dauntedfuture Posted September 27, 2014 Share Posted September 27, 2014 What kind of scope are you using? Could the scope be bad; it happens more often then you think. Have you adjusted out the parallax? Parallax in a scope can do strange things too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flatland Shooter Posted September 27, 2014 Author Share Posted September 27, 2014 What kind of scope are you using? Could the scope be bad; it happens more often then you think. Have you adjusted out the parallax? Parallax in a scope can do strange things too. Used two different scopes. The first is 6X - 18X and the second is 1X - 4X. Bad groups with both. The 18X scope has done well in the past. The 4X is a new to me Burris XTR. The tube is carbon fiber free floated. I used a bipod to support the forearm and sandbags under the buttstock. Used the same lower that I used to get sub 1/2 MOA groups with another upper. Early next week I hope to verify the gas tube is not the culprit, then if needed pull the barrel, check the gas port for burrs, and reassemble with a different upper receiver and increase the torque per Marks's suggestion. Bill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve RA Posted September 27, 2014 Share Posted September 27, 2014 I got a Nordic 18" from Mark and the DR comp and can't get it to group well at all. May have to send him the upper and see if he can make it work. Still have a few more loads to try and haven't given up all hope yet. Have used two different scopes with same results with both, so feel that isn't it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flatland Shooter Posted January 17, 2015 Author Share Posted January 17, 2015 Just a little update. I started this thread when I could not find a load that would give me decent groups at 100 yards and beyond with a new barrel. I tried all the suggestions posted on this thread to get this gun to shoot. The barrel is a 16" Nordic made by Wilson. It just would not shoot. I guess I gave up on the barrel and decided to use it for hoser practice. I've shot over 800 rds through it with 100% reliability all at targets under 75 yards downrange.. My oldest daughter came down from Oklahoma for a few weeks to visit. Yesterday she asked if I would take her to the rifle range. I was happy to oblige. New to shooting, she wanted to shoot a few different .22 LR rifles and pistols. Today we went back to the range to shoot my match rifles using bipods and sandbags. Initially she shot the gun with the 16" Nordic barrel at 50 yards. Using several brands of factory ammo, I was surprised to see one of her groups was one ragged hole. Now its time to experiment and move the targets out to 200 yards. The scope is a Burris XTR set at 4x. The results with XM193 and PMC Bronze were about what I expected, 2-3/4" and larger groups. Not great, but not bad. I had 3 rds of Israeli made "Independence" ammo left over and shot it at the final target. The Independence ammo never really impressed me was was used solely for cheap practice. Since I do not have a spotting scope, I had to walk out to the targets to see the results. I don't know if it was a fluke or its a case where I finally found something this barrel likes. There on the target was a nice 1" group. I've got another 700 rds of same lot number Independence ammo in the garage so next week I'll see if I'm finally onto something or it was just a cruel joke. Bill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dauntedfuture Posted January 17, 2015 Share Posted January 17, 2015 3 rounds does not a group make! If you are getting honest 2 3/4 groups at 200 yds with 55g ammo then that might be about as good as you are going to get. Wilson barrel blanks are cheep. I cant see pics on the computer where I am most of the time, but when you shoot groups is there any kind of pattern that you see? Could something be pressing or rubbing? Do you have another upper receiver that you can put the barrel in? I know for fact that when some shooting organizations cant get a barrel to shoot with proven ammo they will swap uppers and some times this "fixes" the problem, no one knows why. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkCO Posted January 17, 2015 Share Posted January 17, 2015 I know for fact that when some shooting organizations cant get a barrel to shoot with proven ammo they will swap uppers and some times this "fixes" the problem, no one knows why. Just because they will not "share" the info does not mean they do not know why. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dauntedfuture Posted January 17, 2015 Share Posted January 17, 2015 Mark, Does this mean that you think there is something about upper to barrel fit on an AR rifle? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkCO Posted January 17, 2015 Share Posted January 17, 2015 Mark, Does this mean that you think there is something about upper to barrel fit on an AR rifle? For accuracy and thermal drift, most definitely. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flatland Shooter Posted January 17, 2015 Author Share Posted January 17, 2015 3 rounds does not a group make! If you are getting honest 2 3/4 groups at 200 yds with 55g ammo then that might be about as good as you are going to get. Wilson barrel blanks are cheep. I cant see pics on the computer where I am most of the time, but when you shoot groups is there any kind of pattern that you see? Could something be pressing or rubbing? Do you have another upper receiver that you can put the barrel in? I know for fact that when some shooting organizations cant get a barrel to shoot with proven ammo they will swap uppers and some times this "fixes" the problem, no one knows why. The 3 rounds were the last 3 rounds I had of that brand of ammo. I did notice that I had a typo. It should have read 3-3/4" groups, not 2-3/4". My bad. The barrel is actually on its third upper receiver. The first was a side charger that I want to use for a competition rifle, not a practice gun. The second upper was a nice one I had saved for a future project. The current upper receiver is one I had laying around for years. Still in good shape but not quite as pretty as she once was. Perfect for a practice gun. The patterns were pretty random with no discernible pattern. The barrel nuts (2) were torqued properly and the gas tube is not rubbing on the carrier. Thanks for the input. Bill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dauntedfuture Posted January 19, 2015 Share Posted January 19, 2015 Well, that's too bad. if you have tried a few different weight bullets and you know everything else looks good then, well, it might be time for another barrel. If you know someone with a bore scope they could take a look. I don't think you will see much. Not sure if it was mentioned, but did you check the crown? On a dirty barrel look for un-uniform powder blast patterns. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flatland Shooter Posted January 19, 2015 Author Share Posted January 19, 2015 Bullet weights used in my testing included handloads with 50, 55 and 77 gr and lots of factory rds in from 40 gr to 75 gr. The crown looks good. The gun has been shot with and without the Miculek comp installed. A new barrel was installed on the side charging upper and that gun will be used in matches. This barrel was mounted on another upper and I'm using it for "hoser" practice. Later this week I'll shoot some more of the Independence ammo just out of curiosity. Bill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vlad Posted January 19, 2015 Share Posted January 19, 2015 So I guess I'll update my barrel woes as well. My barrel went back to Nordic, apparently they had a batch which had the throat cut short and mine was one of them. They've re-cut it, mounted in on of their uppers and sent me back a target with 10rd group under 1" with 68gr Hornady's I've rebuilt it on my upper and it still sucked. At this point I had tried 3 upper, and pretty much every variation of stuff on it. Except the scope mount, a Larue SPR-E. Replaced that with an Aero extended (most extended?) and hit upon the right-ish load with 68gr Hornady and now it is sub moa. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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