Been awhile since I have posted on AR15.com, but I rarely have seen any UHFO winners post results with their Stealth Upper, so here I am.
So, back in November of 2012, I was returning home from Afghanistan where I was working on contract as a pilot. I had just fulfilled my initial contract length, and therefore my hazard bonus was just about to hit the bank. My wife and I agreed that I could have a small amount, so I could set up a precision AR build. I had narrowed it down to either a BCM SS410 or a Larue Stealth. I wanted a 5.56 carbine that could reliably hit out to 600 yards. I figured MOA or better accuracy and I would be happy. Anything better than that would be bonus.
While sitting at SeaTac airport waiting for my final flight to PDX (after suffering through a late flight from Dubai, missing my connection in Dulles, being rerouted to Chicago, which got canceled, instead going to Seattle, to find I was double booked....etc, etc.), I was browsing AR15.com. I had a PM from MFingar referencing the UHFO contest. Turns out I had won! Yeah, my day just got a whole lot better. I had actually won a week earlier, but with everything going on at the time, I somehow forgot that I even entered the contest.
When my bonus came in, I focused the vast majority of it on gear for my new rifle. I purchased a new lower, a SSA-E trigger, 2 Leupold VX-R Patrol Scopes (1.25-4x and 3-9x), Larue E-SPR mount, an Atlas bipod and all sorts of bullets, brass, primers and reloading gear.
We all know what happened the next month. Obviously, the market conditions changed, and I settled back for what I expected would be a long wait for my gear. The lower went to another rifle project, along with the 1.25-4x Leupold in the LT mount. A few months later, I had changed jobs, and come to Vegas instead. Shortly after, I found a package waiting for me on my front step.
Now that the rifle was complete, I ran into a problem. With the new job, new home and a new city there was very little time for shooting. And my days off were the days that the local outdoor range were closed. Undeterred, I at least got the Stealth out to 50 yards at a nearby indoor range, just to get a rough sight in.
Finally earlier this year, I started to get out to a 100 yard range, to start some load development. Initial sight in was with Federal American Eagle .223 and X-Tac 5.56. Load development was with Nosler 77gr Custom Competition over Ramshot Tac. Results were mixed. One on hand, the handloads shot poorly. Groups were 1.5"-3", with very little consistency anywhere on the target. Almost like the scope mount was loose. However, at the same time, American Eagle .223 was very promising. I had 2 5-shot groups that were very nice; one around .75" and one around .45".
I did some more research, and decided to try three more loads; 3 different bullets, and 3 different powders. 53gr VMax over H322, 69gr SMK over TAC, and 77gr SMK over RE-15. I also brought along a few more factory loads; Hornady 55gr VMax, Winchster Match 69gr SMK and Nosler 77gr CC.
This load development was considerably better. Each of the 3 bullet/powder combinations showed at least one load that was promising, under 1MOA.
53gr VMAX over H322
77gr SMK over RE-15. While all of the other loads showed a steady bell curve when it came to accuracy improvement/degradation during load development, the 77gr SMK was the exception. It shot relatively poorly, up until the max load I had loaded. I pulled the flier (shot #4).
Pretty happy with the results so far. Decided to see how repeatable the groups are. The next time, I brought the same loads, but also added some 77gr Noslers over RE-15 as well. I decided to shoot several 3-shot groups at 100 and 200 yards. I did a thorough cleaning, including getting all the copper out, and went back to the range.
Results at 100 Yards:
77gr SMK (also was the first group of the day, after the Clean Cold Bore Shot)
77gr Nosler
69gr SMK
53gr VMAX
Every single group I shot with my handloads at 100 yards was sub 1".
I moved out to 200 yards, and shot several more groups. Wind was about 8-10mph from the right, and it took me a few minutes to start hitting my potential.
Best group at 200 yards was shot with 53gr VMax, however the 77gr SMK was more consistant (4 groups less than 1.7" at 200 yards!).
All the above groups were shot on a bench, using the Atlas bipod, with a sand sock under the stock. Scope was the VX-R Patrol 3-9x40 (with the very coarse reticle).
I didin't post the groups in the "Outshoot the Shootist" thread, since I can't remember if the upper came with a test target. I went through all the paperwork that came with it, can't find one. Doesn't mean it wasn't there though when I got it.
To say I am thrilled is an understatement.
The rifle is extremely accurate, and not just with one load. I have 4 <MOA loads available to me, which is great considering the difficulty in getting certain powders these days. My next step with the rifle is to put a set of offset sights on it (looking at GG&G offset sights). The Larue marked sights have already migrated over to one of my other uppers.