18" BCM rifle upper - range report

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02-12-11, 21:22
mizer67

18" BCM rifle upper - range report

Man, I love BCM's work.

42-52 degrees. 70% (est.) humidity. Wind from behind a 3 mph full value.

Ammo is handloaded 69 gr SMKs, 24.5 gr RE-15, LC brass, OAL 2.255" and Tula SRP.

Distance: 100 yards

This is my first group out of the new rifle, had to come over 2 mil, hence the 8 shot group with the 2 outliers:
[IMG]https://www.m4carbine.net/picture.ph...pictureid=1700[/IMG]
http://m4carbine.net/picture.php?alb...pictureid=1700

Here's the second group, still need to come down ~one mil:

http://m4carbine.net/picture.php?alb...pictureid=1701
[IMG]https://www.m4carbine.net/picture.ph...pictureid=1701[/IMG]
.86 MOA over 10 rounds with only 20 down the tube, and with a std. SSA as the FCG and me driving. Gotta love it.

Shot the dot drill next (1/2" dots), and did pretty well (for me):

http://m4carbine.net/picture.php?alb...pictureid=1699
[IMG]https://www.m4carbine.net/picture.ph...pictureid=1699[/IMG]
Now to do some load development and see if she'll really shoot! :smile:
02-12-11, 21:54
Jake'sDad

Cool!

Which 18" upper did you get? I got one of their 16" SS410 uppers to scope up as a "precision" AR, but haven't had a chance to set it up yet. Grant recommended it, said they're real shooters.
02-12-11, 23:35
Cameron

Awesome results man, and great shooting.

My 18" BCM SS410 is turning out the same type of tiny groups.

Cameron
02-13-11, 07:52
mizer67

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jake'sDad

Cool!

Which 18" upper did you get? I got one of their 16" SS410 uppers to scope up as a "precision" AR, but haven't had a chance to set it up yet. Grant recommended it, said they're real shooters.

http://www.bravocompanyusa.com/BCM-S...0%20vtrx13.htm

I bought this one above. I'm not a fan of stainless barrels in the white, but it's nothing that a little Gunkote won't fix. I'm really liking the TRX rail so far, when I was unsure of it before I ordered.

I also have a BCM Ionbonded 16" SS410 that I put an Omega rail on.
http://www.bravocompanyusa.com/BCM-S...%20ib%20bk.htm

It'll shoot round for round right along with the 18" above, but it's harder for me to drive the way it's set up right now. My best group of 10 using 77gr SMKs was .69" CTC, but it averages .97" over 20 averaged 10-round groups, with me doing the shooting as the limiting factor. Here's an example I had on file here, the vertical stringing is all me:
https://www.m4carbine.net/picture.ph...pictureid=1702
02-13-11, 08:39
Jake'sDad

Excellent. The 16" I bought was with the 11" TRX. Looking forward to getting glass on it and seeing if it'll shoot.

Great photo as well!
02-13-11, 08:58
Cobra66

Thanks for posting this. I got the exact upper you have for Christmas and just this Friday had a chance to shoot it with a scope mounted. I didn't get the accuracy results that you did, but I'll be the first to admit I am most likely the limiting factor. Shot both Black Hills 69gr OTM and Prvi 75gr OTM with the BH shooting just over 1 MOA 5 round groups and the Prvi right around 2 MOA.

What kind of mount and optic are you using?
02-13-11, 11:20
mizer67

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cobra66

Thanks for posting this. I got the exact upper you have for Christmas and just this Friday had a chance to shoot it with a scope mounted. I didn't get the accuracy results that you did, but I'll be the first to admit I am most likely the limiting factor. Shot both Black Hills 69gr OTM and Prvi 75gr OTM with the BH shooting just over 1 MOA 5 round groups and the Prvi right around 2 MOA.

What kind of mount and optic are you using?

Larue for the mount, think it's called their LT-104.

Weaver GS Tactical 3-10X40 for the optic (Midway for ~$299). It's a good budget optic, IMO while your saving up for better glass. It passes the box test and the glass is pretty good for the price.

I'd skip the Privi for serious accuracy.
02-13-11, 11:50
jwfuhrman

Im using a 16in SS410 for my 3gun Rifle and just finished a Mk12 Mod1 build with a 18in SS410.

My 3gun rifle with 1-4x24 Burris XTR will clang the standard 4 MOA size Steel all the way out to 400 repeatedly and very quickly. Im using 68gr Hornady BTHP Match loads from Dallas Reloading Services. Right at 1.5 MOA from a mechanical rest at 100yds to sight it in with(mechinical rest the gun is secured and all adjustments are done with the rest itself, takes the shooter out of the equation, other than trigger pull consistency)

My Mk12 Mod1 is an amazing shooter. Using the same load for my 3gun rifle, and the same mechinical rest, fire 4 10shot groups ranging from .93in to 1.25in at 100yds is very impressive, at least to me.

The SS410 barrels from BCM are top notch.
02-13-11, 13:04
mizer67

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jake'sDad

Excellent. The 16" I bought was with the 11" TRX. Looking forward to getting glass on it and seeing if it'll shoot.

Great photo as well!

I think you'll like your 16". I haven't heard of one that won't shoot yet with GMM or BH OTMs. The reloaded Privi I've shot was at best, 1.75-2", nothing to write home about.

For the price BCM charges for them completed, it's hard to go wrong.
02-13-11, 13:12
mizer67

Quote:

Originally Posted by jwfuhrman

Im using a 16in SS410 for my 3gun Rifle and just finished a Mk12 Mod1 build with a 18in SS410.

My 3gun rifle with 1-4x24 Burris XTR will clang the standard 4 MOA size Steel all the way out to 400 repeatedly and very quickly. Im using 68gr Hornady BTHP Match loads from Dallas Reloading Services. Right at 1.5 MOA from a mechanical rest at 100yds to sight it in with(mechinical rest the gun is secured and all adjustments are done with the rest itself, takes the shooter out of the equation, other than trigger pull consistency)

My Mk12 Mod1 is an amazing shooter. Using the same load for my 3gun rifle, and the same mechinical rest, fire 4 10shot groups ranging from .93in to 1.25in at 100yds is very impressive, at least to me.

The SS410 barrels from BCM are top notch.

My experience is very similar to yours using Hornady's, about 1.2" over multiple 10-round groups in the 16" SS410 barrel.

SMKs shoot better for me, as seen above, even though the difference is relatively minor.
02-13-11, 23:59
Cobra66

Quote:

Originally Posted by mizer67

Larue for the mount, think it's called their LT-104.

Weaver GS Tactical 3-10X40 for the optic (Midway for ~$299). It's a good budget optic, IMO while your saving up for better glass. It passes the box test and the glass is pretty good for the price.

I'd skip the Privi for serious accuracy.

Did you have to bridge the receiver and rail? I myself have considered that Weaver scope, right now I'm using an old Redfield as a place holder.

As far as the Prvi, I have to admit I was expecting a little better based on Molon's testing of it. It did however shoot better groups than any of the other budget ammo I tested including PMC, American Eagle, and XM-193. So keeping it in perspective, it is a reasonably accurate round and coming in at $0.40/round may be a good balance between the $1/round match ammo and the range fodder.
02-14-11, 18:32
mizer67

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cobra66

Did you have to bridge the receiver and rail? I myself have considered that Weaver scope, right now I'm using an old Redfield as a place holder.

As far as the Prvi, I have to admit I was expecting a little better based on Molon's testing of it. It did however shoot better groups than any of the other budget ammo I tested including PMC, American Eagle, and XM-193. So keeping it in perspective, it is a reasonably accurate round and coming in at $0.40/round may be a good balance between the $1/round match ammo and the range fodder.

No, no bridging is required. I have a few notches left on the receiver with the A2 stock I'm running before I'd have to worry about it, but even running near NTCH, maybe notch 2 or 3 with a collapsable stock, I think there'd be enough eye relief for most using the LT-104 mount. I actually can't get good eye relief for me, unless I run the mount a little farther back (but I am using the A2) towards the charging handle and have the scope mounted farther back in the rings. I saw your other post, and if you bought the SPR-E, you already have a mount that extends the scope further forward than the LT-104 mount.

As to the Privi, I ran through 500 of the bulk Widener's 75 gr mil spec bullets, which are Privi bullets, when I first bought the 16" BCM SS410 I have. For me, with my driving, I couldn't squeeze better than 1.6" out of them at best, and they averaged around 2" over multiple 10-round groups. That's still better than the any bulk 55 gr FMJ factory loads, but not on par with other options from Hornady, Nosler or especially for me, Sierra.
02-19-11, 12:19
mizer67

Tried some load development for the first time today with this new BCM upper. 10-round groups from 23 grains to 25 grains in .5 grain increments at 100 yards for the COF, onto NRA 50 yard smallbore rifle targets. The results were mostly inconclusive for all but one load, shown below:

https://www.m4carbine.net/picture.ph...pictureid=1720

Even though the groups size of 1.1" isn't much to write home about, it still shows a lot of promise, as the outliers look to me like shooter error. 69 grain SMKs, 24.0 grains RE-15, LC Brass, Tula SRP and 2.255" OAL. I'm going to try .2 grain increments around this load next.

I also noticed that my POI likes to shift ~1 Mil down and ~2 Mils right once the barrel heats up after 10-20 rounds. The group shown above was rounds 21-30. Rounds 0-20 were centered.

For anyone wondering how it shoots with FMJ ammo, I shot two groups of Montana Gold 55 gr FMJ reloads over 24.7 grains of H335, CCI41s and LC brass, 2.245" OAL. The picture below is the best of the two groups:

https://www.m4carbine.net/picture.ph...pictureid=1721

This one measures 1.695", the other measured 2". Not too shabby for trying to turn a sow's ear into a silk purse. POA/POI is different from the 69 grain load by 8 mils of elevation, so it's not great for practice, but still not bad for FMJ.
02-26-11, 12:21
mizer67

Here's 24.2 grains RE-15, 69 gr SMK, Lapua brass, 2.255" OAL, Tula SRP. 10-rounds at 100 yards:

https://www.m4carbine.net/picture.ph...pictureid=1762
02-26-11, 20:32
ICANHITHIMMAN

I sure would like to see a pic of this rifle
02-27-11, 16:15
mizer67

Quote:

Originally Posted by ICANHITHIMMAN

I sure would like to see a pic of this rifle

Here you go.

https://www.m4carbine.net/picture.ph...pictureid=1763
02-27-11, 16:21
ICANHITHIMMAN

Oh thanks for the responce but seing as your thread is about the new barrel thats what realy got my interested in your thread. I was kind of hoping for some pics that showed it.

So I could relate the profile to your rail etc.

Jon
02-27-11, 18:14
mizer67

My original post is about a complete 18" rifle upper shipped from Bravo.

I'm sure the barrel alone is just fine stripped also.

If I take the rail off at some point in the future, I'll snap some shots of the barrel for you, but it's just a SS410 stainless midweight in the white, you're not going to see much from a photo.
02-27-11, 19:45
ICANHITHIMMAN

Quote:

Originally Posted by mizer67

My original post is about a complete 18" rifle upper shipped from Bravo.

I'm sure the barrel alone is just fine stripped also.

If I take the rail off at some point in the future, I'll snap some shots of the barrel for you, but it's just a SS410 stainless midweight in the white, you're not going to see much from a photo.

Oh god no I just ment a pic of the whole rifle with the barrel so I can see how it looks.