SmallCaliberCentral

I Have a mostly stock Bushmaster AR-15 in .223 and put it on paper for the first time. I shot 2 three shot groups at 200 yards, but I am very new to this. I measured from the center of the two holes that were farthest away but not sure if that is how to properly measure your groups. Measuring that way, my closest of two groups was 1.4 inches and the worst was still just over 1.5 inches. It shocked me to see the groups so close since I am so inexperienced. I am very new to this but that seemed pretty good to me, much better than I had hoped for anyway. Just looking for some honest opinions of how decent (or not) you guys think that is.

I removed my front sight and installed a low profile gas block. Removed my carry handle and mounted my NC Star 3-9x42 scope(which I am not impressed with by the way). The ammo was HMS 55grain FMJ factory loads. Pretty sure it is a 20" barrel. I did use a riffle rest, not sure of the brand cause I left it at my mothers house but it was all plastic and only cost 35 bucks at bimart.

I always measure outside-to-outside and then subtract the bullet diameter and I always do it for both vertical & horizontal. As far as the group size, it's under 1 MOA and those 55gr FMJ aren't known for their stellar accuracy.

HTH,

Not bad. If you shot it with the gun as it is pictured you did very well. The front legs attached to the barrel did more to hurt your shooting then anything else.

Take those off, get a bag rest and stabilize with the forearm, You might cut that group in half. And then again it may not help at all. But you never wanna stablize the rifle by the barrel.

200 yards is a long way, a little more scope wouldn't hurt either. But maybe that's just me.

JMHO

You can get On Target which is a free program that does calcuations on group size if you have a way to scan your target or take a picture which you obviously do.

http://www.ontargetshooting.com/download.html

My calculations with On Target using your picture show an moa of .545 at 200 yds. That's pretty excellent shooting with that combo first time out.

I'm new to the forum myself but have been reading and picking up information here for some months. Lots of good help here on most topics.

Merry Christmas to all!

DoubleUp wrote:You can get On Target which is a free program that does calcuations on group size if you have a way to scan your target or take a picture which you obviously do.

http://www.ontargetshooting.com/download.html

My calculations with On Target using your picture show an moa of .545 at 200 yds. That's pretty excellent shooting with that combo first time out.

I'm new to the forum myself but have been reading and picking up information here for some months. Lots of good help here on most topics.

Merry Christmas to all!

I shoot competitively every weekend with the gentleman that created the On Target software. He has put a lot of sweat into that software and it is incredible. If you put in the correct scale info it is flat out way more accurate than a set of calipers. If I remember correctly it is accurate down to .0001" or better depending on your scanner's resolution.

Agree, On target is an excellent program. I use it all the time in working up loads and then save the scans so I can go back to them whenever needed.

Please give your friend my personal thanks for developing the program. Amazing that he would put so much work into it and then make it available for free. I tell you right now with all the negatives and greed in the news, it lifts your heart to see someone give away a great gift that I'm sure has benefited thousands of shooters. Just a reminder there is still hope for us, but that's why we celebrate Christmas isn't it?

Considering the combination of equipment and ammo, that's an excellent three shot group at 200...Generally, I only rely on five shot groups to make any kind of determination and usually more than that....For instance, this is a 17 shot group out of a brand new AR combination rifle/ammo that I put together on the cheap (less than $500) at 50 yards, just trying to break in the trigger group..



When I'm working up loads, my five shot groups are all done at 100 yards, before stretching out the distance...