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Posted: 5/31/2014 7:34:55 PM EDT
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Well first off, I was advised against buying this gun and, so far, i'm glad I didn't listen. The fit and finish is awesome, it handles great, and hasn't malfunctioned (yet). The shop I bought it from actually took it on a trade from one of it's gunsmiths. He installed a Troy 15" Alpha Rail, a Magpul STR stock, AAC Blackout Muzzlebrake and some sort of God awful over-sized safety lever and only put 30rds of 175Gr Federal Gold Medal Match (So he says) but the shell deflector showed hardly any wear, so he seemed to be legit.
I never could make up my mind on what scope I wanted so I settle on a Primary Arms 4-16 with one of their standard mounts. I know it's a cheapo scope with and even cheaper mount, but like I said, I couldn't decide. This let me make up my mind on what I didn't want, a 1-4x scope. I just didn't like shooting at 100yards at 4x, it just didn't seem enough. Now that that's out of the way, on to the good stuff. It had been awhile since I visited the range on base and didn't realize they did away with their sandbags. So, I improvised and had to use my range bag. Not exactly sturdy, but i guess it was better than nothing. I decided to use the normal 100yard sight in but didn't want to waste time so I started at 25yards to make sure I was atleast on paper. After 6 shots, I was in the bull's eye. I backed the target stand out to 100yards and went at it. Since the gun didn't have enough rounds in it to be "broken in", I decided to go ahead and get it sighted in and send as many rounds of XM80 down range as I could given the short time I had at the range. After 3 boxes, I started shooting for groups so to say with the 149gr XM80. I was pretty impressed with the accuracy of the round, given it's not known for it's supreme accuracy. This picture shows the average accuracy of the XM80, about 1.25" groups. 
Below is the best group with the 149gr, 1" group. 
Satisfied with the accuracy and my sight in, I started to try out some match loads. I had 168gr HSM match, 175gr Gold Medal Match, and a 175gr M118 HSM load. After switching to the heavier loads, I confirmed my zero and made some scope adjustments and started shooting for groups. To my surprise, my groups had opened up quite a bit and were downright horrible compared to what I had been shooting previously. Here are two average 5 shot groups, between 2.5-3.5". 
After getting frustrated and the fact that the range was almost closed, I started to pack up. I grabbed my rifle and noticed a little slop. I realized that my scope mount had come loose and was pretty wobbly. I guess it had worked itself loose and I didn't think to loctite it at the house. I can safely assume that it was the cause of my bad groups during the second half of my range session. Well, that along with a range bag for a rest and a primary arms $160 scope. Given the success I had with the commercial loads at the start of my range session, I'm pretty happy with the gun. Not that it's a tac-driver (well hell, it actually could be with a good scope/mount and better shooter ), but it looks like it's got pretty good accuracy to me. I'm going to try and get a better scope mount here soon and make it out to the range to see if I can tighten them groups up. Oh, and i almost forgot, a picture of the gun! 
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Quoted:
I think these rifles have hidden potential. A tube and a trigger can make a huge difference. I like it, looks like yours is close. I actually like my trigger, it has a very positive, crisp break. That being said, I've never shot a timney or gieselle 
I'm still undecided on the glass, but I think i'm leaning toward the Vortex Viper 6.5-20. |
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Quoted:
I actually like my trigger, it has a very positive, crisp break. That being said, I've never shot a timney or gieselle
I'm still undecided on the glass, but I think i'm leaning toward the Vortex Viper 6.5-20. Quoted:
Quoted:
I think these rifles have hidden potential. A tube and a trigger can make a huge difference. I like it, looks like yours is close. I actually like my trigger, it has a very positive, crisp break. That being said, I've never shot a timney or gieselle
I'm still undecided on the glass, but I think i'm leaning toward the Vortex Viper 6.5-20. dont, unless you want to feel obligated to always add 2-300$ to every AR you ever own again |
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Quoted:
dont, unless you want to feel obligated to always add 2-300$ to every AR you ever own again Quoted:
Quoted:
Quoted:
I think these rifles have hidden potential. A tube and a trigger can make a huge difference. I like it, looks like yours is close. I actually like my trigger, it has a very positive, crisp break. That being said, I've never shot a timney or gieselle
I'm still undecided on the glass, but I think i'm leaning toward the Vortex Viper 6.5-20. dont, unless you want to feel obligated to always add 2-300$ to every AR you ever own again Well, this is going to be my only "long range" gun and I have no problems using a standard GI trigger for anything else. With that said, I haven't even picked one up haha |
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