PDW Accuracy

[One Lung Wonder]

Hey fellas - what are you getting for accuracy on your AR15 PDW guns? I just bought one and I don't know how to phrase this except to say - "I was not surprised by the accuracy results." I was shooting some heavy 77 gr. match loads I had brewed up years ago for another AR long since gone...so I haven't really had a chance to do any serious load development or find out what this thing likes to eat.

Everything is very preliminary yet, but from the tactical perspective of the armchair gun club duffer and retired Fudd - this thing strikes me as no better than a pistol and perhaps even inferior. (That's assuming accuracy doesn't improve with a proper diet). What are you feeding your PDW and what kind of accuracy are you getting? I have a 7.5" stubbie in 1:7 twist and I barely have minute of Talibanger accuracy at 50 yards. The muzzle blast ... cripes, this is a rude little gun to shoot!

This is my mission objective, guys: I want the most accurate AR I can get in the smallest possible and handiest configuration. I want an AR worthy of a scope and not just the red dots used by the run n' gun fellas. I think I am in the market for another upper and I am really liking what I read about the 300 Blackout; the 6.8 SPC and 6.5 Grendel are intriguing too. Can that new 6.5 Creedmore be squeezed into an AR? Methinks a trip down Google Lane is in order. How would you go about it? The wanks down at the gun shop are saying some of these SBR's and PDW's can 'put all their shots in tea cup' - which to me, means 3" at 100 yards. Can your gun do it? As usual your two cents is sincerely appreciated, as are any free gun #### pics....

 

[mikethebike]

its a bro right?

maybe noveske diplomat barrels are better?

did you try something lighter? i mean 1 in 7 inch twist means 1 rotation in your case, 77 grain might be way too heavy for that, not withstanding the inferior velocity due to length. how about a 55 grain vmax?

p.s. i stopped talking to the clowns at gun shop counters about 3 years ago. Their lack of knowledge, sheer stupidity and mythical belief in merlin and unicorns puts them into full retard category.

 

[One Lung Wonder]

LOL. I think you and I are shopping at the same store, Mike! I shouldn't be so harsh, I bought mine from Phoenix and they treat me much better than I deserve.

Well that is what I am going to do eventually. I hate it though - factory stuff is expensive and so is load development if you don't have a head start. What are you running in yours?

 

[8 ball]

Try some good 55gr factory loads. Anything half decent should result in 50yd groups under 1.5" or better assuming you are decent with irons, or have an optic of some kind on it. Most of my stubby AR's will run under 2" at 100 yds with an Aimpoint and decent shells.

 

[cr5]

My 6.5 inch stainless barrel would shoot sub 2 moa at 100 yards with a 2-7 Burris scope on it using Black hills 77gr match (MK262) ammo. Short barrels have less whip and are in most cases more accurate than a similar barrel of longer length. You do lose velocity which results in more wind deflection and bullet drop but those are environmental factors caused by the lower velocity not the actual accuracy potential of the rifle. The increased drop can be compensated for up to a point and wind deflection isn't much of an issue within 100 yards as long as it isn't excessively windy.
The SBR just isn't all that practical for shooting much past 200 yards due to these factors. I personally prefer a 12 inch barrel as I feel the rifle remains short enough to maneuver easily and retains enough velocity to reach out to 300+ yards. For shooting beyond 300 yards I just grab a different rifle like my NR ACR, AR180 or my Tavor where the 18+ inch barrel gives more velocity and allows for more reliable hits at longer range.
A 7.5 inch AR would look silly with anything more than a 1-4 or 1-7 or something similar. I'm not sure what you had in mind but I would use something like one of those.

For a second upper if you don't want to go with 223 then the 300BLK is an awesome cartridge in something around 10-12 inches. Just keep in mind that if you want to shoot it regularly you better be reloading unless you're rich. There is lots of quality ammo available (Tier One Armoury stocks plenty) but it's pricey. My NR 300BLK conversion for my ACR will shoot sub moa and it's a lot of fun.

I have a NR 6.8SPC barrel for my ACR as well and put the barrel into an AR upper for a while and the groups were decent and it seemed like a nice little round. I didn't chrony any of them just shot a box of factory Hornady and 50 handloads to test it out.

Another option for the AR is the 30AR, I haven't done a lot of reading on it yet but it looks good so far.