AR Thanks!

[Slugless]

Thank you THR! Great forum and great posters!

What brought this praise on, oh Slug-boy?, you say -

Today the Bushmaster & I shot 3 moa at the range, 50 yards iron sights w/front bench bag, S&B ammo. (25 yard pistol target) [I called the flyer]

Last week I shot 5.5 moa. Thank you THR!

What did you do, oh Slug-like fellow?

1. Got a front bench bag, not using the compacted range sand bags (THR)
2. Figured out where to keep my left hand (THR)
3. Improved my grip on the handle (mostly front & back pressure, not fingering or thumbing)
4. Installed a RRA NM 2 stage trigger (THR)
5. Dry firing, .22lr work
6. 10 shot groups (THR)

Some major, some minor. The biggest improvement was the trigger. The Bushmistress is thrilled with hers, too! I chose the trigger based on recommendations here. And it gets better - I can get off more shots in a given amount of time because of the clean takeup and break.

(I know 3 moa ain't that great but the S&B ammo is part of the limit. When I get a scope for the HBAR I'm gonna shoot some Lake City & see how it does. Shot a 12 round group of Lake City today & 5 tore a ragged hole the size of a penny. Most of the rest fit within a quarter. The remainder opened it back up to 3 moa. Are the rest my iron sight shooting? When I get some optics I'll find out...)

The next thing to work on is followthrough, but that'll be a separate thread.

Any other success stories?

 

[blackhawk2000]

Do yourself a favor and get some match ammo. Something like 68g Black Hills. If you are shooting for accuracy, then match ammo is the only way to tell how accurate you are. Surplus, and plinker ammo will just frustrate you.

Congrats on the improvement BTW

 

[DnPRK]

I agree with the Black hills ammo recommendation. Its great stuff.

 

[possum]

congrats on teh rifle and also on improving your marksmanship, the rra triggers are great and that is a great start. don't expect match grade accuracy out of the ar but the match ammo will help and the blackhills is the way to go.

now i suggest that you go get some formal trainning ie tactical response etc.

i will offer you this bit of advise use the fundamentals that we teach in the army and that will go a long way.

steady position: (looks like you have that) but you need to work on achieving that with out a rest.

sight picture/ sight alignment: line up the sights the same way and at the same point on the target everytime.

breathing: won't be a big deal at 50 meters but it is good to practice

trigger squezze: the new trigger will help with this but still make this a constant area to improve on. slow and steady and even.

 

[rino451]

I'd add, don't get comfortable with 50 yards, unless that's all you have access to. I did and was amazed how my 50 yard groups improved when I started shooting out to 200 yards with irons.

 

[possum]

I'd add, don't get comfortable with 50 yards, unless that's all you have access to. I did and was amazed how my 50 yard groups improved when I started shooting out to 200 yards with irons.

i agree always push the envelope to make yourself better and better, don't stop pushing that target back until you run out of range to do it on.

 

[DMK]

Anytime you get most of your shots in the ten ring, that's a good day!

Shooting further is good, but don't rush out there just because folks tell you that's more manly. Work on the basics a while. You can do some really good shooting even as close as 25 yards. The only difference is weather factors and hold over. I do most of my practice with a 22LR at 25 yards. I can see the improvement when I shoot at 100.

For more challenge and to increase you skill, try making the targets smaller. Then you can move out a bit with the larger targets again.

 

[Slugless]

AR Accuracy Q?

I went 100 yards today based on y'alls recommendation. Didn't have as good a day today - a bunch of failures to feed in my M1A. Grrrr. Hopefully it wasn't the new ammo. I think there may be gunge in the gas system. Still, my last go at 100 yds was not a whole lot worse than my posted 50 yard target.

I gotta couple questions before I make a few comments:
1. Joshua mentions sight pic. My main problem is getting the same stock weld every time. I'm thinking about laying down a strip of masking tape so I can feel where I'm at on the stock. Do you guys have any tips?
2. I still shoot 3 moa with Lake City. But 2/3 of the shots are 2 moa, my expected limit of the rifle. I can call most shots but the ones I can't (maybe 1/6 of them) are the ones I need to work on. Do you usually have a partner calling out the shots? If I do it myself then stock weld/sight pic becomes an issue.

The 50 yard range is a compromise. Joshua, you mention not relying on the bench for steady position. Right on, man. Half my shooting is offhand and the 50 yard is the only place I can shoot centerfire offhand. Talk about the importance of breath control! The Bushmistress likes the 50 yard line, keeping the lady happy is important.

DMK's advice is on 25 yards is also right on, I'm a big believer in 25yds offhand with a .22. I do bench practice there too, instant feedback.

I use the pistol target at 50 yards for just the reason you mention, DMK. Smaller targets? I used some smaller targets once but they were black rings on white and - get this - they actually disappeared when I sighted in on them!

They were the right size to vanish in the optical diffraction in the center of the peepsight on my Daewoo. Turned in good groups, though - the hardest I've ever worked on sight picture. I suspect your advice is really good & I'll try some with better contrast, orange dots or something.

W.r.t. ammo, at this point I use the cheap ammo to practice the fundamentals, then whip out some Lake City to see how well I'm doing. I'll check out the Black Hills.

 

[DnPRK]

The military teaches a consistent sight picture by putting the tip of your nose on the charging handle and stock firmly on your cheek bone with your head upright.

 

[PTK]

S&B ammo is better than you think - I get 1-1.25" groups offhand at 25 yards out of my AR.

 

[possum]

The military teaches a consistent sight picture by putting the tip of your nose on the charging handle and stock firmly on your cheek bone with your head upright.

yes we do and it has worked for me.

 

[possum]

sorry double post.

 

[Slugless]

S&B is good ammo. My Daewoo likes the S&B quite well. I've turned in some very tight groups with the S&B.

The Bushmasters either think it's mediocre or I have more trouble shooting the AR. The AR has a torque to it & twists around more compared to the gas piston rifle. I'm sticking with it for now, I think it's my followthrough.

1 1/2 inches is pretty good!

The charging handle is a good tip.