Any secrets to improve the gun?

[Mcrider55]

Went to the local range 100 yard range at the State Park today with a fellow shooter whom I consider a local guru. He's a true MOA shooter in that tight groups are what he's after with his rifles. Constantly trying new bullet/powder combinations while chronographing and documenting everything. Always talking about bullet depth and the effects on his shooting. He only shoots 5 shots at a time before cooling barrel down with his Magnetospeed. I've learned an awful lot from him in a short amount of time.

I shot 60 rounds in 5 shot groups. Targets were downloaded from here, 6 targets, 3 inch wide each. All rounds were in a 2 inch circle except for a few fliers of my own mistakes. He suggested I try a different set of bags as he doesn't think the rifle is settling down enough to be totally stable.

Gonna go that route. We both agreed the rifle is not going to improve that much, if any with a new/modified trigger.

[Fuj']

Went to the local range 100 yard range at the State Park today with a fellow shooter whom I consider a local guru. He's a true MOA shooter in that tight groups are what he's after with his rifles. Constantly trying new bullet/powder combinations while chronographing and documenting everything. Always talking about bullet depth and the effects on his shooting. He only shoots 5 shots at a time before cooling barrel down with his Magnetospeed. I've learned an awful lot from him in a short amount of time.

I shot 60 rounds in 5 shot groups. Targets were downloaded from here, 6 targets, 3 inch wide each. All rounds were in a 2 inch circle except for a few fliers of my own mistakes. He suggested I try a different set of bags as he doesn't think the rifle is settling down enough to be totally stable.

Gonna go that route. We both agreed the rifle is not going to improve that much, if any with a new/modified trigger.

It's apparent there is some issues, and I can't agree it's the trigger. Are you loading your ammo or buying
a specific brand and grain weight ?? Did you do any real load development without the can on it ??

[Mcrider55]

It's apparent there is some issues, and I can't agree it's the trigger. Are you loading your ammo or buying
a specific brand and grain weight ?? Did you do any real load development without the can on it ??

Loading my own.

55gr FMJ Berry's
Alliant 1200r, 22.9gr
CCI 450 Primers

Haven't shot it without can since I bought it.

[charlie b]

I'd try some good bullets first. Mine didn't do very well (just over MOA) with regular 55gn bullets. Went to 69 and 77 Sierra Match Kings and groups got smaller immediately. Tweak the load for your barrel length. Second biggest change, which it seems you are working on, is rests. I notice a large improvement when I went to better rest and rear bag.

Next, listen to whatever Fuj says :)

[big honkin jeep]

Load development, Load development, Load development.
Pay attention to your shooting buddy.
Load development is the best accutacy improvement you can make to any rifle in good working order period.
Try different weight and styles of bullets, different powders different seating depths and ladder test.
That magic one hole load is out there.
I'd dare say maximizing accuracy is more often than not as much the load as the rifle.

[Fuj']

Loading my own.

55gr FMJ Berry's
Alliant 1200r, 22.9gr
CCI 450 Primers

Haven't shot it without can since I bought it.

Sell off those Berry's or mag dump them in the AR's. I can't tell ya' what bullet to buy until we know
your barrels twist rate. However your safe with the 50 grain class bullets. Not a fan of Hornady bullets
but will say get the 52gr match or ELD. My personal favorite is the 52gr Sierra Match King. If you have
a 7 to 8 twist barrel, the SMK 77 gr......"Powder".....2400-R is a double base ball powder. Find a single
base stick powder. I'd recommend H-322 first, then Varget......Do your load work ups with no suppressor.
Yes it will put a dent in your wallet, but it costs way more to chase good groups with bad components.

[Mcrider55]

Twist rate is 7 with a 22" barrel.

Varget is very difficult to get ahold of. Will check LGS for the H-322.

Been running the A1200R and CFE223 in my guns as I have always been an AR guy.

This is a whole new road for me to be on.


Update:

Went to LGS and he had 2x1lb cannisters of Varget put away for a customer who never picked it up, so it's mine now. No 77gr, but he did have 69SMK's, so I picked up a 100 of them to try out.


Have to say, it's a good thing my AR rounds only cost about 9cents each in bulk. Don't even want to give them a taste of this stuff!
Going to load at Hodgdon's data = 24gr to start and shoot some rounds. It says max is 26gr.


Update #2

Shot 70 rounds today, 50 of the Varget/SMK69 and 20 of the AR1200/55Gr I have been shooting.

Difference is pretty amazing for me. While the old rounds performed as usual, not bad, not great, the Varget/SMK rounds iinstantly became noticeable once I make a few minor adjustments to the scope. New loads were far more consistent and accurate. All were 4 shot groups. Tighest was .69, largest spread was a .86. This is a far cry from the old loads I have been shooting.

Best day out with this gun so far.

[Fuj']

There Ya' go !! Even ugly girls can dress up real nice.....

Spend some time and get your brass as consistent as possible. Uniform the primer pockets
and clean up the flash holes for any burrs. Neck tension is very important. My advice at this
point would be to use a .003" interference. If you have carbon in the neck, leave it alone.
It's a good thing. Consistent bullet release is also key to good numbers. Once your confident
the brass is right, start your seating depth tests. I'd just start at .010"out then move in .003"
at a time. I would expect a 1/2 MOA rifle. Set a goal for yourself to shoot a 1", 5 shot group at
200 yards.

[Mcrider55]

There Ya' go !! Even ugly girls can dress up real nice.....

Spend some time and get your brass as consistent as possible. Uniform the primer pockets
and clean up the flash holes for any burrs. Neck tension is very important. My advice at this
point would be to use a .003" interference. If you have carbon in the neck, leave it alone.
It's a good thing. Consistent bullet release is also key to good numbers. Once your confident
the brass is right, start your seating depth tests. I'd just start at .010"out then move in .003"
at a time. I would expect a 1/2 MOA rifle. Set a goal for yourself to shoot a 1", 5 shot group at
200 yards.

I really appreciate your help. I advanced miles yesterday with your recommendations. I have a Franklin Arsenal Platinum case prep unit I started using about a month ago to prepare my brass. After yesterday, and some more shooting with this load to really dial it in, my next goal is to shoot a 5 shot group in a 1MOA target bullseye at 100 yards. I'm confident the gun is fully capable of it, now it's some fine tuning of the load while working on the biggest variable in all this, and that's me.

Do you have any recommendations for both front and rear bags?

What do you know about RMR bullets for reloading? They seem to get pretty high reviews, but you know what the internet can say....

[Turkeytider]

Twist rate is 7 with a 22" barrel.

Varget is very difficult to get ahold of. Will check LGS for the H-322.

Been running the A1200R and CFE223 in my guns as I have always been an AR guy.

This is a whole new road for me to be on.


Update:

Went to LGS and he had 2x1lb cannisters of Varget put away for a customer who never picked it up, so it's mine now. No 77gr, but he did have 69SMK's, so I picked up a 100 of them to try out.


Have to say, it's a good thing my AR rounds only cost about 9cents each in bulk. Don't even want to give them a taste of this stuff!
Going to load at Hodgdon's data = 24gr to start and shoot some rounds. It says max is 26gr.


Update #2

Shot 70 rounds today, 50 of the Varget/SMK69 and 20 of the AR1200/55Gr I have been shooting.

Difference is pretty amazing for me. While the old rounds performed as usual, not bad, not great, the Varget/SMK rounds iinstantly became noticeable once I make a few minor adjustments to the scope. New loads were far more consistent and accurate. All were 4 shot groups. Tighest was .69, largest spread was a .86. This is a far cry from the old loads I have been shooting.

Best day out with this gun so far.

If the 69 grain SMK bullet isn`t the best all purpose .223 bullet ( 7-9 twists ), it`s got to be in the top 2 or 3. My Savage 12 LRPV with 7 twist absolutely loves them. When I don`t screw up the shot, a sub-MOA group at 500 yards is more than possible with this gun/bullet combo. Not surprised at your results with them.

[charlie b]

Congrats on the improvement.

Now you can start to work on your technique as well. Watch or read some of the techniques good shooters used to improve their setup and trigger pull. The important thing is a good setup and trigger pull.