Barrel is a 1/9 16" HBAR using generally 55 gr. FMJ-BT (not by choice, but price & availabilty). Collapsible stock doesn't help out as a standard A2 would be a more solid platform. 10-shot grouping are not as tight as I'd like (as my M1 & M14) and are scattered on the whole page.

I'm interested to see what my groupings would be like with a full-size 20" 1/7 HBAR and possibly 69 gr. FMJ-BT or 77 gr. FGMK

What are you guys using for 100/200 yards+ target bench rest?
Click to expand...

Out here, we used to have our "championships" where we shot a course of fire as close to the national DCRA as possible...iron sights. (our range went out to 500meters). At the time, the heaviest bullets available were the 69 gr match ones. I don't ever recall anyoine using this due to cost and attitude (i.e. "you can't hit anything over 100 yds with a .223"). Anyways, the 223/556's shooters won most if not all the matches with the 55 gr M-193 stuff...the 62 SS109 stuff was still hard to find.

Prior to this, I remember shooting both iron sighted and scoped Ar 15's regularly(benchrest) at 500 meters. I wanted to see the accuracy potential of these and various rifles, just to see what they can do. Don't let any of those "fudds"out there tell you it can't be done, because hitting stuff out there in this calibre can be done!
 
Prior to 1994, service rifle was always shot out to 500m with iron sights. When I switched to optics, my scores went down.

There are different types of targets in the system that will have an effect on how well you can see with irons. There are is a newer style that is made with thicker, darker brown coloured paper and they are harder to see against the backstop without a scope.

I think that Irons are still useable for service rifle as long as they are using the light tan coloured fig. 11 & 12's on the stick, and a pale backing (white plastic or beige paper - not grey) on the 4' frame.

BTW, this response was posted in the service rifle forum, not a bench rest forum.
 
Last edited:
Last summer ,while training for Bisley, we had the top 16 shooters in the Canadian Army all training in Gagetown.There were exactly ZERO groups fired that were less than 1.75 inches at 100m.And those were 20 inch barrels.Regular Hbar AR's are generally not capable of producing consitant 1 inch groups at 100m.So your groups are most likely right on track.
 
We shoot AR's out to 300m using a solid black Fig 12, about 18" wide by 22" high. The secret is to Zero at 200m using a 6 oclock hold, then use the same sight picture for your 300m shoot, at 100m, put about 1/4 of the front sight into the target. Our targets have inscribed 6" centres, 12" outer and the rest of the target scored, 5, 4 and 3. 40 rounds fired, 10 at 300m, 20 at 200m and 10 at 100 for a total point score of 200. Get off the bench and get down on the ground, use a proper sling and learn your trigger. Carbines do OK at our matches were the average score from the last match was about 115 or so, it's a tough match!

Scott
 
I think the mechanical accuracy of ARs is supurb, and really under rated by alot of folks. Ammunition and a good barrel are really the factors.

The following groups were not 'benched' by any means, and likely the ammo/gun combo can do better.
However they serve their main purpose for me, which is proving a load.
I know with this setup of ammo/rifle combo, I only have myself to blame.

This is a 10 round group fired at 100m from a Colt 1:7 twist Hbar, shot prone off a bag.
(Flat top with a Nightforce scope)
EmmaandPenelope377.jpg


This is a 5 round group fired at 100m from another Colt 1:7 Hbar with Irons, shot prone off a bag.
070118090.jpg
 
Longshot said:
Last summer ,while training for Bisley, we had the top 16 shooters in the Canadian Army all training in Gagetown.There were exactly ZERO groups fired that were less than 1.75 inches at 100m.And those were 20 inch barrels.Regular Hbar AR's are generally not capable of producing consitant 1 inch groups at 100m.So your groups are most likely right on track.
Click to expand...

Ahem,

Canadian Armed Forces. (We had Army, Navy, Air Force, Reg and Reserve covered....)

The rifles were fired with and without the Triad rail, with results recorded and no effective change in accuracy was noted (tested with 5+ seperate shooters and multiple groups)

The C-7A2 barrels were the "government" profile, light below the handguards, and standard forward of the FSB.

We did not shoot any groups smaller than about 1.5-1.75" at 100 meters.

The rifles selected were chosen from a unit's armoury, and all were test-fired for accuracy, with the best 40 weapons being used (out of a lot of weapons considerably larger than that.)

The best rifles shot in the 1.75" area, and the average was around 2".

My personal HBAR (home gun) shoots around 1.5-1.75".

NS
 
D_ said:
Whats your load Mike? Why is it you seem to prefer the 1:7 instead of the seemingly more popular 1:9?
Click to expand...

The 10 round group is 77smk, 23.5 gr. Varget, 205m, Win. brass.

The 5 round group is 68gr Hornady HPBT, 25 gr. Varget, 205m, Win. Brass

1:7s will stabalize the longer stuff, especially at distance -for sure.
The 1:9s? wouldn't know, I've never used one -but I hear it's a crap shoot.
 
I am new to Ar adventure, today was my first time out with my new AR rifle.
Here is pic of a very first group from iron sights.

It was 50m. At that distance the wind, which was rather heavy has very little impact on bullets, however our target oards were moving up and down so it was a real challenge to squeeze a trigger at such a conditions.



Here is a rifle:
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom