What kind of accuracy would you expect out of this combo with Federal XM193.
upper Noveske 16" midlength FSB shaved by ADCO and DD M4 12.0 installed by ADCO with an AAC 18 tooth black out FH
Optic is a Aimpoint ML3 in a Larue QD mount.
Everything appears to be mounted nice and secure
Was shooting at a make shift range at family ranch this weekend. I wanted to get a good zero on the optic. Range was approx 85 yards.
Problem: I was shooting about 6" groups! I was in the 10ring mostly, but could not get a decent group. I was pretty surprised that I couldn’t tighten up the groups. Is this an ammo issue?
Without knowing how much experience you have in precision shooting, targets used, or optic mounting, there could be a whole host of reasons for the sub-par groups.
FWIW- while XM193 is not renowned for precision, it has never been that bad for me unless there was some other issue at hand.
I have personally shot a hair iver .5 MOA groups with a Rem 700 varmint synthetic (i.e. heavy barrel with HS Precision stock) and a 3-9x40mm Leupold VXII duplex reticle with Federal 7.62 match ammo.
I know XM193 is no where near match ammo, but 6" groups at 85 yards don’t give you a great idea od what your windage is. I am specifically saying windage because the spread was no where near as verticle as it was horizontal. I may try some other ammo. I really want to get this thing dialed in.
Shoot groups with a high powered optic mounted on the rifle to check for mechanical accuracy. If you are holding good groups then you can surmise that the problem is you (and the ML3).
If the gun is still shooting large groups then start checking the usual suspects (ammo, muzzle device mounting etc).
I would expect a good marksman to shoot 2-4 " @ 100 yds with that optic and marginal ammo.
Thanks for the input. I have a Leupold VXIII 1.5-5 with circle dot ret. that I have had mounted to this upper and also have some 68grn Speer SP law enforcement ammo. I will see what type of groups I can get with that (witht the Leupold and the Aimpoint) and then report back.
It also helps to shoot at a target that is appropriate for the style optic you are using. For red dot sights, I like large black circles that I can center the dot in. Group size is all about precision, which is all about consistency.
I personally use a target that I made up (sounds more involved than it actually was…). All it consists of is a standard 8.5x11" sheet of paper with a 2"x2" black square right in the middle of it. The ML3 on my Sabre middy has the 2 MOA dot so it’s not too bad to center the dot in that square at <50m. and farther out than that the dot size effectively=square size so if I see black outside the dot, I know to adjust where I’m aiming.
With the aforementioned Sabre middy, a ML3 with the 2 moa dot in a LaRue cantilever QD mount, and XM193, I was able to hold ~3 moa groups out to 200m. from a supported kneeling position at a slow rate of fire.