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

I'm not sure if this challenge is still going on, but I finally got a chance to shoot it yesterday and thought I'd submit my results.

Rifle used is a Smith and Wesson M+P 15 with a 16" barrel with a 1-9 twist. I bought this rifle a few years ago with the sole purpose of getting into a black rifle for the least money possible. The only thing I've changed on the gun is to get rid of the faux adjustable stock and put on a cheap DSA 6 position tube and a Magpul MOE stock. Other than that the rifle is completely stock.

The optics are a Burris FFII 2-7x35 scope mounted in Weaver rings on a Weaver riser block. It's not a pretty mounting system, but it's strong and works well.



Ammo was a bit of a problem. I scrounged around to find 20 or more of something that wasn't military or ball ammo and came up with 21 rounds of USA 45gr. JHP bulk varmint ammo that I bought in the early 90's. (Price tag on the box reads less than $12 for 40 rounds. Wish I had stocked up on it.) I used one round to make sure the point of impact would be on paper somewhere and was pleased to see that it happened to be pretty well zeroed.

The range is the usual meadow behind my reloading barn. I had just brush hogged, so the grass and weeds were not a problem. I shoot slightly downward from a second story window in my barn, which, combined with the rise in elevation of the land makes for a good backstop.



Per rost's suggestions here, I did a bit of dry firing to get used to the bags and bench arrangement.



I fired the 10 shot groups pretty quickly, actually surprising myself when the bolt locked back.

Target 1 - 2.4". When I started shooting, I could see the 2 high fliers, but couldn't see where the rest of the shots landed. It wasn't until I checked the target that I realized shots 1 and 2 screwed up a pretty nice group.



I waited several minutes before firing target 2. I had to reload my 10 round magazine and I was also keeping an eye on my son, who was playing up at the house, meaning that I had to get up and go to the window in the other end of the barn to make sure he was still there and safe.

Target 2 - 1.82". This one was shot with about the same speed as target 1. Maybe 2-3 seconds between shots. The trigger in this rifle is pretty heavy, so my system was to quickly re-align the crosshair with the blue tape on the target and smoothly squeeze off the shot.



Looks like my combined score is 2.11". I was hoping for better, but I haven't even shot this gun since last fall and that was just a single shot to confirm short range zero for the purpose of using it as a backup rifle while hunting with my son. (If he shot and simply winged his deer, I was going to open up on it so he wouldn't lose his first deer). This rifle usually throws 3 shots into nice little groups and it might do better with some ammo built for the gun - something that I've never done.

I was hoping for better, but this gives me a benchmark to work from. Maybe I'll take some time and craft some ammo just for this rifle and see what it'll do. One thing is certain, those 10 round groups will keep a guy honest.