Troubleshooting the Mysterious Flier

[P2000]

I loaded up around 95 of my "finest" reloads and took my SPR shooting the other day. I shot a mix of on paper and on steel targets. On paper I got one flier much worse than I have ever had before(see the last target). I know for a fact it was not due to shooter error, no way. I had a bipod and rear bag, very stable position. After each shot the rifle didn't move this much. I don't jerk the trigger. I was stacking holes sometimes so I cannot definitively count how many holes I have, and am not positive if this flier was me or someone else "accidentally" shooting my target (which has happened before).

Before I go into the exact events of this shooting day, I am wondering if a suppressor can cause this big of a flier, such as from a chunk of carbon breaking loose and striking the bullet. Or can this be caused by my reloads?

The rifle: https://www.m4carbine.net/archive/in.../t-109073.html
She has about 1000 rounds through her at this point. Last real cleaning including copper removal was 300 shots ago. Basically it is a 18'' stainless barreled SPR.

The suppressor: SF SOCOM 5556, mounted on MB, has roughly 600-1000 rounds through it. I've cleaned the mount area and the muzzle brake, but nothing else. After I got home, I cleaned the muzzle end of the can which had all sorts of carbon build up. The carbon build up actually protruded 1-2mm beyond the muzzle of the suppressor. It was on tight during the whole day at the range and has never backed off. Rock solid mount...in fact it is always a real PITA to take off after shooting. If I can't break it loose by moving back and forth and rotating, then I warm the outside up with a torch. That lets it come off easily.

The reloads: Twice fired PMC brass. FL resized with Forster die with expander removed, then Lyman M mandrel which opens the neck by 1 thou. There is 1.5 thou neck tension, enough that I cannot cause bullet setback with one hand pressing a cartridge down on my workbench. 22.6gr XBR, each charge weighed. CCI BR-4. PP uniformed and FH uniformed. 77gr TMK's. I looked at every piece of brass after I came home from the range, nothing abnormal and no split necks.

The day at the range, in sequence of events. Good thing I'm a little OCD. This was at 100 yards. Around 65 degrees outside.

First shot of the day, Cold bore dirty bore shot on center (big) target. I'm not sure how great my zero is on this rifle, which is one reason I came to the range this day.
2016-03-23 08.04.10.jpg

Shots 2-11 of the day (10 shot group). All shots magazine fed. Shooting at a normal/slow pace. I'd guess 1 shot every 10 seconds or so.
2016-03-23 08.04.16.jpg


Adjusted windage to the right 0.2mil.

Shots 12-21 of the day (10 shot group). Fired with no rest from the first 10. Barrel warming up during this string.
2016-03-23 08.30.12.jpg

Then the range called a cease fire which lasted 15 minutes.

Shots 22-31 of the day. 10 shot group. It doesn't look like 10 but they are there . This was actually the best 10 shot group I have recorded for this rifle.
save view as graph.jpg

Then I ran 20 shots rapidly at various steel targets and the barrel warmed up a bit. Think 10 shots per 15 seconds. The next group was shot only after 2-3 minutes rest/cooldown. I figured this would be my "hot barrel" grouping.

Shots 52-61 of the day. 10 shot group. I remember a little suppressor mirage when shooting this group, nothing major...just the target would flicker/blur every now and then. This is the target with the flyer.
2016-03-23 08.56.09.jpg

I didn't see the flier until I dumped the rest of my ammo on the steel targets. Otherwise I would have shot another 10 round group to see if it happened again. When I got home I was stumped, but the suppressor was filthy. I'm hoping my carbon chunk theory sounds plausible. Anyone have any experience with this??

Thanks!

[kremtok]

I'm no expert, or even a competent ameteur, but that doesn't look like the rest of the holes in the paper. It's not quite perfectly round, which I really can't explain. It also doesn't help that we can't see through it like the rest; the background is dark. It looks to me like something very odd happened with that shot, but I don't know what.

[MegademiC]

Looks like the hole was there and you just didn't notice it. I wouldn't worry about it unless you start to see a pattern.

[P2000]

The picture of the flier isn't the best due to camera angle, but in person it seemed to look like the rest of the holes.

[bfoosh006]

Deleted

[HeruMew]

One of these days... I am going to "strap" my accuracy AR into a rest and see if I still get fliers...

Don't forget to factor in wind drift.... if some how that flier got a gust of wind, that may account for it.

If I have read the drift of a 77gr SMK in a 10 mph wind correctly... it can be 0.89 inches at 100yds.

From here ..... https://www.ar15.com/archive/topic.h...&f=16&t=235282

I suggest you thumb tack a piece of LtWt marker tape to the bottom of the target you are shooting at.

Watch for excessive wind during shooting.... and learn ( like I need to ! ) how to read wind as well as shoot.

I am sure there are all sorts of reasons for fliers.... but man , are the bane of tiny groups.

+1 For this tip.

Not the OP, but this is one of the most helpful things someone can do when you're trying to get consistent groups.

Thanks Bfoosh!