Advice re New DPMS Prairie Panther 223? - 06/05/11
Reposting this to the AR Forum. Any thoughts from the AR pros?
First, the basics:
Semiauto .223 AR. Teflon-coated black fluted 20-in 416 stainless steel barrel, target crowned, 1:8 twist, 8620 steel bolt carrier and phosphated steel bolt, forged A3 flattop upper receiver of 7075-T6 aircraft aluminum alloy, ceramic overcoat in Mossy Oak Brush Camo, forged 7075-T6 aircraft aluminum alloy lower receiver, Mossy Oak Brush Camo coated, two stage trigger group, carbon fiber free float tube forend. Leupold VX-3 3.5-10X50 matte black scope, duplex reticle. AD-RECON-X mount.
Have put about 75 rounds downrange in two visits. I like the way the gun looks and handles, but thus far am not impressed with accuracy. It may be the fact that I'm shooting relatively light rounds for the 1:8 twist, but Black Hills 60-gr. V-Max is all I have on hand in .223 at the moment. I'm thinking I need to go heavier.
I'm still working through the break-in process, but zero seems to shift .5 to 1.5 MOA after each break-in cleaning. This bugs me to no end since the gun should, theoretically, hold zero since the scope remains in line with the bore. I'm a lifelong bolt-gun shooter and am new to the AR platform, so maybe someone can explain this to me. (And yes, the mount and rings are rock solid; scope is new).
Groups can also open up quite a bit as round count goes up, often after just a couple of 3-shot groups. First group after cleaning hovers around 1 MOA but, as stated, zero shifts a bit after cleaning. (By cleaning, I mean just unhinging the rear of the upper from the lower, removing the bolt and swabbing the bore between groups).
The gun just seems very inconsistent, and I'm not all that confident it will improve with break in. The two-stage trigger doesn't help a lot in the accuracy dept. Feels heavy at the terminal end, and let off is inconsistent, varying between 4 lb. 12 ounce at the lightest to around 5.5 lbs.
Any AR experts out there who can advise re. changing zero, inconsistency, ammo recommendations for the 1:8 twist, etc?
First, the basics:
Semiauto .223 AR. Teflon-coated black fluted 20-in 416 stainless steel barrel, target crowned, 1:8 twist, 8620 steel bolt carrier and phosphated steel bolt, forged A3 flattop upper receiver of 7075-T6 aircraft aluminum alloy, ceramic overcoat in Mossy Oak Brush Camo, forged 7075-T6 aircraft aluminum alloy lower receiver, Mossy Oak Brush Camo coated, two stage trigger group, carbon fiber free float tube forend. Leupold VX-3 3.5-10X50 matte black scope, duplex reticle. AD-RECON-X mount.
Have put about 75 rounds downrange in two visits. I like the way the gun looks and handles, but thus far am not impressed with accuracy. It may be the fact that I'm shooting relatively light rounds for the 1:8 twist, but Black Hills 60-gr. V-Max is all I have on hand in .223 at the moment. I'm thinking I need to go heavier.
I'm still working through the break-in process, but zero seems to shift .5 to 1.5 MOA after each break-in cleaning. This bugs me to no end since the gun should, theoretically, hold zero since the scope remains in line with the bore. I'm a lifelong bolt-gun shooter and am new to the AR platform, so maybe someone can explain this to me. (And yes, the mount and rings are rock solid; scope is new).
Groups can also open up quite a bit as round count goes up, often after just a couple of 3-shot groups. First group after cleaning hovers around 1 MOA but, as stated, zero shifts a bit after cleaning. (By cleaning, I mean just unhinging the rear of the upper from the lower, removing the bolt and swabbing the bore between groups).
The gun just seems very inconsistent, and I'm not all that confident it will improve with break in. The two-stage trigger doesn't help a lot in the accuracy dept. Feels heavy at the terminal end, and let off is inconsistent, varying between 4 lb. 12 ounce at the lightest to around 5.5 lbs.
Any AR experts out there who can advise re. changing zero, inconsistency, ammo recommendations for the 1:8 twist, etc?