accu-wedge test?

[fol4321]

i have looked on many sites but i have yet to see if anyone has compared their rifle with and without the wedge. many say it does nothing, some like the tight feeling. but i havent seen any hard evidence that it doesnt do anything or it does. i never paid attention to these till my neighbor asked me about them. i said for 3 bux what does it hurt. i know someone will say it will fall apart and jam up the trigger. but most of use clean our guns after shooting. so if anyone has done a test on this could you post the results. i ordered one and i plan on shoothing at 6 targets at 100 yards. 5 shots each with some of my handloads. 3 before and 3 afterthe wedge. i going with its not going to do much since i think the movement between the upper and lower would happen after the shot but well see. thanks

 

[Steve in PA]

The wedge does nothing for accuracy. The bolt, firing pin, chamber and barrel are all in the upper receiver. All the wedge does is take out the play between the upper and lower receiver. There is no effect on accuracy.

 

[mljdeckard]

^^ Exactly. It eliminates play and rattle. If you have a perfect upper, it doesn't much matter which lower you put it on.

 

[GCBurner]

I haven't noticed any effect on accuracy, but it does remove any wiggle between the upper and the lower, which I appreciate. I hate a gun that doesn't feel solid, loose rattling parts feel cheap.

 

[fol4321]

post 2 and 3 thats what i think but have you done a test or seen results of anyones on this. i ve seen many many post syaing what you did and i think the same as described above but for the money and to give me something to do ill test this out. i havent seen proof of it working or not . probably this weekend ill test it out

 

[mljdeckard]

I know full well that I have shot sub-MOA groups from rifles with LOTS of play. No big deal.

 

[madcratebuilder]

Doing a accu-wedge test is fine but I well bet the farm that there is zero change in physical accuracy.

To have one fall apart and jam up the trigger it would have to be several years old and never cleaned. There are other methods of reducing the play between the upper and lower. I like adding a set screw to the lower to preload the upper, I've done this on a target rifle. I have six lowers and eight uppers, almost all combinations fit tight enough I don't worry about it.

 

[GI_Jared]

When I was in the 82nd I bought my whole platoon accu-wedges before we deployed to Afghanistan. I did this mainly to get rid of the ridiculous amount of play that are M4 carbines had between the upper and lower receivers. Apparently infantry batalions in the 82nd Abn. Div. were some of the first units to be issued the M4 right after all the SF units. So they were really beat up, I remember that if I moved the upper and lower from one side to the other that the chevron on my ACOG would move like 3 MOA from side to side.

So with that large amount of play it would mess you up unless you were holding the rifle in the exact same way each time, and the accuwedge seemed to do the job for us.

 

[K1500]

When the chevron on the ACOG moved, the barrel did too. It didn't matter how you were holding it, since the barrel, upper, and ACOG were all solidly mounted to each other. The play was between the lower and upper, which does not harm mechanical accuracy. This is similar to the slide of an auto having play with the frame. The barrel and sights are all solid to the slide, so wherever it is pointing, the barrel is too.

If my upper and lower had lots of play, as yours did, I would AccuWedge it. I would do this because I find a loose and rattling upper harder to be functionally accurate with. Plus, the thing is only a couple of bucks.

 

[GI_Jared]

When the chevron on the ACOG moved, the barrel did too. It didn't matter how you were holding it, since the barrel, upper, and ACOG were all solidly mounted to each other

Yeah I get that, but don't you want your cheek weld and line of sight on your scope to be exactly the same every time you pull the trigger? That was my thinking anyway, that there was so much play that it would cause the shooter to change how they were looking through the sight. Was this thinking way off?

 

[baronthered]

Yeah I get that, but don't you want your cheek weld and line of sight on your scope to be exactly the same every time you pull the trigger? That was my thinking anyway, that there was so much play that it would cause the shooter to change how they were looking through the sight. Was this thinking way off?

I'd say it was good thinking. Consistency and accuracy go hand in hand.

 

[JustinJ]

The instruction manual with my Colt 6720 mentioned that an accu wedge may be included with your gun. Colt sees some use for them. In regards to accuracy i could see how changes in angle between the upper and lower could alter how rounds are fed into the chamber and maybe have a minimal effect on accuracy. The key to accuracy is consistency.

 

[K1500]

Yeah I get that, but don't you want your cheek weld and line of sight on your scope to be exactly the same every time you pull the trigger? That was my thinking anyway, that there was so much play that it would cause the shooter to change how they were looking through the sight. Was this thinking way off?

Your thinking was 100% correct. If a gun is sloppy enough that it wiggles around and your cheek weld is constantly changing, it is harder for the shooter to extract the maximum accuracy from the gun.

While the Accuwedge does nothing for mechanical accuracy, it may do plenty for practical accuracy. If I have a loose gun, I would use one.

 

[Failure2Stop]

I was issued a SAM-R in 2004, which came with the accuwedge installed.
I shot several ~1 MOA groups with it before pushing to the box.
At some point, the wedge loosened, and I wound up just pulling it out.
During zero check I noticed no change in POI or group size.
However, later we switched ammo lots and I had a zero shift along with an increase in group size.