I enjoy shooting affordable ammo, and think that it often groups perfectly well. I recently got 2000 rounds of Barnaul 62gr delivered to me (A slight surprise as I ordered 55gr) I wanted to compare accuracy from my WK180C and M&P 15 II which had previously had 4000 rounds of American Eagle .223 55gr put through them.
The rifles
Excuse zone
First groups, 100m, Barnaul 55gr, two groups of five rounds from each rifle
WK180C
Group 1 and 2 About 2.5 and 2MOA using the MOA squares
AR15 1 and 2
Group 1 and Group 2
About 3MOA here
I then zeroed both the rifles at 50m for the 62gr ammo
WK180C
Group 1 (3MOA)
Group 2 (3 MOA Post adjustment)
AR15
Group 1 (3MOA)
Group 2 (3.75MOA)
Back to 100m
WK180C
Group 1 (2.75MOA)
Group 2 (just over 2MOA)
AR15
Group 1 (3MOA)
Group 2 (just under 2MOA)
Moving on to 200m a 5 then 10 round group
WK180C
Group 1
Group 2 (only 8 hits sadly, I think the loose buttstock caused the group to open up so much)
AR15
Group 1
Group 2 (I'm quite happy with this)
Conclusions:
The rifles
- WK180C - with Vortex Strike Eagle 1-8x24 and a 2kg single stage trigger
- Smith and Wesson M&P15 II - With Elcan 0SX4 (4x mag)
Excuse zone
- The WK180C's stock became loose as the castle nut despite being tightened and staked two days ago didn't stay tight. I think this caused a sudden loss of accuracy at 200m.
- The Elcan sight uses a black chevron, with 4x magnification I struggled with shooting precisely at a predominantly black target
First groups, 100m, Barnaul 55gr, two groups of five rounds from each rifle
WK180C
Group 1 and 2 About 2.5 and 2MOA using the MOA squares
AR15 1 and 2
Group 1 and Group 2
About 3MOA here
I then zeroed both the rifles at 50m for the 62gr ammo
WK180C
Group 1 (3MOA)
Group 2 (3 MOA Post adjustment)
AR15
Group 1 (3MOA)
Group 2 (3.75MOA)
Back to 100m
WK180C
Group 1 (2.75MOA)
Group 2 (just over 2MOA)
AR15
Group 1 (3MOA)
Group 2 (just under 2MOA)
Moving on to 200m a 5 then 10 round group
WK180C
Group 1
Group 2 (only 8 hits sadly, I think the loose buttstock caused the group to open up so much)
AR15
Group 1
Group 2 (I'm quite happy with this)
Conclusions:
- I've only recently started using black shoot n see targets, I will no longer use these.
- The WK180C's trigger was a big help when shooting without gloves in -2c
- The 62gr stuff is just as good as the 55gr but might better reach out to a longer distance (3-500m)
- I should drink less coffee before shooting
- The next level of affordable ammo: Federal American Eagle 55gr FMJ gets about 2MOA at 100m with the WK180C and 2.5MOA with the AR15. The Federal ammo was 12.5% more expensive when I bought it. It definitely shoots better but I would suggest that for out to 300m on the steel targets I was shooting you won't see a difference in the number of hits you achieve.
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