Home Forums Hunting & Shooting AR and Tactical Rifles 24HC Black Rifle Challenge Thread

That's enough variants........good barrels aren't too finicky, IME. Bad barrels that are & maybe only like one load don't last long with me.

I've had good luck with Douglas CM barrels on bolt guns.

MM

What's the bullet number on that 75 gr OTM Hornady? I've not used it but it must have a different ogive than the A-Max, right?

I may need to give it a try.

I have a new gun & I'm just waiting on the scope & the Dyna Bore Coat to get here this week so I can break it in & start testing.

Planning to start with 77 gr NCC's & these powders:

H-4895, 8208, RL-15, AR Comp & MR-2000.

I use the 1st 3 now in both AR platforms & my bolt guns, but the last 2 are new for me & I may need to try a different bullet if the NCC's don't work as planned.

Thanks,

MM

Iv'e actually found the 75 bthp OTM ones to be more picky than 77smks.

BUT if you back the speed down, towards 2500ish or under 2600ish for sure, from a 20 inch tube they tend to shoot ok.

They were enough cheaper we ran them for practice for some time, and then went to 68s for all 200/300 yard practice with the 75 amax for prone slow practice due to cost vs the good bullets.

They were good enough, but never stellar.

These are the Hornady .224, 75gn OTM that I am currently shooting.

Thank You, that's the one I thought it was.

You are seating them to fit the magazine & not singly loading them, right?

I may give them a try.

MM

I know I'm not the one... but I loaded those at 2.250 OAL for years with never an issue...

FWIW loaded the 75 amax the same, as John Burns has done since... no issues either... needs 100 percent full case though on that one to be safe.

Info from you is always welcome, rost.

Yeah, the A-Max is a little problematic..........I use it in my bolt guns where I seat it out where it belongs, but I don't use it at all in an AR at that mag length.

MM

I shoot everything at mag length because I shoot practical matches.

When you run out of things to play with... crank that seater down, and play.. but the charge has to be adjusted as you are loosing case capacity...

I dusted off my other 5.56 today. It is a humble Armalite that originally wore a 16" tube, that was quite inaccurate. I then bought & installed one of Armalite's 20" heavy barrels. It shot extremely well, but I have not shot it a lot until recently. It's now wearing a 16x42 SS SWFA. The load is the 77 TMK, this time over 24.5gr of Varget and Federal 205M primers. I'm pretty happy with it:

The setup



The range (yes the same one as last time, I was even at the same bench)



I was pleased with the group. I suspect this rifle can outshoot me without much trouble. The barrel is a 1 in 8" twist, but it still did well with the 77 Sierras:



First group .77", 2nd one .87", average .82".

I shot the same load in the Daniel Defense Mk12. It did slightly better than last time, but I still need to work on my technique with it.

Nice

But be careful with federal primers you are begging for a slam fire there!

what primer do you prefer for Varget? I have plenty of CCI 41's

Varget, hands down CCI BR4 is the best partner in 223 cases I've ever found with Varget. 41s won't be bad either as they and 450s are almost the same IIRC, but the BR4s are a more picky lot. IE higher standards.

I got back out to give this another run today in hopes of improving a bit.
Rifle was the same stag model 6 i shot before and the range was the same as well although I didn't think to take another pic of the range. Shot some older PMC ammo I had loaded with sierra 52 gr HPBT.
Gun seemed to like the lighter bullet just fine and there was a slight improvement over last go-round. I need to keep practicing obviously as those "flyers" aren't helping at all!


1.122+.836=1.958/2=.979

I just wish I had a black gun now. I'd shoot with you guys. Looks like you are having a blast!!!!! Damn.. You guys have your work cut out if you want to keep up with Pat. Certifiable looks like he has his chit together too and Rost is too damn modest: Damn good with open sights.. Good shooting!!!

very nice shooting! I am curious about the mark 12? How is it shooting or not shooting?

also Molon has I guess been redeemed at M4 and he has tested the Bravo BHF barrel and the Noveke FN barrel. I think I (mostly) tested the DD chromed pencil barrel here with a lowly 6 power scope, I am going to shoot it again as I was distracted in my second group with it. My next chromed barrel will be another DD.

Great shooting all, and its great people are shooting!!!

Site staff tends to get upset and ban people when their favorite flavor AR gets a bad review. ARF and M4 have been known to run off some really really knowledgeable people over hurt feelings. BCM is one of those "protected brands."

The best 10-shot group with the Mk12 has been 1.25" at 100 yards. That's with the same load of 77gr TMK's.

For a mid-weight carbine, that's not bad at all. Had I stuck to a 5 shot group it might be 3/4" or less.

I plan to keep working with it as I suspect it will do better, much of it a matter of my technique. I changed out the cute DD stock and installed a Magpul STR. It has about 200 shots through it and the nitrided 1 in 7" barrel may still be breaking in. Some further load tuning is indicated as well.

If TMK's actually will expend on game, the 1 in 7" barrel would be the place to shoot them. I got a doe with it last year, using 65gr SGK's, so I may use it again.

Certifiable.

Are you calling those fliers? If you are not, it could be the ammo or the conditions.

Just saying. For the guts of the group, seems you know how to shoot groups.

If you are calling them, then its less of an issue because you know whta the problem is.

Jeff

They'll expand, but maybe too much. Compared to the 65gr GK (which I really like) they seem a bit more explosive.

These were fired into water-filled milk jugs from a 16" barrel, with the penetration listed below:
62gr TSX - 3 jugs
65gr SGK - 2-1/2 jugs
69gr TMK - 1-1/2 jugs