AR Accuracy?

With quality components: Fail Zero BCG, either a Wilson Combat or White Oak SPR 18" barrel, Hornady 68Gr or Sierra 77Gr bullets, quality brass and dies, Varget powder, what type of accuracy could be expected from a bipod at 100 yards? (.223/5.56)

Thanks!

I have a franken AR with a stag bolt, used colt 1/9 twist barrel, cheap 55 gr and I shot 2" group with a reddot at 100yrds which I thought to be good enough. with that setup you should get moa

I have a 16" 1:7 twist that hates light ammo. 2 MOA with a 4-16 cope. Have not tried heavy stuff yet. I'm kind of too disgusted with
it to pick it up.

I have a 20" 1:8 wylde chamber RRA that is sub MOA with almost any ammo.

I have a PSA 1-7 upper that shoots 1 inch groups with 70 grain Barnes TSX hand loads. My 1-9 Stag will hold 1 inch groups as well with my 55 grain Sierra Gameking boat tail hand loads.

With a good quality barrel and trigger it shouldn't be difficult at all to achieve sub minute accuracy from that combo. One issue I had when loading the longer bullets and Varget is that you will get into compressed loads. Using the cheap RCBS bullet seating dies, the seating pressure with compressed loads would actually deform the bullet a bit. I swapped over to a Lee seating die and and problem disappeared. Varget isn't the best metering powder out there but I've managed some good groups with it in both .223 and .308.


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Dpms lower with RRS 2 stage trigger/model a1 18in ss bullbarrel. I can shoot 55gr nosler ballistic tip with varget @100yrds and make em all touch with mine. Its hard to keep em that way unless I have it on a bench rest but I can clover leaf them with a bipod.I cant recall the twist on it but its been that way for years now. Also have a dpms lower with a RR458 socom 18in barrel loaded with imr4198 and hornady 325 tsx that'll put em in one big hole so long as you can hold it on target too. Find the bullets your gun likes and stick to them.. No need really to carry around whatever cheap ammo you can find unless your just plinkin.

I have 2 AR's that I shoot and compete with. One is a basic M4 AR with 1:9" barrel. I worked up a load with the 68 grain Hornady bullets that shoot an honest 3/4" at 100 yards. I also have a load with the 60 grain V-max that shoots about the same. That's good enough for this one. It's good enough for competing with on man sized targets.

My other AR is a custom M4 AR with high end barrel in 1:8" twist. When I first got it, I took the ammo from my other AR, and shot it. This gun would spray that ammo 4"-6" groups at 100 yards. I thought something was wrong with it. So, I started load work up with the 60 grain V-max, and got it shooting less than 1/2" at 100. You could shoot 1 hole groups if you were steady and had enough magnification. With the right ammo, this rifle will shoot very tight groups.

AR's can be very picky about what load they like. The 60 grain V-max bullet for 1 rifle will not shoot in the other, and vise versa. All I changed was the powder and powder charge. So, if you tune the ammo to the rifle, AR's can be very accurate. If Varget doesn't work for you, then switch to a different powder.

Chad, any other type of powder you'd recommend?

I appreciate the info, y'all. I just wanted to be sure I can get some decent accuracy before I jump into this project.

Thanks!

try 8208xbr, with a 65sgk I'm pulling just under 3Kfps and holding a solid 3/4" at 100yrds

Depends on how you plan to load the ammo. I use a Dillon 1050, which is a progressive press. I need a powder that will meter well. That means a small extruded powder (like H4895, IMR 8208) or a ball powder (like TAC, Xterminator, H335, BLC-2, W748, AA2520, etc). If you plan to load them single stage and weigh out your powder, then it won't matter, Varget will work fine for that. Another powder to look at is Alliant 2000 MR. I'll be honest, it's an uncommon and unknown powder to most people that I like to use. It is slightly slower burning than Varget. It was specifically designed for heavy bullet applications in 223 and 308. You will get more speed than varget for sure. It also is a temp insensitive powder. I know the engineer who designed this powder at St. Marks and have spoken to him a lot about this powder. If you can find it, it would also be a good choice.

I have Forster Co-Ax, RCBS ChargeMaster and use Redding dies. I've never heard of that Alliant 2000MR. It's something that really catches my interest.

Much appreciated, Chad!

Ok. Than any powder you choose will be fine. If you ever plan to load on a progressive, then your powder choice becomes a factor, if you want it to meter accurately. That's why I say the 2000MR is an unknown powder! If you find some, let me know!

Definately sub inch. Probably closer to 1/2".

My 20" ARP upper will print under half an inch at 100yrds with AE 50gr Varmint Tip as long as do my part.
Best value for accuracy in a factory load in my opinion.

I don't handload but I have heard a lot of people saying they get good results with varget.

My RRA Predator Pursuit shoots 3/4" very consistently with 25.0 grains of Varget and a 55 Sierra Gameking. I haven't even tried many other combos in it because that was the first I tried and thought that's as steady as I can hold anyway. I do have a load with 52 grain Bergers I need to try though.

Have you tried that with 55, 62, and 77 grain bullets?