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I've tried 123 gr sst and eldm and 120 gr. pro hunter bullets with 8208 and cfe powder. Nothing better than a 2 inch group at 100 yrds. Time to get rid of this over priced tomatoes stake.
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I think the 120 Pro hunters are defective send them to me for disposal...
On a more serious note sad to hear that I am giving up on a .223 barrel but is a factory...Had high hopes for it but nada.
Should be some good sales coming up. Looking at another BA barrel .223 WyldeLast edited by Popeye212; 10-23-2018, 10:21 PM. -
How many round through it?
Mine settled down after about 100-150 round and became pretty good shooter.#shareyourspareComment
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About 100 to 150. What did you find that shot good?Comment
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BCA barrels on a good day are a 50-50 chance IMO, some are good, some turn out to be imo fair to good, some are crap.
Now that you have it, give it a chance perhaps with some handloads.
Do you have a chrony so you can tell if the load is a good one for the barrel?
If it is not nitrided, try some JB bore paste to help smooth it out inside.
What barrel length is it? And you're sure that it is bedded tightly in the upper?
Is your trigger a good one or is it a milspec, hard pull...
Finally, off of a bench, are you using bipod, or a bench rest/front bag...
Upgrading all of these things helped me tremendously. That being said, once you eliminate all the other variables (ie, not just several diff rounds/loads) and it's still shooting badly, then good bet it's the barrel.
If you decide it is in fact the barrel, chalk this one up to learning and get one from a better mfr. There are top-notch/top$$ ones and really good, middle$$ ones out there, you don't need a 99 special.... you're learning that it costs more than what you figured you'd save, in range trips, ammo, time, frustration etc..."Down the floor, out the door, Go Brandon Go!!!!!"Comment
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I've always been interested in talk about barrels 'settling down'. That they start out bad but then come good.Originally posted by ErikS View Post
My experience is the opposite. In F Class we change barrels annually to remain competitive. I have heard the first 300 rounds called, 'the Golden age' because this is when it is the most accurate. From there it is all downhill as the barrel's accuracy slowly degrades as the rifling wears from the chamber forward. We used to chase the lands as they wore by increasing the COAL bearing in mind the surface area of neck tension decreases (you load single shots by hand in F Class, no mags).
You can always tell when a shooter has fitted a new barrel because their average scores jump. That doesn't last of course. They will be in the winning circle for a few short weeks and then it's someone else's turn. Some guys even timed the replacement of their barrels to just before the State or Nationals.
Apart from the first two or three rounds where the micro pores get filled with copper there's no 'settling' on a match-grade barrel in my experience. It's a good or bad barrel from the start. It may take you a few groups to realise its potential and by then you are well into the Golden Age. For guns, barrels and shooting where all the other grouping factors cannot, or are not removed you might not see the Golden Age as it is hidden by the wind and how the gun flexes, or jumps, or doesn't track as well, or the scope quality, etc.
If the difference in barrel quality is only a couple of hundred dollars why convince yourself two hundred dollars is worth the gamble that this might be the one budget barrel that shoots almost as good as a match barrel? If you are concerned about money (and who isn't?) you could buy just one Grendel, and make it a really, really good one.
'Beware the man with one gun; he knows how to use it.'Comment
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You are talking about high quality hand lapped target barrels. BCA barrels are cheap production barrels that get zero TLC before they end up in an upper.
Cheap barrels are rough and need rounds through them to settle down or at least stabilize. I have to wonder how a cheap BCA 416R would react to a lapping and crown job before it was ever shot.
For many people a couple hundred is not chump change.
Originally posted by Klem View PostLast edited by ErikS; 10-24-2018, 01:13 AM.#shareyourspareComment
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How much does 150 wasted rounds cost? Just sayinComment
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Thanks for the replies. I have the 18" heavy stainless barrel. A 4.5x14 leupold scope
and am shooting off of sandbags front and back. Also have a giessle 2 stage trigger.Last edited by Broken Arrow; 10-24-2018, 01:55 AM.Comment
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On a new non hand lapped barrel, bullets and polishing paste will smooth it some.
I have found a good scrubbing with JB paste gets it really clean and enables you to the see the real roughness of the bore, especially stainless.Comment
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Even $300 more for a high end barrel, vs. 150 rounds of ammo, bore paste, your time, trips back and forth to the range, buying different ammo to see what it might like then loading to match...Unless you are shooting dirt clods at 100, spend the money on a barrel, especially if you are looking for accuracy that exceeds your abilities out to 500y+.Sticks
Catchy sig line here.
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Get a barrel good enough to do the job you want to do. If shooting deer out to 100 yards, 1.5 MOA is fine.
If you need or want more precision, then pay more. I guess this is pretty apparent.
Every additional tenth in group size reduction costs progressively more.
Cheap barrels can be like playing the lottery. Some win and others lose.
I got my money back on a few plays of the Megamillions lotto yesterday.Comment
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