New Jon Wolfe 5R/20 barrel on LRB M25 receiver **600yd groups Added**

[tonyben]

I went to the range on Sunday and wanted to try some more loads since my maiden voyage. I wanted to see how the rifle shot with the gas off and rounds single-feed to see if I could isolate the barrel performance only since it's only resting in a GI fiberglass stock.

This the rifle I built last week in this thread...
https://www.m4carbine.net/showthread...eport-Posted**

All targets shot at 100 yards.

Since my last trip, I aligned and lapped the scope rings, leveled the scope to the action using a bubble level, a plumb line and my barrel alignment gauges and swapped the gritty trigger for a new Garand style trigger which was unused.

I warmed up with 30 rounds of Federal M80 ball, zeroing the scope and once I got sighted in at 100 the last twenty grouped in around 2.5 inches. I then switched to AE 168 gr OTM. My first group was way high compared to the M80 and it grouped in at 1.428". I adjusted the scope and shot three more 5-shot groups measuring 1.189", 0.787" and 1.458"



I then shot another 5-shot group using M118LR from 2006 and it measured an astonishing 0.329"!!! That's the best 5-shot group I've ever fired in my life!


I then switched to another green backing board and shot another M118LR groups for 1.287" and four 5-shot groups of 168gr FGMM measuring 0.936", 0.857", 1.344" and 1.605". I pulled the last shot of the last group. My eyes were getting too fatigued by the end of the range session.


The FGMM averaged 1.1845" group sizes (darn flyer!)
The American Eagle averaged 1.2155"
The M118LR averaged 0.808" but that's not much of an average since it was only two groups.

This barrel really seems to like the 175's. I've got some 175 Sierras and some 178 A-Max's that I will have to try out.

Again, this rifle is un-bedded. Next trip will be with the gas on. I was just curious to see what I could do single-feed and slow fire with manual cycling.

Tony.

[bfoosh006]

Awesome group ! .329" is the stuff of legends !

[tonyben]

Thanks Brian!

For anyone else that is curious about how this barrel is doing...

Talk about a great day at the range! I took a couple of friends out to the range Saturday and met M14forum member bfoosh006 at the range for a fun day of shooting and chrono data collection.

My goal was to shoot some M118LR through my new build and to chrono the data so I could build up a load. Things I changed since my last outing was was swapping stocks and fixing a loose operating rod guide. I glued my operating rod guide with red loc-tite and it seems to have held very well. I took my old LRB M14SA out of its carbon graphite kevlar stock and fitted my M25 into it. I got better lockup and draw pressure.

All shots fired semi-auto (gas valve on).



I also mounted my M14SA into a SAGE stock and used the CASM mount to see what kind of results I would get.

(My guest shooting, not me)


I loaded 5 batches of handloads using RL15, LC brass, 178gr Hornady match loaded to 2.850". Load charges were 10 rounds of 42.0gr, 42.5gr, 43.0gr and 43.5gr. I had a batch of 43.8gr but I didn't have the cojones to try that load after chronographing the previous loads.

I shot 2 strings of 5 shots each of XM80 ball through the M25/5R rifle.

String 1: ES-11, Average-2879, SD-4.
2882
2884
2883
2877
2873

String 2 (different box of ammo): ES-15, Average-2844, SD-4
2842
2839
2843
2846
2854

I then shot XM80 through my LRB with a 22" 1:12" twist CM barrel in the SAGE stock using ammo from the same box as string number 2 listed above.
ES-62, Average 2788, SD-23.5
2769
2806
2752
2799
2814

This gave me approximately 56FPS of velocity gain just from using the 5R barrel.

I then shot 5 rounds of M118LR through the M14SA. Average velocity was 2609fps, ES-35, SD-13.
2595
2595
2613
2612
2630

I then shot 5 rounds of M118LR through the M25/5R. Average velocity was 2652fps, ES-36, SD-12.1. Group size was 1.183"
2644
2635
2671
2658
2655

The 5R barrel gave me a free velocity gain of 43fps.

I then started chronographing my 178gr hand loads to give me a starting point for my handloads.
42.0 grains gave me a 1.763" group with an average velocity of 2556fps

42.5 grains gave me a 1.235" group with an average velocity of 2609fps

43.0 grains gave me a 1.282" group with an average velocity of 2678fps

43.5 grains gave me 3 shots of 2742, 2726 and 2727. I decided not to tempt fate and stopped there.

Neiltus have the same barrel and he's winning matches with it.


So now that the informational stuff was covered, I'll finish off with the other stuff...

First of all, I wanted to give a big thanks to bfoosh006! Every time we get together, he's a kick in the pants! The two guests I brought out today are very good friends of mine but I'm "The Gun Guy". One is Brazilian and the other one is Portuguese and he is actually a former Portuguese Marine.

Since I go to the most strict range in the US, taking guests can be a little overwhelming. Brian, being a member, helped host my two guests. While I shot and showed one how to shoot, Brian took it upon himself to help out with my other guest. I didn't ask him, he just did it and let them take his guns out for a spin. And Brian does have some real nice guns!



Okay, so there was a guy there... I'll just call him 'Tactical Timmy". He must have been in his late 40's, early 50's. He was wearing TACTICAL khakis, TACTICAL knee pads, TACTICAL elbow pads (even though he shot off the bench the whole time), TACTICAL ball cap, TACTICAL boots, TACTICAL ammo vest and had TACTICAL AR-15's! He also had some sort of monstrous TACTICAL bolt action in all black. He was shooting next to Brian, rattling their teeth with his muzzle brake.

Somehow, Brian made and acquaintance with the guy and one thing led to another and I saw Brian shouldering Tactical Timmy's bolt action and BANG! I caught something out of the corner of my eye and realized it was Tactical Timmy's chronograph that came apart. I think their friendship ended there.



Luckily, Brain had the same model Chrony and he gave Timmy a set of replacement rods. Now back to shooting...

The range officer that day was the best, friendliest I've seen in a long while. He told me he had the same problem as I did using a CED M2 chronograph but that I was there at the best time of the day for my skyscreens to work but I had to hurry before the shadows killed my testing.

I ran some Speer 125gr TNT's through my M25. I loaded 11 rounds and the first round had a different POI than the rest. The next 10 landed in a 0.931" group!

So I adjusted the scope so that POI was the same as POA using a 10-round group which measured 1.204" and tried the 1 MOA challenge from the M14 forum. I scored 7 out of 10. Better than my last time, but not as good as I had hoped. It was all semi-auto too. The rifle is shooting really well! After failing at the test, I fired the remaining five shots on another 1" spot and the group measured 0.875".

These were the last rounds I fired after firing 10 rounds of XM80, 8 rounds of M118LR, 33 rounds of 178gr handloads and 21 rounds of 125's. So I tried the accuracy challenge after firing 72 rounds. I'd still say it went quite well and again, I don't have a unitized gas cylinder and the stock is not bedded. It was only cleared of enough material around the receiver legs to fully seat the action in the stock. Trigger guard lockup is the tightest I've ever had. I actually had to switch trigger groups from my old LRB to get the action to lock down. My other trigger group wouldn't work.



It all worked out okay because the trigger group that I put on my LRB in the SAGE actually drew down the heel enough so there wasn't a gap. Originally, before the swap, there was a slight heel gap.

And to wrap it all up, I shot Brian's M21. It was a great rifle! The group speaks for itself! 1.4" at 100 with Portuguese surplus ammo! However, even though he has a great rifle, he kept eyeballing my M25. I mean, it was somewhat concerning. He did mumble a few times that if I wasn't careful, it might disappear and end up in his truck. I'll have to put a lowjack on it or something before my next range trip with him. Maybe install a "find my M25 app" on my phone.

Accuracy with the SAGE wasn't impressive at all but I need more time to fiddle with it. It wasn't the main focus of the trip anyways. That will be reserved for another trip.

After the trip, we headed out to Famous Dave's BBQ and we feasted! The Portuguese friend told me that after the last two trips to the range, it really changed his image on gun owners in America. He told me that before he met me, he imagined anyone who was a member of the NRA as uneducated, out of touch hillbillies. Meeting myself, Brian and the rest of the friendly people at the range has fully converted him and changed his view of us gun owners. I also helped him see the true meaning of the second amendment and why it is important to us. We need to convert more like him in the Portland area. I'll be helping him build an AR soon, I'm sure.

Again, it was a great day with great friends. Thanks for reading!

Tony.

[misfit47]

Outstanding write up Tony. If I hadn't already installed one of his other barrels, a 5r would be hanging of the front.

[tonyben]

Outstanding write up Tony. If I hadn't already installed one of his other barrels, a 5r would be hanging of the front.

Thanks! I recently shot this rifle out to 600 yards and it performed superbly! Here's a copy of my range report that I posted on another forum...

It was a very successful day at the range! I hit the 300yd line after work and got my 300yd dope. I had 5 rounds left of my 178gr HPBT's from my previous range trip and a box of 50 rounds loaded up and split between 25 with 178gr A-MAX and 25 with 175gr SMK's. All were loaded with 42.8 grains of RL-15 in LC 2x fired cases and BR-2 primers.

I warmed up with 10 rounds of XM80 ball. POI was way off and I adjusted my scope. First targets were on the left. Then I ran the last 5 rounds of my 178 HPBT's that were loaded with 42.8gr of RL-15. POI shifted the opposite direction and I ended up cranking the scope back to where it was originally...ICONROLLEY

The four remaining shots landed in a 3.327" group, or 1.059 MOA. Then I switched to 178gr A-MAX for 10 shots. They grouped in at 4.397" or 1.399 MOA. I then fired 5 rounds of 175gr SMK's (I was running out of time before the line shut down for 600). They grouped at 4.119" or 1.311 MOA.



Then the 600yd shoot began and I fired the remaining 15 rounds I had of 178gr A-Max's. All 15 rounds landed in a group approximately 9.15" or 1.456 MOA at 600. I then fired 5 rounds using 175gr SMK's, I aimed at the left edge of the circle and the 5 rounds grouped approximately 6.5" at 600 or 1.034 MOA.





All-in-all, it was a great day at the range! I'm very happy with the accuracy out of this rifle and barrel!

Tony.

[misfit47]

That is some mighty fine shooting and a very fine rifle you've got.

[bfoosh006]

Again outstanding performance from the shooter and the barrel.

If you guys ever get a chance to shot with Tony and his M1A's ... you will walk away wanting a M1A.

You can teach that "Old Dog" M1A new tricks.

And Tony will prove it.


BTW, for those of you M1A owners that are unaware... Tony's Youtube channel has a ton of GREAT videos concerning the M1A.... as well as other fun stuff.

https://www.youtube.com/user/tonyben3