The more I shoot this new BCM upper, the more I like it.
I've only had this upper for a month, but so far, so good. On a previous range outing, I tested some Hornady 75 grain BTHP match ammo. Results were pretty good, averaging under 1 MOA. Here is a target from that outing;
http://www.canonshooter.com/photos2/artarget-2.jpg
I went to the range again yesterday to shoot these three loads;
1. Hornady 75 grain BTHP match
2. SAA 77 grain SMK
3. XM193
My goal was to (1) see how well the SAA load shoots and (2) determine how much scope adjustment would be needed to compensate for the Hornady and Federal rounds using the SAA round as the starting point.
The following groups were shot in succession at 100 yards, front of rifle on a sandbag using my less-than-perfect "benchrest" technique. After fouling the barrel with 5 rounds of 75 grain BTHP hand loads, I shot the following groups;
5 rounds of the Hornady load;
http://www.canonshooter.com/photos2/artarget-3.jpg
I then immediately shot 5 rounds of the SAA load;
http://www.canonshooter.com/photos2/artarget-4.jpg
I was pleased to see that the POI was not significantly different between these two loads.
I then made some elevation adjustment to the scope and fired 5 more rounds of the SAA load;
http://www.canonshooter.com/photos2/artarget-5.jpg
I then immediately fired 5 rounds of the 55 grain XM193 load;
http://www.canonshooter.com/photos2/artarget-6.jpg
I then made a made a final adjustment to the scope and fired 5 more rounds of the hand load. Though I do not have the target, these 5 rounds were perfectly centered on the target and grouped like the other rounds - just over 1 MOA.
I certainly don't have many rounds through this upper yet, but my goal was to achieve 1 MOA accuracy with at least one load. It would appear that (1) this upper is capable of far better than 1 MOA accuracy with the right load and (2) best of all, this upper shoots a variety of loads very well to nearly identical POI. The fact that it shoots XM193 very well to almost the same POI as the 75/77 grain loads is IMO a huge plus.
Full rifle specs;
- BCM SS410 16-inch mid-length upper complete with BCM bolt assembly, LaRue 12-inch rail, Gunfighter charging handle and ACC Blackout flash suppressor
- Bushnell Elite 4200 1.25-4X scope in LaRue mount
- Troy BUIS
- BM lower with Gissele SSA trigger
- BCM Ambidextrous Safety Selector
- Magpul MAID, CTR mil-spec and trigger guard
http://www.canonshooter.com/photos2/ar-8.jpg

