223 performance survey redo

Take a look at commercially produced AR-15's DI guns and guarantees

Think that based on a high quality barrel and a good chamber job suited to accuracy, Wilde (SP?) chamber come to mind. Check Les Baer's website. His higher quality guns are guaranteed for 1/2 MOA groups with quality ammo (believe 5 shot).

From what I've gathered, a good quality build by a gunsmith familiar with AR DI guns should be able to match this with no issues.

If you are willing to look at other calibers the .264 LBC should have great accuracy potential, but don't know if you are sold on .223 caliber.
 
i agree with basics of good action builds and barrels. and the shooters triggers control. etc,,,something i thought i would never say though,, a semi ar that i have recently bought shoots with my bolt guns.. i have shot 5 shot groups at 200yrds in the .550 several times. the gun is incredible. an ar with a varmint barrel that shoots that good. so my thinking has changed about a semi.. 850.00 for a stag model 6,. with a 4.5-14 leupold. off the shelf. you would have to spend some money to get that out of the bolt. go figure.
 
Switch barrel gun - switching back to .223

I bought a 2nd hand BR rifle 12 years ago. It was originally a Rem 40X action that the orginal purchaser had turned into a switch barrel gun.
The 40X action was trued and made as accurate as a no BR action could be made, Jewell trigger, lug removed, new Hart BBL, all for a 6BR short.

Any suggestions on how to reconvert this to the .223? I have the original SS Rem .223 barrel and stock. Had a custom .223 bolt made back then.
The 2 oz Jewell trigger doesn't have a safety. For the field, I'll need to put one on. Can a gunsmith add a safety to the Jewell trigger or does the original Remington trigger assembly need to go back into the gun?
And does the recoil lug need to be reinstalled?

My apologies if the questions are confusing, I haven't shot the gun in BR form in almost a decade and for the next few years, it will see a lot more action in its original format.
The Remington test targets that came with the gun were both in the .30's with factory ammo and I know I can do better.

Thanks
 
I have a number of AR15s that shoot 1.0 to 1.1", because I can't reach the lands with those long military chambers.

I have a Ruger #1V 223 that will shoot 0.4 to 0.5".
 
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Peakbagr,

If you sell you Jewel BR trigger and replace it with a Jewel HVR, you can have just as light of a trigger, not recommended in the field, and the option of heavier settings, up to anything that you would like. The HVR also has safety options that can be ordered. If you are not going to glue it in, I would use the recoil lug. I am surprised that the rifle was built without one if it is not glued in. With a Remington, I would stick with one or the other (glued or lug). Your lug should be ground or replaced with one that is true. In either case, a gunsmith will have to reestablish correct headspace. This would be the case even if the original lug was used, as is, since the truing of the action undoubtedly involved taking a cut off of the action face.
 
semi auto? why not?

Allegedly the IBS now has a class for AR rifles to compete in BR matches. One would think that if one wanted the BEST AR available to shoot in such matches, he would want to get something other than a factory off the shelf black rifle. You can now buy a very good JARD drop in trigger with a very light (for an AR) pull, and Shilen (among others) is offering select match barrels for the AR. Folks like Mike M at Dedicated Technology are building some very nice match rifles. One might also consider cartridges other than .223.....Mike recently did some very good work on my OA K8 mag (6mm WSSM) and I think it will be very competitive as it is presently shooting very well, though I am still testing loads. I also shoot a nice stock DPMS in .223 and it is more accurate than I am offhand, but it is not by any means a bench gun. I don't think one can get a more accurate rifle in semi auto than a good AR, but like bolt guns there are factory guns and varmint/target rifles and then there are BR rifles. The same is probably going to apply to ARs in the future if the IBS AR class takes off.
 
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With work and family committments, its been close to 8 years since I took the rifle out of the safe and I'd forgotten the work that had been done on the gun..
The gun does have the Jewel HVR trigger not the BR trigger. When the gunsmith set the gun up as a switch barrel, he put in and pinned an oversize recoil lug. He also installed a Time Precision .223 bolt and adjusted it for the .223 barrel.
 
So, what is the "go to powder" useing the 53 grain or 52 grain flat
base bullets at 100 yards ? I've got Barts, and Sierras to start with.

Cases are Lapua, and throat is a bit short so there is little to no jump to start.
Throat is .0005 over bullet diameter for support and guidance, and leade is 1.5 degree.

Twist is 1/12
cartridge is 223, with Remington 7 1/2 primers

Regards
Michael.
 
H322 and AA2015 work well for me, but I use boattail bullets. Flat base bullets aren't as accurate in my rifle and throw fliers, which the boattail bullets don't do in my rifle.
 
Flat base throw fliers ? Have you investigated why this could be ?
How strange it seems.

Michael
 
The only investigation I have done is fired hunreds of groups with both FB and BT bullets and noticed that in the same rifles BT consistently outshot match FB bullets by a mile. FB would always shoot 3 in and 2 out 5 shot groups. I have tried every powder and primer combo, and sometimes it would work ok, most times it didn't. On the other hand, every good BT bullet I shot would just make groups, some smaller than others of course, but always "groups", not "gatherings".

The only real explanation I can come up with is that I have always heard how any nick on the base of a FB bullet will make it wander out of the group since that is the last part of the bullet that air touches, but on a BT bullet, it doesn't seem to affect it at all. Basically, I got tired of buying expensive match bullets just because everyone says FB bullets shoot better. They don't in any of my rifles, so I shoot what they like.
 
Hmmm,
I wonder how many of my bullets I have nicked ?
: (

Michael
 
I wondered too, so I went to great lengths to make sure my case necks were smooth as possible, my bullets sarted as straight as possible when seated and the whole nine yards. The only time i didnt get fliers, i couldn't pinpoint why all the bullets stayed in the group no more than why I couldn't find a cause for the groups that were bad.

My last time at the range totally convinced me. I took Speer 50gr TnT's which have shot pretty well for me, some Berger 50 and 52gr FB, some Barts 52gr FB, and Nosler 52gr BTHP Match bullets. The wind at the range that day was terrible, like shooting in a wind tunnel. 30mph gusts from directly behind. I started with the TnT's and found the best seatin g depth with a known good charge (25.8 of AA2015). None of the groups were good, and needless to say, I felt the wind was being a big problem. Then I tried the rest of the FB bullets and had more of the same. lastly, I shot the Noslers and frankly didn't expect much. After 2 5 shot groups under .300, I finally saw the light.

This rifle shoots every other BT bullet well also. It like the Sierra 52 and 55gr BTHP's, Nosler 52's, and any Nosler Ballistic tip bullet, regardless of weight form 40-55grs.

I also believe that any fouling in the barrel can smear a "Fin" on the base of a FB bullet and make it go wacky. Custom barrels are much better in the regard, but I got tired of fighting the equipment every time at the range and now spend my time shooting the bullets it likes and paying attention to the flags.
 
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