Assumptions about comparative ammo quality and "every barrel is a law unto itself"

[Aries144]

A relatively new .223 semi-auto rifle is benched and secured in a Led Sled at an indoor range. The rifle has been thoroughly inspected and found to be mechanically sound, all parts are in spec, nothing is loose, etc. The rifle has a 36x scope mounted. The target is at 100 yards. All inspection, setup, and shooting is performed by a professional gunsmith.

1 5-shot group is fired with Hornady 55gr V-max, which prints a 3 1/8" group. 1 5-shot group is fired with Tula 55gr FMJ, which prints a 2 7/8" group.

What conclusions should be drawn from this?

[wilson1911]

Your gun does not like 55gr ammo.

It's not a very thorough post.

[Leaveammoforme]

Is this a riddle?

I pondered and I'm feeling pretty confident in my answer utilizing the supplied information.

Mini-14.

[uffdaphil]

Grease under lead sled? Your buddy was slapping out Wipeout on the bench? Bad hiccups?

[markm]

Grease under lead sled? Your buddy was slapping out Wipeout on the bench? Bad hiccups?

Yeah... If a gun won't shoot Vmax bullets well... I'm talking MOA or better, there's a problem. 1.5 MOA would be just a mediocre Chrome Lined barrel. Over 2 MOA with VMAX is troubling.

The TULA sounds about right, because those bullets just suck. Everything about the Russian ammo is pretty good EXCEPT their bullets.

[rjacobs]

"why doesnt my $49 barrel from PSA shoot"

[Aries144]

Yeah... If a gun won't shoot Vmax bullets well... I'm talking MOA or better, there's a problem. 1.5 MOA would be just a mediocre Chrome Lined barrel. Over 2 MOA with VMAX is troubling.

The TULA sounds about right, because those bullets just suck. Everything about the Russian ammo is pretty good EXCEPT their bullets.

Thank you Markm, I was hoping for a reply from someone with your level of experience.

I forgot to mention that the barrel twist is 1/7.

Have any of you personally encountered a .223 barrel that shot this poorly with a premium quality 55gr bullet that would shoot more than .5 MOA better using 'an ammo it likes?'

[markm]

Have any of you personally encountered a .223 barrel that shot this poorly with a premium quality 55gr bullet that would shoot more than .5 MOA better using 'an ammo it likes?'

I have not. But we now shoot mostly "heavies". I can't say that it's impossible that a VMAX hating barrel would shoot something else better, but in the limited amount of experience I've had with VMAX, the bullet (VMAX) usually out-shoots or matches everything else.

[Kansaswoodguy]

Thank you Markm, I was hoping for a reply from someone with your level of experience.

I forgot to mention that the barrel twist is 1/7.

Have any of you personally encountered a .223 barrel that shot this poorly with a premium quality 55gr bullet that would shoot more than .5 MOA better using 'an ammo it likes?'

I have personally owned two AR-15 that fell into this realm one is an older 20" Bushmaster chrome lined 5.56 chamber that with the right handload can pull off MOA maybe a bit better. The other is a PSA Freedom stainless 1-7 twist 5.56 NATO chamber it actually shot 8" groups at 100yds on that one I removed the flash hider and re crowned the barrel with screw chucked up into a drill and a little valve lapping compound. It now shoots about 2 MOA as yours is shooting. I was done at that point fooling around with it for accuracy. It's 16" carbine with open sights only that's good enough for its intended roll. My WOA, Lother Walther, Krieger barrels don't suffer from this issue you get what you pay for. A good budget accuracy barrel are the DPMS stainless bull .223 R.E.M. chambered ones I have two of them they will shoot MOA or better with good ammo. Your gun may shoot just fine with a different ammo try several brands and bullet weights. Even premium barrels need load work up to shot at their best.

[C4IGrant]

In all the years I have been shooting, I have never seen a barrel that did not shoot the 55gr VMAX well. So your barrel OP is probably junk (assuming you know how to shoot).



C4


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