With bulk ammo? Seems like I am getting around 3- 4" groups with a flier here and there. Its been very frustrating. I recall I use to be able to lay down a much better group all things considered. Around 2" no fliers. Using good ammo, I can still lay down an acceptable group. Around 2''

My current 10.5 doesn't seem to be as accurate as my older ones. I have 3 theories. I have started to suck at shooting, bulk ammo QC has gone down a good bit. This barrel I have been using the past year just sucks.

It just seems when I have it benched, supported, aiming with a 4xoptic. The round will impact several inches away from my POA. Throw down a 10 shot group and most of it will be in the area of where I was aiming, but a few several inches off making the grouping horrible.

Maybe I am expecting too much accuracy out of the small gun with bulk ammo. I just recall bulk ammo being a little more accurate and consistent.

ETA. I use to reload a whole lot. I don't much anymore. Use to just use hornady bulk 55 grainers, whatever brass I had, Ramshot tac was my powder of choice. Maybe my reloads were just much better than bulk ammo

You are not giving nearly enough information to answer this question.

What bbl?
What distance are you shooting?
What ammo?

Yes, your reloads may very well have been more accurate.

If you are shooting at 100 yds, I think 3" groups is not at all unreasonable for even a 16" bbl using bulk ammo.

I've found my shorter bbls tend to be about as accurate as my longer ones at 100 yds.

centurion
100 yards
PMC this round about, but seems any given bulk ammo shoots about the same. AE, M193 surplus, etc

A lot of factors, could be you, the trigger, the grip, the barrel or the ammo. So hard to say, but my 10.5 inch noveske rifle shoots 1.5 inch groups if not tighter groups consistently with a magnified optic, resting on bags. Can't say I can shoot that well with my 10.5 inch sig556 or 16 inch m&p. Something about the noveske just works for me

Just remember that barrel length (in general) has nothing to do with accuracy.

i have an 10.5 LMT, free floated, TA01 ACOG,  AAC m4-2k suppressor and with prvi 75gr match ammo.

i was just out this weekend and shooting into rock outcropping in the desert at about 400 yards, no breeze that day either. one rock stood out and was about the size of a human torso and every single round was dead center. on paper at 50 yards i was printing about 3/4" with that same ammo.

any m193 ammo is not going to give you that. by a few boxes of something better and and heavier and try it.  

wind plays a big role with light projo's even at 100 yards and if you are using a GI trigger, that will not help either. i tightened up my groupings with just a cheap RRA 2 stage.

gratuitous pic...but now has the ACOG on it...

As others said, barrel length doesn't exactly equate to accuracy. I haven't shot my Mk18Mod0ish clone for real groups, but zeroing it has shown me that it is as at least as accurate as I am.  Precision shooters will tell you that a short, stout barrel has less flex and harmonic whip than longer thinner ones, which bodes well for using mass produced ammo with slight variations in velocity to be expected shot to shot.

My brother has a Mk12ish clone that was nice in its stock form. He then put in a Geissle and it is just stupid easy to shoot now. The accuracy of the gun didn't change one bit, but all of a sudden our groups were just that much tighter.  

Guns can be fickle, I say keep shooting, try different ammos, and keep shooting. Also keep shooting. If you can never get better than what you're getting, maybe talk to the manufacturer. But sometimes some guns just don't like some ammos, and many times accuracy is affected by much more than the barrel.

Well...

Mil-spec for M193 is that a 10-shot group, from a machine-rested, bolt-action test barrel, it has to be no more than 4 MOA.  So, hey, you're still getting within spec!

Well I think half my problem is I'm comparing this barrel to my previous barrel in which I mostly used reloads. I just reloaded for costs savings and wasn't very particular in the accuracy dept.

1.5" group was usually an easy thing to do with zero significant fliers on my old barrel. But then again I used my junk reloads.

I'll call it good enough and stop worrying about it.

Obligatory pic


thanks guys

Yep, shorter barrels are actually a tiny bit more accurate, but 99.9999999% of shooters will never see that benefit from loss of barrel whip.

well get short enough and you might not have enough rifling twist for sufficient stabilization...