Average AR15 effective range.

Hitting a 500m target at KD is a different matter from hitting a 500m target at on the field of varying elevations......and that no one is telling you the target is 500m away. It is a bit more technical in the judgemental part of shooting then the actual trigger pulling. Trigger pulling is not the hardest part - creating a firing resolution is harder beyond 300m when elevations, wind and distance all come into play. A 25m misjudgement in distance creates a 6-7" difference in bullet drop beyond 400m - i bet most soldiers will need a few tries with some spoting to adjust fire beyond 300m, without the aid of laser range finder or more sophisticated meauring method(like mildot).

300m is a "point and shoot" range for 5.56 .
 
misanthropist said:
That's completely up to you, of course. But it's entirely possible to build extremely accurate long-range ARs.

As a matter of fact, this years International Sniper Competition at Ft. Benning was just won by two shooters using Larue OBRs, which are an AR-pattern rifle.

Those are clearly not average AR-15s...but far more importantly, those are not average AR-15 shooters. In most cases, the gun will outperform the owner.
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I have not and will not dispute that others with better skills can make some incredible shots with these guns. But then again I have a stock version and have not invested thousands of dollars replacing most of the original parts. Out of the box it is a good little fun gun. I have no doubt that you are right about it being better than my skills can draw out of it.

At least I start out my remarks with the correct phrase, "With respect to ALL".
 
For a side note, I pulled these numbers off the interwebs for 55gr FMJ m193 "reliable" fragmentation ranges:

personnel targets in the open with no barriers. Here are the fragmentation ranges for various barrel lengths for XM193:

20" - 190m
16" - 140m
14.5" - 95m
11.5" - 40m

Barrel length does have an effect is stabilization/muzzle velocity. Average muzzle velocity for XM193 is about 3050fps out of a 14.5" barrel. So it's probably good to about 75-100yds for reliable fragmentation.
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For what it's worth, here's an AR-15 shot at 250 yards offhand with irons and tracer rounds.

I'm sure anyone standing in front of the cinder block wall (or hiding behind it) would call that fire "effective".

Fast forward to 16:55 for night time tracer action.

[youtube]hQRmHVTze-g&feature=feedu[/youtube]
 
Like others have said, depends on your definition of "effective".

The technical definition of effective range when it comes to practical accuracy is:

"The maximum range at which the average trained soldier can hit a stationary standing human sized target at least 50% of the time".

Effective range has been going up by this definition because of the increased use of optics.

Commonwealth doctrine used to be 600m/yds, 300m/yds against "individual targets" (ie. soldier engaging single enemy soldier), and 600m/yds against "collective targets", or "section fire" (ie. whole section giving covering fire against a building or bunker while another element bounds forward).

It was always assumed that the cartridge in use had more than sufficient terminal effect even beyond those ranges.

It is only comparatively recently that terminal ballistics has been a factor in "effective range" with the advent of the 5.56mm.
 
the problem with the 55 FMG is that it starts to tumble after 400 meters. At that point it loses velocity rapidly, starts to "rainbow" and wander in its flight path. although still effective against an unarmored target ( it does not fragment but now tears through soft targets) it is not a reliable round to hit the target consistently.

AR15 platforms (with a 18 to 20 inch barrel) are genaraly considered effective out to 400m for the purpose of consistently putting rounds on target with the ability to injure or kill.

5.56 LMG are considered effective to 600m with the cone of fire as that is the max range the bullet still has suffient energy to kill or injure an enemy combatant.

Personaly I don't bother after 300m anyways as I cannot hit a man sized taret %100 and therfore to me it is a waste of ammo
 
I use a 223 to compete in f-class out two 900 meters. I to competed in service rifle with iron sights out to 500 meters. Mystic even pushes it out to a mile. So the round is somewhat effective out to a mile, however the realistic range of any projectile weapon is limited to the distance which you can see and have a clear field of fire.
 
JBD said:
I use a 223 to compete in f-class out two 900 meters. I to competed in service rifle with iron sights out to 500 meters. Mystic even pushes it out to a mile. So the round is somewhat effective out to a mile, however the realistic range of any projectile weapon is limited to the distance which you can see and have a clear field of fire.
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Well, I am not sure what load you are running, but most of the 223 fclass loads I've seen don't come close to fitting in an AR mag.
 
being such a wide scoping question, it depends.













lol.


lots of guys in the states are doing well out to 800yards with nothing incredible done to their rigs. it would be a safe bet that most shooters stretching to these ranges are competent reloaders. not positive but i believe 400 yards was a requirement the gi's had to meet to see combat back in the day down there. if that is correct, it is a very accurate firearm.
 
LordEvilPepper said:
the problem with the 55 FMG is that it starts to tumble after 400 meters. At that point it loses velocity rapidly, starts to "rainbow" and wander in its flight path. although still effective against an unarmored target ( it does not fragment but now tears through soft targets) it is not a reliable round to hit the target consistently.

AR15 platforms (with a 18 to 20 inch barrel) are genaraly considered effective out to 400m for the purpose of consistently putting rounds on target with the ability to injure or kill.

5.56 LMG are considered effective to 600m with the cone of fire as that is the max range the bullet still has suffient energy to kill or injure an enemy combatant.

Personaly I don't bother after 300m anyways as I cannot hit a man sized taret %100 and therfore to me it is a waste of ammo
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Where to begin. Or should I even bother?
 
LordEvilPepper said:
the problem with the 55 FMG is that it starts to tumble after 400 meters. At that point it loses velocity rapidly, starts to "rainbow" and wander in its flight path. although still effective against an unarmored target ( it does not fragment but now tears through soft targets) it is not a reliable round to hit the target consistently.
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100% wrong.

Also, I assume you meant FMJ.
 
WAREWOLF said:
out of my 17 inch barlle im getting to about 400-450 yards.:cheers:
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17"? Did you measure your 16" with the flash hider included?

The 400M round tumble isnt accurate, good gunners on a C9 can lay a beaten zone out to 800 with terminal effect. If the round was tumbling for half that, I'd have my doubts as to its lethality on impact. It's still the same round, so maybe some tumbling from a 10.5" SBR @ 400 maybe, but its not the ammo.
 
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