Home Forums Hunting & Shooting AR and Tactical Rifles Scoped my latest AR.....

and it sucks azz.

I have had great results w 1 in 9 twist bbls and 55gr stuff, ball or V max.


Slapped together a new AR, free floated, 1 in 8 twist.
The PMC was like a modified choke.
Vertical and horizontal dispersion. Like 2" group at 25 yards.
Cold or hot, didn't matter.

Let it cool and tried the Vmax 55gr and it did .75".................at 25 yards.
Most were half that, but itd get one or two higher (vert dispersion) wiping out the group.

Brand new barrel. Cycles fine.

Is this because it's a 1 in 8, a crappy barrel or both of those w the added thrill of a Leupold on top?
Was hoping to use it on coyotes but looks like 55gr stuff is a no go.

Could try a diff barrel I reckon.

Or will this magically behave w 62 gr or something like that?

Something's not right.

My only 1/8 is a Ruger American. It runs fine with 55gr ammo.

Who's barrels is on it?

No, the problem is not the twist rate.

As for the PMC Bronze 55gr.....IME it's....inconsistent at best.

Shake the rifle and I bet you’ll hear the scope internals rattling around inside the tube...

What model of Leupold?

Brand new Freedom VX 3-9x in Mark AR mount all torqued to spec.

Barrel is a brand new Anderson M4.

All my others were 1 in 9, ER Shaw, old Bushmaster or DPMS chrome lined or RR

It didnt throw em left or right w the vmax. Got some wild fliers w the pmc.

Years ago that stuff did well for me.

The PMC I have now is new within last 2 yrs, so may be a batch of suck.

Is fore end tube contacting the gas block?
Are you shooting off bags or freehand.

Anderson Barrel.....there's your problem.

Total junk.

I hear they made decent tomato stakes.

Is it too late to plant tomatoes?

Bipod w rear bag. Nothing touching bbl, has float tube.

My pos CZ455 did around .4 at 25 yards w junk CCI Blazer.
So I need to find some more SK rifle match.
It liked that better when I had some LOL.

The AR has had the scope yanked, DD sights put on and is ready for HD.

My other AR has a Stag upper w DPMS bbl, had it for a while. Heavier, 1 in 9.....it shoots pretty darn good.

This current POS is an Anderson upper and bbl. Torqued to spec, no issues ( apparent ).
Dunno if I should pop it apart and see how square the receiver is. Bud has the lapping tool.

Brand new bbl, dunno if it needs shot in or what.
The Vmax did way better than the PMC.

Locally theres some Norma match available.
Could run out tomorrow and see how it does.

Function was flawless. Has maybe 50 rounds through it now.

The ol lady says get a new bbl. Told her thats fine, but the junk bbl proly end up being another AR LOL

The last, and only Anderson barrel I purchased printed 12-14" groups at 100.

Yanked the Anderson off. Replaced it with a Criterion. Problem solved.

Seems wierd that it would shoot that poorly, even with an Anderson barrel. If it is threaded and uses a birdcage or other muzzle device, I'd pull it off and shoot it and see if anything changes. You would think it would have to be something simple. Maybe a defective scope. Have you tried a proven scope on it?

Found a new non Anderson 1 in 9 bbl locally.
Proly pick it up tonight, swap over tomorrow.

Good luck. I know every mfg will turn out a dud now and then with some more than others. Hopefully your first one was a fluke.......

Thanks. Would not surprise me.
Bud cut me a deal on a better brand bbl, so pick it up tomorrow (throw him some beer w the cash because I'm such a nice guy LOL).
Will have it on the range by the end of the weekend.

Already yanked the 3-9X.

Put my RDS on it.
My other AR has a heavier bbl and w the RDS was a pig.
So will leave it iron sights, and do #2 w the RDS.
I know it works, holds zero (even if it is a POS Leupold). It ran fine on the other gun.

Must say, I did like the STG 58 look of the potential coyote rig. The longer flash does make for less blast and hunting, I wanted more comfort.

I've got bolt guns to run on yotes, so am content to have #2 AR just be a range toy/backup rig to #1 AR.
Scope could still be an issue, but it dialed the center of the horrible groups over to put some in the X.
So seemed to work kinda sorta.

Ammo change had me from 2" group to .75" at 25 yards so I think it's ammo/bbl and not optic.
But still, that'd be 3" at 100 and that's not gonna cut it for any varminting.

For a run of the mill clunker I'd tolerate 1.5".

Now to find some tomato plants................

Before you count it out.......try 100 yds, perhaps parallax is hurting, so I'd test it at 100 to KNOW what it will do. Just a thought.