Hello,
So i will get to the point, I am shooting a RRA LAR-15 Elite Operator 2, bi-pod, and Leupold VX- 2 or 3 (not sure, i have both) and i can sight in pretty good out to 100 yards, but after that i am all over the place, even in a rifle rest. With the scope on 9x at 100yards, i can seem to see my "desired" point of impact well enough to make a pin point adjustment.

Does it just sound like shooter? how long should it really take me to sight in? do i need to take a hundered rounds and just sit for the long haul? I want to pop a yote at 300-500 yards if needed. maybe just need some newb advise for someone thats not a newbie lol. Gotta go back to basics sometimes. Thanks

what distance are you wanting to zero? was it windy? what grain ammo and barrel twist?

well, being that the only thing i can answer is i want zero at 100... but i really dont know what the answer is to the others. I was shooting super cheap ammo cause i have a ton of it. i guess maybe i figured the ammo didnt realy matter at 100yards.

being that you want to shoot out the 300+ yards you might entertain a 50 yard zero, depending on bullet weight, barrel twist, and muzzle velocity ect the secondary zero should be around 225-250 yards.

I would grab some decent ammo and try it again.

is 300+ un-realistic for a stock AR-15 with 16" barrel and 1:9 twist?

nope, I was shooting my 11.5" AR at 250 this weekend

What Bowfisher asked are all important questions. Light weight bullets can fly apart in a high twist barrel. They are also easily affected by wind. Could also be heavy bullets in a slow twist. Have you looked at the target at 100 yards after sighting in and was there any key-holing of the bullets from tumbling?
It could also just be the accuracy of the barrel. Some of the factory barrels are not the best. Some actually admit to being as much as 5 MOA barrels. You could completely miss a coyote at 300 yards with a 5 MOA barrel.

Great! This is the information that I was hoping for. I need to pay more attention and see some of the little things that may mean big differences

RRA claims 1 MOA @ 100 yards
Any bullet recommendations?
16 inch barell, 1:9 twist, .223 or 5.56

It's simple. Sight it in at 100 yards. Buy several different brands and types of ammo and see what shoots best in your rifle. Cheap ammo is exactly that- cheap ammo. Don't expect MOA accuracy when feeding it the cheapest ammo you can find.

For a 1:9" twist, keep the bullet weight to 68/69 grains or less for the bthp lead bullets. Keep it less than 60 grains for a solid copper bullet, like a Barnes TSX. I would lose the rifle rest. And depending on which forend you have, you may need to lose the bipod. I'd recommend resting the rifle on a sand bag.

I shoot my 16" AR with a Burris 1-4 XTR scope out to 600 and 800 yards, so yes, it's very possible for 300 and in. But you have to feed it good and know what your come-ups are with that ammo to connect.

First off, I am no expert long range shooter. I average just under 1 MOA with my rifles which I know are capable of better. I sucks to hear this but 9 times out of 10 I would say accuracy problems are because of the shooter. RRA's are probably some of the best out of the box AR's in my opinion.

A few years ago I was in a similar position. What I did is just work on the fundamentals. Trigger control, squeezing straight back with the correct part of your finger. Breathing control, breaking the shot at your natural respiratory pause. Grip, watching how much unnecessary pressure you are putting on the gun. With AR's for precision work I don't wrap my fingers nor thumb around the grip. I just rest my fingers on the front part of the handle and my thumb just hangs free. Also make sure the rest you are shooting off of is stable and still. I've been to a range before and I could feel the platform swaying slightly in the wind.

It's probably going to take some more trigger time. Every time you leave the range you'll probably realize you learned a lot that day. If all else fails take a class.

I hope this helps man. Good luck.

Best thing I ever did to help my accuracy was a simple recommendation off here, dry fire practice. You can immediately see exactly what your doing wrong.

Cheap Federal 223 FMJ, groups no smaller than 3", switch to Barnes, CROD or Black Hills, one holers at 100yds.

Ammo is just as important as everything else.

all good points

You the guy I hear firing away south of my place on CR 3835?

This looks like an ammo problem and/ or a slight shooter problem. I'd also like to see the forearm on the rifle.

Chad hit all the high points. So did everyone else here.

Are you able to shoot a tight group at 50yds with it? As others have said, get some better ammo in the 60-65gr range and see what the results are.