Yesterday I was out and want to push my previous limits that I’ve shot in the past.
Rifle was a 16" free floated, shooting pmc 556 xtac 55gr.
Targets were water bottles. 2 groups about 6 inches apart
Optic was a 3-9 vxr leupold with tmr. Ranged it with the reticle, and came up with a distance of 333 yds. Afterwards I ranged it via gps and came up with 340 (milrad works well).
Shooting was done prone off of a bi pod. Rifle had a ssa-e trigger.
It took me 20 rounds to hit all four water bottles I set up. 4 shots for Kentucky windage to the first bottle, 16 to kill the other 3 bottles.
The idea was to see the possibilities using an m193 equivalent.
Looking at all of my marks in the dirt, if it were a plate target, the would have almost all been hits. Looked like 3-4 moa.
I’m going to repeat the test with better ammo later this week and see what happens.
I know the archer is more important than the arrow, but my question to the people with experience, am I asking too much accuracy given the ammo I’m using?
Honest opinions please. You won’t hurt my feelings.
From what I have seen PMC is not good ammo to do any kind of distance with. That kind of ammo is only good for run-n-gun in my experience ymmv. Handloads are usually always better. If you don’t do any hand loading, I would try SSA (Silver State Armory) 77gr OTM. Those things have given my gun .5 consistently when I do my part. My best advice is to go buy 5-7 different boxes of ammo from different manuf and see which on your gun likes best. What twist is your barrel?
I felt like I had no trouble with my end. I’ve been shooting a long time, but I want to get even better. I probably need to join some kind of club or compete. I’m already the best shot in my circle of friends. That’s how I came up with my water bottle idea. Fairly narrow target.
I’m with you markm on the chip shot part. I felt like I had no issues with fundamentals. Had good breathing, good trigger handling. Just the rounds weren’t ending up where I wanted.
Barrel is 1/8. 223 wylde. I’m about ready to bite the bullet literally on hand loading. Factory ammo is nice for convenience. But it seems to have its limits.
I’ve grown bored with plinking at 50 to 100 yards with the boys. I don’t feel challenged enough anymore.
So let me ask you guys this. Does hand loading just lead to an entirely different realm within the sport?
Do you guys feel like accuracy was the main goal, or was it cost savings?
From the very few guys I have spoke to, one says he loads to quality, for the price of cheap. The other likes it because he had a lot of time on his hands. The last guy told me it’s a waste of time.
The guy that loads for quality offered to teach me. I feel guilty for even taking up because he doesn’t have a lot of free time anymore with his new role at work. His kids and wife are very into shooting, so maybe he doesn’t think of it the way I do.
What is the real opinion of you hand load guys. Just do it, or keep buying factory?
The ammo you load will be cheaper in the long run. But you’ll end up putting a lot of money into the project.
My 77 gr ammo is probably about $0.35 per round compared to at least $1.00 of I bought it. So if you want to shoot a lot of good ammo, hand loading will save you money.
The best answer is to do it if you would LIKE doing it.
Well I guess I need to be more clear. Mark is right. It is cheaper to hand load, but it will take a lot of loading before you break even. And when you do, you will find you wont save too much due to the fact that you will be shooting more which isn’t a bad thing
Forgot to add I talked to my buddy that reloads. Said I could use his gear for a while to see if I like it, if I contribute powder to the cause…per requirement of the old lady…lol.
On an average/poor day 1/2 to 1 MOA. I start getting pissy when I’m seeing groups pushing MOA.
On a good day when you’re feeling it and shooting right 1/4 MOA. I had this day on Friday morning. Shot a group where the flyer opened it up to just under 1/2 MOA. (always nice when your buddy starts talking to you and asking questions in the middle of an amazing group)
This is with a bolt gun and a NF scope, but and ACOG will get me sub MOA pretty easily too.
Nice. .5 moa would be fun at distance. 3-4 " group at 600 yd, I could really enjoy that.
I’m pretty sure its unwritten law that your supposed to be quiet when on shot. Your too nice. I’d say be quiet. How about when the phone rings and you forget to mute it. Love when that happens.
External ballistics will make keeping 1/2 MOA out that far more challenging than shooting 100 yard groups. Especially with 223. But I can tell you that heavier bullet is much more appropriate beyond 200-300. Like I said above, that 55 gr Ballistic tip was a 500 yard struggle.
