Built a new AR recently with the following setup:

DPMS lower
JP adjustable trigger
20 inch stainless, fluted 1-in-8 twist barrel with .223 chamber
Predator free float forend
Harris bipod
Phantom flashhider
Bushnell Elite 3200 Mildot scope, 10x

I've shot about 125 rounds through it, running a few patches thru about every 5 rounds. Have tried some 55gr XM193, 68gr BlackHills and some 77gr BlackHills. The best groups I have gotten thus far are about 1.25 in. Seems to shoot better a little dirty.

At this point would the barrel be considered 'broken in'? If not, will the groups get better down the road?

If the barrel is broken in, what else can I do to improve the the shot to shot performance? Any ideas welcome.

Thanks.

check the easy stuff first.  Make sure your rings/mounts are tight.  Second, could it be you?  (flinching, jerking the trigger)--no offense meant, just trying to get all the info!  Third, have you tried it with a different scope/optic?
Are you shooting exclusively off the bipod or have you tried sandbagging it?  

There's a lot of little things that can go wrong, and we'll need more info to properly diagnose your rifle--from the parts list you gave, it SHOULD print some nice groups

Me? Flinch?

LOL! That was my first conclusion. So I let my buddy in the stall next to mine shoot. He had just made a 5-shot ragged hole with his .308 bolt gun. But he did maybe MOA with my AR. I pulled out my .308 bolt gun later to try a new load (155gr lapua scenar with 43gr of Vit-Vh) and was sub MOA. So at least I feel capable of some decent shots.



I have not switched optics....yet. I had read a lot of good reviews of that particular scope and did not want to spend $800 on another Leupy.

The aforementioned 125 shots were all off the bipod. Admittedly, that is something that I have a certain distaste for. Maybe I should try the bags.

The rings are TSR tacticals, aluminum. Screws were torqued to the manufacturer specs.

Is the parallax set right? I think you need to test it.

Look at a fixed object like the coner of the target sheet, place the cross hairs on that P.O.I. Do not tuch the rifle at all and move your head and eye in a circle. Does the cross hairs move off target? If so you need to ajust the scope till the parallax is right, this meens that you can not see the scoss hairs move off of the coner AT ALL. once done at 100 yds, go to the next distance and start all over there. When you are done, you should have aparallax free scope. So after that every time you get behind the Rifle, your P.O.I. and the cross hairs do not dance around. RED

Obvious things have been mentioned, operator, loose scope, parallax...

Does one type of bullet (weight) shoot better?

I always shoot a couple of rounds through a freshly cleaned barrel before a match.  Seems that the first couple of rounds would have different impact from the rest from a clean cold barrel.  Check each shot and see if the last 3 are closer together than the first 2.

I don't think there's much to that barrel break-in regiment.  If you do one round at a time and then clean it might surprise you.  Shows you where a first round, cold, clean barrel hits.

Just out of curiosity, what range are you shooting at?

Mike

I would work with that barrel some more.
I wouldn't shoot too much xm193 in that .223 chamber.


mark

Try some different ammo.

How about Federal 69gr Gold Medal Match?

Maybe not what you'd prefer to shoot all the time, but it may prove interesting.

The aforementioned 125 shots were all off the bipod. Admittedly, that is something that I have a certain distaste for.

Believe it or not, the bipod and your dislike for them, could be a large part of the problem. I don't like bipods either, and because I don't like 'em, I tend to shoot poorly when using them. They also allow the rifle to move around (even if it's just a LITTLE bit) more than sandbags will.