70-Grain Accubond in ..223 / 5.56 AR - 03/17/19
I tend to select bullets for old-school terminal performance, meaning deep, straight penetration and an exit---at least, that's what "terminal performance" means to me (besides a dead critter). I've been chasing my tail to some extent for quite a while trying to get 60-grain Partitions to shoot well in my ARs, and while the accuracy was probably "good enough," I just haven't been too thrilled with what I was getting out of them. Looking back at my records, it looks like almost all testing was done using H4895 and AR-Comp. I'll freely admit that a good part of my dissatisfaction may have been due to my bench technique. ARs are just a different animal when it comes to shooting off the bench for load development purposes. Because I have other rifles that were always dialed in much better, I'd always use something other than my ARs when hogs were the object of interest.
I started using bipods attached via keymod handguards and I started seeing improvements in my AR shooting, but still my confidence in the Partition was just not there.
A few weeks ago I spotted the 70-grain Accubond, and I wondered to myself why I never thought to try them. Both my ARs have 1/8 LaRue barrels, so I decided I'd try some and bought 200 of them a couple of weeks ago. I had also laid in an 8-pounder of AR-Comp to use for 6.5 Grendel, but shortly after the powder arrived earlier this year I decided to abandon the 6.5G in favor of .243 LBC (I have two of those built, just waiting for my BHW barrels to arrive). As a result, I have all this AR-Comp with no purpose in mind. When I ran QuickLOAD on 70-grain bullets, that powder looked like an awfully good candidate. I put together two batches of trial loads, one batch for each AR.
I went out and shot this morning and it looks like the combination is a winner. I shot the best groups I've ever shot with any AR15. The best loads were between 22.9 grains and 23.2 grains for both rifles. I decided to just go with 23.0 grains of AR-Comp, which gives up about 2800 fps from an 18-inch barrel. I think the load will put plenty of hurt on a hog when hit well.
So after making this decision I began to wonder when I'd be able to score more of those bullets. They have never been real common as far as I can recall, but when I checked SPS this morning there they were, available as blems and at a much better price than I paid for the first batch of 200. I have 600 of them on the way.
It's been a great morning, and it leaves me feeling a bit Irish this afternoon. Happy St. Paddy's day!
I started using bipods attached via keymod handguards and I started seeing improvements in my AR shooting, but still my confidence in the Partition was just not there.
A few weeks ago I spotted the 70-grain Accubond, and I wondered to myself why I never thought to try them. Both my ARs have 1/8 LaRue barrels, so I decided I'd try some and bought 200 of them a couple of weeks ago. I had also laid in an 8-pounder of AR-Comp to use for 6.5 Grendel, but shortly after the powder arrived earlier this year I decided to abandon the 6.5G in favor of .243 LBC (I have two of those built, just waiting for my BHW barrels to arrive). As a result, I have all this AR-Comp with no purpose in mind. When I ran QuickLOAD on 70-grain bullets, that powder looked like an awfully good candidate. I put together two batches of trial loads, one batch for each AR.
I went out and shot this morning and it looks like the combination is a winner. I shot the best groups I've ever shot with any AR15. The best loads were between 22.9 grains and 23.2 grains for both rifles. I decided to just go with 23.0 grains of AR-Comp, which gives up about 2800 fps from an 18-inch barrel. I think the load will put plenty of hurt on a hog when hit well.
So after making this decision I began to wonder when I'd be able to score more of those bullets. They have never been real common as far as I can recall, but when I checked SPS this morning there they were, available as blems and at a much better price than I paid for the first batch of 200. I have 600 of them on the way.
It's been a great morning, and it leaves me feeling a bit Irish this afternoon. Happy St. Paddy's day!