What group do you hold (AR-15) at 500 yards?

[scram98400jm]

I started at 100 yards to 450 yards (ran out of room) w/ my new, out of the box Bushamster w/ a variable, 24 power, compensating scope w/ cheap over the counter Wolf ammo, 55gr & at 450 yards my pattern was like 8 to 10 inches. Is this about right? It makes sence but I was only off a little at 100 yards w/ like a 1"pattern & 2" at 200 yards etc but at 450, it moved up & to the right & spread out. I bought some 62gr ammo to try it at long range & was wondering w/ the std 1:7 twist, what's the most accurate 55gr ammo for long range? I love this site. I wish I found it years ago. I bought it w/o the flash hider, they said it wasmore accurate w/o & std long heavy barrel.
Thanks

[st.marys]

I'd say 8 - 10 inches sounds pretty good to me...i suspect Lyc will have a few comments on this one. By the way, the 8 - 10 inch accuracy rate is called M.O.P.P. which stands for Minute of Paper Plate.

[BUCKMARK]

I could hit a UPS truck if they painted it orange.

I can't see small targets at 500 yards anymore, and I don't use magnified optics on my AR's.

I shot a lot of targets at 300 meters in the Army....almost 10 years ago. I could knock the piss out of them, if I knew where they were.

8-10" at 500 with standard ammo would tickle me to death.


M.O.P.P.

[LorDiego01]

I would imagine if you want to improve your groups, you should buy quality, or match ammo.

[Tomcat088]

That's pretty good groups for cheap ammo at that distance. That's averaging around 2" groups@100 or so, which is perfectly acceptable for a battle rifle. Did you notice what the wind was like when you started, and if it changed over the time that you were shooting? What time of the day were you shooting at? Were you reading the mirage to at, to see how it was changing further downrange, etc? My guess is that there is a good chance that the wind was changing some and this affected where your impact was. I don't usually pay alot of attention to my .223's out at 500 yards in terms of pinpoint accuracy like I try to do with my rifles like the .300 winmag. I know that at around 800-1,000 yards, my gun experiences what is called the Corealus effect. It's part of what happens with a gyroscope and the bullets spin. You see, when shooting very long distances, the bullet starts with it's nose up and it's spinning to the right side, as it hits its peak and falls the spin changes as does the balance slightly. Because of the spin of the bullet, you see them start to slightly pull high and to the right from where the group would be at shorter distances. I'm not familiar at what distance the .223 experiences this effect, but I know close to 500 yards would be pushing it, so it wouldn't surprise me at all if you were experiencing it around those distances. Something else that you should keep in mind is your rate of fire. When you're shooting more rapid fire, or at a pretty quick rate for an extended period of time, your barrel heats up. As it heats up, the point of impact will change. It's possible to heat up a heavy barrel gun pretty quickly if you start sending quite a few rounds downrange or do it for an extended period of time. Either way, that sounds like pretty good groups for just a stock AR, and barrel length will make some difference. Holler at me if I can help you out with anything else or if you have any other questions.

[GRoPA]

Originally Posted by scram98400jm

w/ my new, out of the box Bushamster

Is it a semi-auto or a single shot (like one one I saw at the range a couple weeks back)?

[scram98400jm]

I didn’t know about any of this stuff., I’m a newbie, thanks. Anyway it’s a standard length barrel like 24” or so & it’s a semi auto rifle. Sound like from the replies, I’m getting what I should be as far as accuracy goes. Heavier than 55gr will only hurt accuracy right w/ 1:7 twist? I was shooting at ~20*F in the snow, slight wind I think & at 450yards, the white target disappeared. I shot 10 shots at each distance as fast I could while shooting as accurately as possible so I would take about 15 seconds at least between shots to hold dead on, especially at longer distances, even on sand bags, shooting out of the back of my truck. I click the distance on my scope to 200 yards or 300 yards or 400 yards & hold right on. I guess it adjusts everything for me for my caliber. It works really well. The patterns held as expected as I shot farther. Question: The gun would jam at cold temps even after spraying WD-40. It wouldn’t fully eject the shell & try to force in another one. In hot temps it shoots fine. You wouldn’t want to depend on this gun on a cold day, that’s for sure. Any suggestions on match ammo, like a brand or name or something I can maybe do a search on? I like to try a small box then buy a case of it instead of buying cases or the wrong stuff like I’ve been doing. I don’t have anyone else to ask this stuff since none of my friends have or care about these types of guns so I shoot by myself at our property.
Thanks

[Pukindog]

My H-Bar has a 1in7". Shoots 68 gr. match bullets very well. Try some Black hills ammo. You will be suprised at the difference. Actually for a new shooter, a group like you have at that distance, with that junk ammo, is pretty good.

Jeff

[phillyd2]

Originally Posted by BUCKMARK

I could hit a UPS truck if they painted it orange.

I can't see small targets at 500 yards anymore, and I don't use magnified optics on my AR's.

Welcome to the club old man. Hell, these days I would need to drive to check my target 500 yards away.

[Lycanthrope]

1:7 will stabilize the heaviest .223 rounds. In fact, I wager you'll get best accuracy with 62gr+.

Wolf, on the other hand, is one of the least accurate AR rounds. If you're shooting 2 MOA with Wolf, you're doing quite well and should be surprised with good ammo.

Pukindog was right about Black Hills ammo. I consider it the best over the counter ammo for the AR.

For reloads, my guns love the 69gr Sierra Match King over Varget.