Well, i had been doing some load work up for an AR. I put a Vortex Diamondback HP 3-12x42 on the gun with a Burris PEPR mount. The gun is a total mutt built from spare parts.

Funny thing about mutts though... They have ALWAYS been my best dogs.

I took this mutt out to see what it could do.

I loaded 50 rounds using IMR3031, BLC2, and W748. I used CCI SR primers, mixed military brass, and the 53 grain VMAX bullet. I tried various charges based on the hornady manual. All of the loads tested were 5 shot groups.

I found that most of the loads prefer to be kept mild and all of the loads i tested had the best groups with the smaller powder charges. The best group shot at about 80 yards was .292"

The groups and loads were as follows.

IMR3031

1. 24.2 grs. .579"
2. 24.8 grs. .597"
3. 25.5 grs. .822"

BLC2

1. 25.5 grs. .593"
2. 26.5 grs. .994"
3. 27.4 grs. .896"

W748

1. 25.8 grs. .292"
2. 26.9 grs. .965"
3. 27.9 grs. 1.745"
4. 28.9 grs. 1.187"

Now, to field test this thing against the coyotes....

Good to hear. I'll take accuracy over speed any day.

Blue, i gotta say i didnt expect to see these results. I love the fact that the AR is accurate, but i was having trouble wrapping my head around the idea that i am not seeing the accuracy at the top end. In the end though, for me, the accuracy is what it is all about.

I can live with the lower speed since it still cycles the action and hits where i aim. Its a simple matter of learning my drop for the speed now and knowing which marks on the reticle are for which distances.

Milder loads using H335, BLC(2), RE10X, and Varget all showed better accuracy shooting 50g bullets in my stock DPMS Oracle. I was shooting at 100 yards, 5 shot groups also.

Best load was 3/4" with 23.5g H335.

Worst groups were 1 1/2" from a variety of the powders loaded closer to max.

Overall I was impressed with the accuracy and am now hooked.

Powder still tough to find. Did get a few pounds of IMR8208. Looking forward to trying it out soon.

Although looking at them again, I'll take .8" groups with speed over .5" groups slow. Anything MOA-ish is all I need.