BCL102 Range Review, SECOND RANGE TRIP POST 123!!!

Wow tomorrow should be good then. I have some Hornady 168 match, and some Hornady 178 precision hunter. Not to mention others to test!
 
Range day 2 tried federal fusion 150 - feed fine accuracy sucked. Then another magic round Hornady precision hunter 178 ELDX. I wish I could post pictures without using photobucket but don't know how - got 5 in one inch maybe under need to measure. And right after that group followed it up with 3 in 1 inch.

Next i I will start reloading but I may not have time prior to hunting so the hornady may be my moose round this year.

***Here are the pics of sbe's groups that he couldn't post***

sbe's quote - "Here are the two pics I took one is 5 shot and other 3 shot right after the 5 shot"

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He's saying the aftermarket unit was the one defective. The stock one was ok.

And by defective, I mean putting an AR15 trigger in an AR10

sorry i missed that..... most of the guys here are putting ar15 triggers in the rifle, although the rra national match has a lightened hammer and lightened spring.... in my opinion that is not suitable for a 308, i wonder if the recoil was big enough to be essentially "doubling" the rifle, because the hammer is following the carrier before its in battery, maybe enough mass being forced back to trip the sear after it has engaged the hammer... but before the carrier is in battery.

either way, i assume it was purchased from questar, i would return it for exchange or contact rra and get it exchanged
 
Looks like a solid performance! Good shooting SBe! and thank for posting his pics Ljones.

Next time you take her out... shoot some 5 to 10-5 round groups or 5 to 10-10 round groups. Don't change anything as you shoot.

IMHO - The key to accurate assessment of rifle ability to perform is long term testing. Having a rifle that shots 1 MOA or less.... once, when the stars were momentarily aligned in the sky is a bit of a joke. Especially if nine other groups are ranging in size from 2'' to 4''.
 
Hello Jerry,

Keeping what you have said in mind, let us know where you think would be a good place to start with reloads for this rifle. I always try to develop a load that can do double duty, both for hunting and target.

Meanwhile, how do you expect the newer Hornady "Black" ammo will perform in this rifle?

Thanks.

https://www.canadiangunnutz.com/forum/showthread.php/1606274-308-semi-accuracy-comparison

Keep an eye here for good starting points for loads. Hopefully we'll start to see some range updates late September with load data.
Basically though with a 308 semi you want to do service rifle loads (my Hornady manual has a section for them) and use powders with a similar burn rate to H4895 and Varget for 308 semi's. Also I would suggest keeping projectile weights above 140gr and below 180gr. Your rifle may cycle and you may see nice results on a target with heavier ones but the heavier the projectile the harder/faster the BCG cycles which is harder on your rifle.
 
https://www.canadiangunnutz.com/forum/showthread.php/1606274-308-semi-accuracy-comparison

Keep an eye here for good starting points for loads. Hopefully we'll start to see some range updates late September with load data.
Basically though with a 308 semi you want to do service rifle loads (my Hornady manual has a section for them) and use powders with a similar burn rate to H4895 and Varget for 308 semi's. Also I would suggest keeping projectile weights above 140gr and below 180gr. Your rifle may cycle and you may see nice results on a target with heavier ones but the heavier the projectile the harder/faster the BCG cycles which is harder on your rifle.

Great, thanks cr5.
 
.......but the heavier the projectile the harder/faster the BCG cycles which is harder on your rifle.

Adjustable gas block will fix this. And the smoother the gun cycles will help improve accuracy as well. In my opinion an adjustable gas block is the best improvement you can invest in for a semi-auto. Next would be the trigger. Now does anyone know where to find one to fit this?
 
I have a Larue OBR and my general observation on it and other semi auto AR .308 rifles is that anything beyond 3 round groups causes the barrel to heat up and the groups to open up. The barrel profile is actually quite thin. But shooting a bunch of 3 round groups with 15 minutes between each group, it is sub MOA consistently. Rounds 4,5,6,etc usually open up to the 1.5 MOA range. You may have similar experiences.

I'm sure the usual complaints will be mentioned about 3 round groups being statistically invalid. However, shooting 3 round groups 10 times and getting the average (not cherry picking the best ones) should give you a strong indication of accuracy with a given load. I'd love to see if something similar happens with the 102 rifles.
 
Looks like a solid performance! Good shooting SBe! and thank for posting his pics Ljones.

Next time you take her out... shoot some 5 to 10-5 round groups or 5 to 10-10 round groups. Don't change anything as you shoot.

IMHO - The key to accurate assessment of rifle ability to perform is long term testing. Having a rifle that shots 1 MOA or less.... once, when the stars were momentarily aligned in the sky is a bit of a joke. Especially if nine other groups are ranging in size from 2'' to 4''.

I don't mean to be rude but everyone I've seen is getting consistent .75 to 1.5 groups, where are your numbers coming from???
 
Just poking around on federals website does anyone know anything about this new 308 Win. Edge TLR™?
175gr .536 BAC 2600fps muzzle.



" • Match-grade long-range accuracy in a bonded hunting bullet
• High-performance polymer tip material provides the industry's highest heat resistance for the most consistent ballistics
• Extremely high ballistic coefficient
• Exclusive Slipstream™ tip helps flatten trajectories and initiate low-velocity expansion
• Less wind drift and drop
• AccuChannel™ groove technology minimizes drag
• Copper shank and bonded lead core retain weight for deep penetration at any range
• Demonstrated expansion at 900 yards"
 
Looks like a solid performance! Good shooting SBe! and thank for posting his pics Ljones.

Next time you take her out... shoot some 5 to 10-5 round groups or 5 to 10-10 round groups. Don't change anything as you shoot.

IMHO - The key to accurate assessment of rifle ability to perform is long term testing. Having a rifle that shots 1 MOA or less.... once, when the stars were momentarily aligned in the sky is a bit of a joke. Especially if nine other groups are ranging in size from 2'' to 4''.

GreenBob, I think Jerry says it best. The rifle is showing promise with factory fodder & ball. Here is what Jerry said:

Problem is most 308 ammo is geared for bolt rifles and thus are loaded with powders and charges that may not be ideal of the gas system needs. So you can have a perfectly accurate rifle shoot badly cause the ammo is not in tune with it. It will be more obvious once the accuracy testing is under way.

Given how inexpensively you can set up to reload ammo vs the cost of factory ammo, especially match stuff, it is good economics and so much more enjoyable if the load is letting the rifle shoot at its best.

For me, missing is very expensive.

Jerry
 
I have a Larue OBR and my general observation on it and other semi auto AR .308 rifles is that anything beyond 3 round groups causes the barrel to heat up and the groups to open up. The barrel profile is actually quite thin. But shooting a bunch of 3 round groups with 15 minutes between each group, it is sub MOA consistently. Rounds 4,5,6,etc usually open up to the 1.5 MOA range. You may have similar experiences.

I'm sure the usual complaints will be mentioned about 3 round groups being statistically invalid. However, shooting 3 round groups 10 times and getting the average (not cherry picking the best ones) should give you a strong indication of accuracy with a given load. I'd love to see if something similar happens with the 102 rifles.

Your observations are indeed correct... not really anything to do with contour as much as it has to do with quality of barrel. Most factory barrels are of moderate/low quality wrt to manf and stress relieving. Heat will cause warpage which leads to POI shift and even changes in load tuning.

Proper match barrels are stress relieved (to varying degrees) which can them very stable even when hot. Some manfs do this better then others.

My FTR rifles (308 win chamber) have to stay stable for as many as 30rds when shot on a summer weekend. ... screaming hot barrels. Stable enough to put that last rd into a 5" circle at 1000yds

My Rem 783 PRS type rifle has a heavy sporter contour McGowen prefit... 2 mags and the last shot will drop a bullet on a MOA rock at 1450yds. I am going to start testing some CarbonSix barrels when weather allows. First time out was very promising.

Better AR match barrels from Shilen and Krieger are accurate and stable even when they get hot. 6rds is no biggie for a well made barrel. Many stages in US high power shooting require many more shots and still hit the center at extended distances.

As you have suggested, test your barrel and note where each shot goes. Barrels that warp will follow a pattern as they heat up. As long as you keep the rd count below this temp, you can find out what the mechanical accuracy of your system is. I will do multiple 3 or 4 rds groups to confirm the tuning and accuracy of a factory barrel that warps with heat. 3 or 4 groups will give you an average of what the true accuracy is.

However, if your task needs more rds then what is stable, consider changing to a better barrel.

Jerry
 
Adjustable gas block will fix this. And the smoother the gun cycles will help improve accuracy as well. In my opinion an adjustable gas block is the best improvement you can invest in for a semi-auto. Next would be the trigger. Now does anyone know where to find one to fit this?

I would re-word your statement slightly to say that an adjustable gas block is the best improvement you can invest in for a poorly setup rifle. If your rifle is not overgassed they are useless unless you want to shoot loads outside the typical operating range your rifle was designed to work with. I will agree that they are nice to have so you can fine tune your rifle for the load you are shooting but the average shooter running surplus or other cheap ammo does not need one.
You can add an adjustable gas block but they don't come with the rifle and most people won't be buying one. Plus it's hard to load heavy/long projectiles to fit the magazine anyway, and in order to take advantage of the long/heavy projectiles with increased BC you need to be shooting 500+ yards, less than that you will have just as good of results with a 150gr-168gr projectile.

Look into the SLR Rifleworks adjustable gas block, they make them in 0.625", 0.750", 0.875", and 0.936" and can be imported. I think someone said the 102 has a 0.875" saddle but I can not confirm if that is accurate or not.
https://www.slrrifleworks.com/


I have a Larue OBR and my general observation on it and other semi auto AR .308 rifles is that anything beyond 3 round groups causes the barrel to heat up and the groups to open up. The barrel profile is actually quite thin. But shooting a bunch of 3 round groups with 15 minutes between each group, it is sub MOA consistently. Rounds 4,5,6,etc usually open up to the 1.5 MOA range. You may have similar experiences.

I'm sure the usual complaints will be mentioned about 3 round groups being statistically invalid. However, shooting 3 round groups 10 times and getting the average (not cherry picking the best ones) should give you a strong indication of accuracy with a given load. I'd love to see if something similar happens with the 102 rifles.

The solution is to load one round at a time and shoot one shot every 3-5 minutes, I say load one at a time so your next cartridge doesn't get warmed up by sitting in the warm chamber and also so air can circulate through the barrel between shots aiding in cooling. This is only practical during load testing though, once you find the load your barrel likes you shoot more rapidly to see how consistent it is as it warms up. As Jerry said, most factory barrels are not stress relieved as well as a high end barrel so you will see your POI shift as the barrel warms up.

Yes, a three round group is much less informative in regards to showing consistency than a five or 10 round group. You can shoot them as slowly as you want as long as they are all shot consecutively.
This is why I've started using a chronograph during load testing, even when the barrel warms up and the POI starts drifting, finding a load with a very small extreme spread in velocity will usually reward you with good results on paper if you keep the barrel cool and you do your part behind the trigger. I don't use the chronograph to find the fastest load, only the most consistent load.

http://www.accuracy-tech.com/tag/accuracytech-reloading-method/
 
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Looks like a solid performance! Good shooting SBe! and thank for posting his pics Ljones.

Next time you take her out... shoot some 5 to 10-5 round groups or 5 to 10-10 round groups. Don't change anything as you shoot.

IMHO - The key to accurate assessment of rifle ability to perform is long term testing. Having a rifle that shots 1 MOA or less.... once, when the stars were momentarily aligned in the sky is a bit of a joke. Especially if nine other groups are ranging in size from 2'' to 4''.

i probably will once I start reloading, the factory stuff is expensive.
 
Hi LL82,

Not rude at all. I used 2-4 as an example and had nothing to do with BCL102 accuracy/possible accuracy.

Sorry for any confusion.

Cheers,



I don't mean to be rude but everyone I've seen is getting consistent .75 to 1.5 groups, where are your numbers coming from???
 
I know Jay.

This is why I donated $50 to the testing fund.

I can't wait for the results.

Cheers,

GreenBob, I think Jerry says it best. The rifle is showing promise with factory fodder & ball. Here is what Jerry said:
 
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