Ar-15 Accuracy Problem

[AustinMike]

My brother brought over his brand new Bushmaster AR-15 to show me yesterday. I don't know what model, but it's .223 and has a 16" barrel with flash hider. He said that he can't get it to shoot a group at 50+ yards. He's using iron sights and is happy with it at 25 yards. Moving out to 50, he said he's lucky to get a shot on the paper and they're all over the place. He asked me for advice, but since I don't even own a rifle yet, I'm not much help. Being the supportive brother that I am, I just told him he sucks.

He's tried several different brands of ammo, all with the same results. He's a police officer and he's had other officers shoot and they couldn't get it to group at 50 yards either. Anybody have any idea what to check for? Is it possible for a brand spanking new Bushy to have a problem like this? Or does the police department just have a bunch of really bad shooters?

I didn't know what else to tell him, other than to have a good gunsmith give it the once-over.

[milanuk]

What kind of ammo is he running? Maybe it has a slow(er) twist barrel and he's using heavy bullets (75+gr)?

Just a guess,

Monte

[PacMan]

My brother brought over his brand new Bushmaster AR-15 to show me yesterday. I don't know what model, but it's .223 and has a 16" barrel with flash hider

It's a brand new BM so should have 1:9 twist as the norm. Good to go with heavy bullets.

He said that he can't get it to shoot a group at 50+ yards. He's using iron sights and is happy with it at 25 yards. Moving out to 50, he said he's lucky to get a shot on the paper and they're all over the place

Something is loose on that rifle, flash hider would be the first place I'd check, next would be the rear sight unit.

Is it possible for a brand spanking new Bushy to have a problem like this?

Yes, it is definitely possible.

Or does the police department just have a bunch of really bad shooters?

...Anything is possible

[MikeFoley]

Are they shooting from a rest to rule out bad marksmanship? If so are they resting on the barrel or the handguards? Is the barrel nut tight? Lots of factors...need more information.

[AustinMike]

He said they were shooting from a rested position. I'd assume resting on the handgrips, but I'll have to find out. There's several things I'll have him check from the input out here. I appreciate all the info. It's good that he's getting to debug a gun before I buy mine next year! I can learn from his experience before diving in.

[SRT Driver]

At 25, did he have to put a lot of wind in to zero?

Does the front sight look straight?

If it is canted to either side, there may not be enough rear sight to compensate.

[Wakal]

Look for "drag marks" in the flash hider...that is the usual suspect. If that is OK, I'd check the barrel nut.

Then I'd check the nut behind the barrel

Alex

[smokshwn]

After a sight check I would almost bet that the barrel nut was not torqued enough. It doesn't take much for that barrel to walk all over the place. Even a completely stock Bushy should be able to manage around 1 MOA at 100 yds.

Good luck, Craig

[M.E.Anglin]

if it has standard hand guard , light weight barrel , rough trigger and is resting it on the hand guard, makes for challenging groups, especially to a new shooter.

[Carlos]

A freind recently had a Bushmaster problem with a loose gas block/front sight base and Bushmaster is making good on the deal. In my frined's case, the gas block was held in by two Bushmaster set screws and the upper was assembled by Bushmaster. His difficulty included a gas leak leading to short-stroking. Again, Bushmater is taking care of it.

Something certainly seems wrong here though. Even at that twist rate, the gun should group even with 55 grain as close as 50 yards; something is certainly out of the ordinary. Perhaps the rifle left the factory with a tiny bur on the gas hole or nick on the crown; either way, it should go back to Bushmaster for warranty work. They are a reputable company in my experience.

[wsimpso1]

The AR15, like many guns, can be screwed up several ways. The barrel nut is a likely problem, as is the front sight base, a badly screwed up crown, a loose flash hider or brake, a loose barrel extension... Send it back and ask that they supply what your brother paid for. Bushy is likely to fix it.

Billski