Home Forums Hunting & Shooting AR and Tactical Rifles 24HC MOA All Day Long Challenge

Ha ha.. I know, it's not a $300.00 rifle and $100.00 scope combo, like you are used to seeing me pimp out, but hey it should work. I hope...

This is how we do it:

Rifle: Tikka CTR 6.5 creedmoor, 24" threaded barrel, 10 round steel mag. 5-20x56 Nightforce SHV with non illuminated MOAR reticle:


Rifle on bench:


Target @ 100 yards downrange:


Target with data/info:


Target with caliper laid over 1 group for reference:


Today I was trying these 2 loads in this rifle. One load is the load I use in my Savage 12FV 6.5 creedmoor and the other is the one my Tikka superlite hunting rifle loves. With the exception, I loaded them long (@ 2.890" OAL) to chase the lands. From where it looks right now, from the preliminary shooting today, I think I'll settle on this load and maybe even think about running the slightly heavier 147gr. ELD-match bullet for a slightly better B.C for some long range shooting... The average MOA of these 2 different loads in this new rifle is .671 . More to come in the near future, but this one is looking like it has some potential.....

Well I put another barrel on a upper I had. original upper had a 16 inch 5.56 1-7 twist barrel accuracy with it was so so. So ordered new barrel me and bud put it on this afternoon. Off to the range I went to test it. I figured wth lets shoot couple 10 shot groups with iron sights the lower I its on has a very heavy trigger stock psa trigger. My first 10 shots were to get it on paper and every 2 shots I cleaned the barrel. Tomorrow I'm putting a scope on it and I put it on another lower I built with Aero precision lower parts kit to include trigger and this trigger is light years better than what I was using today.

I'm curious to see how she does with a scope buddy. One of my friends has an old H bar Bushmaster competition rifle with irons and it shoots 1.5" 10 shot groups with irons. Another one I shot in our last AR rifle shoot did just as well. It had lead in the butt stock and handguard and had a single stage trigger. Supposedly that rifle was used in the USMC competitions. Shot well enough for me to win high score that day... My buddy says he is going to sell his newer RRA flat top and keep his old bushmaster, because it shoots better....

Well,,,,,,, the mag-pul sights are ok... those orange dots are 1 1/2. aren't the best.. if that rifle you shot was what they say it was. Should of had national match sights. Sounds like that rifle was set up for service rifle. Also be curious what targets you were using to shoot, should have been MR 31 reduced to 100. As you can see I'm not shooting national match nothing. Couple guys here shooting * service rifle have about 4 grand into their rifle. $2300 March scopes. $1000 dollar uppers. Those nm rifles are not cheap.

You got that right John. The couple that has the service rifle, bought it from a Marine gunny. They are good friends of mine and since I didn't have a service rifle to shoot, they let me borrow theirs. I told them if they ever want to sell it, let me know!!!!! The targets we shoot are NRA targets. We use the same one for our scoped rifle shoots:


This was my creed (savage 12 fv) at one of our shoots. I fu cked up the first 2 shots (ha ha). Forgot I had 1/2 moa dialed for the wind when I was shooting 400 yards the weekend before!! Should have checked my damn scope before I started shooting. Lesson learned!!

Here are the rules for shoots we are doing

Prone Rifle

Prone Rifle shooters compete along side the F-class shooters at Mid-range or Long-range. The main difference is the prone rifle shooters use a sling (note exception below) instead of a front rest or bipod and rear bag. Consequently they have a more generous 1 MOA X-Ring and 2 MOA 10-Ring on their targets. The position and equipment is generally the same as that used in the prone position of NRA Highpower Rifle XTC match.

Starting in 2018 the NRA added a new class of rifle that competes in the Prone Rifle category: NRA Mid Range (Prone) Tactical Rifle (AR) (PROVISIONAL – Rule 3.3.3. This can be thought of as “prone service rifle with a bipod and scope (up to 15x)”. Below are some selected rules from section 23 of the NRA High Power Rifle Rules starting pages 73-75:

With your setup you would shoot in the f class and you only get 1/2 moa X ring. But you can run any power scope etc.

Cool.

Our rimfire targets have a 1/2 moa x ring. I'll be shooting these in a few hours:

Finally having our spring rimfire shoot. Should be a good one.

Nice! looks like a great time for sure. I'm off here in a couple for a mid range prone shoot. 60rds all at 600yds.

Tried to shoot the challenge while load testing!!!! Trying out some Varget, TAC and Ar-comp with 55 SBT's (Sierra) in my new upper (16" Aero Precision) TAC put up no decent groups but Varget and Ar-comp did pretty well. Will have to look closer at them!

looking downrange


My new lover


looking back towards the benches


bottom right corner is a near max load of Ar-comp.


and the Varget loads (26 & 27 grains di well)


Just getting back to shooting after many long years of health troubles. Hopefully more to follow soon!!!
I shot this for fun so you don't have to count it since I used my old benchrest for support.

Looks like it wants to shoot with the Varget. What are the build specs? Nice rifle

Try WSR primers with the tac. I have found in my load development from bullet ranging from 73 all the way up to 90’s. Primers mean a lot. Right now CCI-BR give me the best results. I just recently tried fed 205M AR primers. I have one load using 77gr sierras and a certain powder it will only shoot with cci450. I have another load with 77 Noslers will only shoot with WSR primers. With my 88gr eld-m load it likes cci-br and fed205m AR primers.

OH thanks! It started life as a Colt Hbar A3 flattop but as it became a teenager I've been fooling around with it. I recently bought an Aero Precision upper (complete) to play with as I want to keep the Colt original upper intact. I'll be taking a stab at building one soon but I need way more range time also! I also added a Magpul PRS so it would ride a bag better, added a spacer between the handgrip and the receiver that put my finger on the trigger where it belongs. I believe Aero used a Ballistic Advantage 16" barrel with a 5.56 chamber and mid length gas. Right now its sporting an Athalon Midas BTR 2.5-15x50 in a Swafa one piece mount (that needed lapping). It really needs a trigger! Looking at the CMC match (large pin, 2.5lb pull).

ah it does seem to like the Varget but its funny how the 26.5 (1/2 a grain more) opened up so quickly! The Ar-comp load it liked was 25.0, 1/2 a grain under listed max.

Any tips? This old man ain't to proud to take some advice, although every time I learn a little something it ends up lightening my wallet considerably!!! lol

Oh yes, I forgot to list the primer! I've always used the Federal GM205m and the 210m's for large rifle. I have to order more powder and bullets might as well give the primers a try also! Thanks I appreciate it!!

yes, I have great advice, quit shooting 10 shot load test groups. Research and find the best primer for each powder, like BR4 for Varget etc... and sorry I have no answer for the newer powders, but Tac did ok with M41s and 450s years ago.

Then load and Audette test, and carefully shoot that test once, if not 3 times and pick a cluster take the middle load and then shoot 10 shot test groups.]

Pisses me off today its ladder load test method buy Creighton came up with it.

Anyway it shows sweet spots and non sweet spots your varget load might be right on the edge...accuracy wise.

I'm looking for an accurate load towards the top, that doesn't seem to matter a few tenths one way or the other...

My best advice (if you are looking for the best accuracy), is to buy a good matchgrade type bullet. Something that has proven itself in the AR platform. If you scroll through the black rifle challenge, you'll see some of the bullets and loads these guys are using. I personally like the 69gr. sierra matchking and the 73gr ELD match bullets. The 73's will work in a 1 in 8 twist very well too. Lately I've been running a lot of AR comp and 73 gr. eld match bullets in all of my .223 556 rifles. Even my bolt guns love the stuff. rost is also right in doing some research on primers, but to be honest, it's going to be hard to find a better primer than the BR4 for most applications. To me, just looking at the one group that you loaded with Varget, the rifle shows a lot of promise. I'd expect that rifle to group sub moa in the black rifle challenge with a good load worked up with varget and a good match grade bullet. For the heavier pills like the 73's, though, I'd be leaning more towards the AR comp and BR4's though... That's my best suggestion... Good luck with it..

I know we like our 10 shot groups here and I agree with you on quit shooting 10 shot load test groups. Generally you will know all you need to know about a load after the first 3 to 5 shots. Generally speaking, then I would shoot 10 shot groups to "prove" the best performing candidates. That's generally how I do it. Others mileage may vary....

rost, sometimes I'll do a side by side comparison of 2 different loads. Like the last time out with the new CTR:


The next time out, with the load it likes, it should shoot sub .7 moa consistently....

My 75gr eld-m load likes 23.5 gr of AR-comp and CCI-BR primers. My 77 Sierra OTM load likes 26.2gr leverevolution and cci450. My 77 noslers otm with 26.0gr of leverevolution like WSR primers. RL 15 powder likes them all for the most part cci 400 etc. My 75gr hornady bthp likes AR-comp and remington 7 1/2. My 73gr hornady eld-m liked 23.5gr of AR-comp liked cci 450 and chi 400's My 75gr hornady otm load with 24.5gr of variety liked cci 400's.