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My Ballistic Advantage build - kcb38 - 07-15-2018
Odin O2 Lite. I really bought it for its looks. I know Odin makes nice stuff so I wasn't worried about the quality of it. If it turns out to be the adapter I'm pretty sure they'll take care of it. It doesn't seem to be a common issue with them as I have searched the internet and found no such complaints about any of their handguards.
My Ballistic Advantage build - kcb38 - 07-17-2018
I thought about my strategy of turning the adapter 180 degrees but realized that the angle of the handguard would've been exactly the same. I decided to disassemble everything anyway and then re-assembled, this time torquing the barrel nut to the max spec. That seemed to pull it into line. The barrel is now centered and there's plenty of clearance for the gas block. Hopefully that's the end of the troubleshooting on this one.
It just dawned on me I never posted any pics of the finished rifle. And now I can't because I loaned out the scope and mount to a buddy so he can get some practice in before a long(er) range shoot next month. Doh!
My Ballistic Advantage build - kcb38 - 09-30-2018
Well I think I've put enough ammo through this BA barrel to get a good idea of how it shoots. The following is about what I've been seeing at 100 yds:
Wolf 2.25"+
SST 2"+
Amer. Gunner 1 - 1.25"
Black 1" +/-
American Eagle 1"
Gold Medal Medal Match 0.75 - 1"
Honestly I was hoping for slightly better results but it does meet their "sub moa with premium ammo" guarantee. My shooting can still use some improvement too so I can't put it all on the barrel. I'll keep at it and hopefully I'll get better with this rifle. I hope to be reloading by next season, maybe I'll be able to find a load it likes better than FGMM.
My Ballistic Advantage build - SDW - 10-02-2018
kcb38 Wrote:Honestly I was hoping for slightly better results but it does meet their "sub moa with premium ammo" guarantee. My shooting can still use some improvement too so I can't put it all on the barrel. I'll keep at it and hopefully I'll get better with this rifle. I hope to be reloading by next season, maybe I'll be able to find a load it likes better than FGMM.I think we can obsess about this kind of thing a little too much and feel let down when the holes don't all completely overlap on paper at 100yds. Below a certain group size it's really only important for bragging rights. If you built the rifle for hunting or long-range shooting you'll be fine. But of course there's no reason not to look around for an ammo type that also shoots as well that better stuff you were using.
Here is a video I like to watch every now and again. Larry Vickers and Gunsite staff instructor Walt Wilkinson are discussing and practicing at long range shooting. Jump ahead to about 05:20 to see the part that's relevant to MOA:
.
[video=youtube;Psk65mhcxrs]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Psk65mhcxrs[/video]
My Ballistic Advantage build - kcb38 - 10-02-2018
I get what he's saying about a one time 1/4" group and I agree with him. That's why I discount 3 shot groups as well. I always shoot 5 or 10 shot groups to get a better idea of what the rifle will do on average. That seems like a much more realistic evaluation of the rifle to me. I guess I'm just spoiled by the groups I've been getting with my bolt guns in .308 and 6.5CM. A 1.25" group by comparison looks huge until you measure it. I get a little carried away when I see guys posting up tight groups here too. I have to remember that no one posts up pics of crappy groups, lol.
I built this rifle with hopes of being able to hit 1 moa steel targets out to 430 yards, and maybe stretching it farther in the future. My initial results made it look like that wasn't going to happen, but with good ammo and good shooting on my part I think I'll get there. If I can't get the kind of consistent performance I'm looking for with premium ammo or handloads, maybe I'll look into putting a different barrel on it. For now I'm going to keep plugging away with it and continue to improve my shooting. Hopefully I can tighten it up a bit, even if it is just for my own personal satisfaction (or bragging rights
).
My Ballistic Advantage build - A5BLASTER - 10-02-2018
kcb38 Wrote:I get what he's saying about a one time 1/4" group and I agree with him. That's why I discount 3 shot groups as well. I always shoot 5 or 10 shot groups to get a better idea of what the rifle will do on average. That seems like a much more realistic evaluation of the rifle to me. I guess I'm just spoiled by the groups I've been getting with my bolt guns in .308 and 6.5CM. A 1.25" group by comparison looks huge until you measure it. I get a little carried away when I see guys posting up tight groups here too. I have to remember that no one posts up pics of crappy groups, lol.
I built this rifle with hopes of being able to hit 1 moa steel targets out to 430 yards, with hopes of stretching it farther in the future. My initial results made it look like that wasn't going to happen, but with good ammo and good shooting on my part I think I'll get there. If I can't get the kind of consistent performance I'm looking for with premium ammo or handloads, maybe I'll look into putting a different barrel on it. For now I'm going to keep plugging away with it and continue to improve my shooting. Hopefully I can tighten it up a bit, even if it is just for my own personal satisfaction (or bragging rights
Hey that's not true, I don't post many pics of groups but when I do I show them all and most are bad lmao.
Since coming to this fourm and getting into the grendel I will admit I have come to be anal about my groups, but I love that I have this never ending drive to improve my skill set and try more and more to reach that 1 hole 5 shot group.
Might never get there but man is it fun burning powder, more so when the guys I shoot with all slinging 300 win mag or 308 or 6.5 creedmoor and my lil grendel is still making hits as far as they can and farther then a few of them can.
My Ballistic Advantage build - kcb38 - 11-08-2018
[ATTACH=CONFIG]13083[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=CONFIG]13082[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=CONFIG]13081[/ATTACH]
My Ballistic Advantage build - Popeye212 - 11-08-2018
I also believe that it takes a little practice to shoot an AR accurately. I have a BA barrel also, but I handload. The more I looked at the groups the more I saw the shooter and the load at fault rather than the barrel. She does seem to love Sierra 120 MK's. Today I put 5 Horn 123 SST's in to check zero. Danged if she didn't throw a 3/4 group. Had resigned that 1-1 1/2 was the best she could do with the SST. I can take my Rem. 700 plop it down on the bench and shoot sub moa no problem with Federal Premium go figure. Then again the gun will only shoot as good as what you put in it.
My Ballistic Advantage build - biodsl - 11-09-2018
Popeye212 Wrote:I also believe that it takes a little practice to shoot an AR accurately. I have a BA barrel also, but I handload. The more I looked at the groups the more I saw the shooter and the load at fault rather than the barrel. She does seem to love Sierra 120 MK's. Today I put 5 Horn 123 SST's in to check zero. Danged if she didn't throw a 3/4 group. Had resigned that 1-1 1/2 was the best she could do with the SST. I can take my Rem. 700 plop it down on the bench and shoot sub moa no problem with Federal Premium go figure. Then again the gun will only shoot as good as what you put in it.
About 5 years ago I was struggling to make an AR15 shoot well. I too had a Rem 700 that seems to effortlessly lay down good groups when shooting Federal GMM. For some reason I sold it and just focused on my Grendel and my S&W AR15-22. Today anything but an AR feels foreign to me. My 22" BHW upper fits me best. I have a Nightforce scope mount that is only 1.14 inches high. I lay my cheek on the rifle stock and my eye just falls into place. The rifle fits and is totally familiar to me now. It reflects in my shooting.
Hand me a conventional rifle stock now and it feels like a 2x4.
My Ballistic Advantage build - Popeye212 - 11-09-2018
Hand me a conventional rifle stock now and it feels like a 2x4.[/QUOTE]
Funny you should mention that. Exactly how she felt since I hadn't shot her in a while (Rem 700 .270).
My Ballistic Advantage build - SDW - 11-26-2018
A5BLASTER Wrote:Hey that's not true, I don't post many pics of groups but when I do I show them all and most are bad lmao.
Since coming to this fourm and getting into the grendel I will admit I have come to be anal about my groups, but I love that I have this never ending drive to improve my skill set and try more and more to reach that 1 hole 5 shot group.
Might never get there but man is it fun burning powder, more so when the guys I shoot with all slinging 300 win mag or 308 or 6.5 creedmoor and my lil grendel is still making hits as far as they can and farther then a few of them can.
I kinda proved that vid's point yesterday, on my first trip out to the desert with my BA Grendel. Actually spend a day "breaking it in" and sighting it in. Got it zeroed at 100 yds. Groups weren't the tightest; still haven't put 100 rnds through it yet. Best group might have been 2 inches maybe? Using Hornady Black 123 grain, I should mention. My friend was trying for a 1000 plate at our shooting area. I had shot at 550 yds with my 5.56 and a little bit with the Grendel earlier in the day. But I've never tried for anything even close to 1000. This 1000 yd target is an 18" square plate, BTW.
Long story short, after chrono'ing the Black to get an average velocity, I used my iPhone app to get a dope on 1000 yds. App said to dial up 38.4 MOA. So I cranked that up on my SWFA 10x elevation turret and took a shot (from a bipod and sandbag'd stock, prone on the ground). Another friend was spotting. He said, "A little high and to the right." Damn. I missed the target by only about 5 feet! Pretty GD good for a first try at this distance, if I can say so. So for my next shot I just corrected slightly with my turrets, nothing more than guesses really. My next shot, smack damn in the center of the plate. BTW, I know where I hit it because the plate was very dark with rust from sitting out there year after year, and there was a brand new bright spot right in the middle.
In total I think I took about 20 shots at the 1000yd gong. I'd estimate that I hit it about 1/3 of the time. Can't really blame the scope. That thing's amazing. I have the model with the 0.1 MOA dot where the cross hairs meet. So I was able to hold that dot very steadily in the center of the far off little brown square. I have not done the math but maybe if the barrel-ammo combination shot tighter groups I would have hit it more; hard to say. Wind was light and variable, so it may have played a bit of a part as well. Also my trigger technique. Overall, I'd say I did pretty well for a first time out, "just having fun with it" kinda shooting at long distance.
My Ballistic Advantage build - kcb38 - 01-27-2019
I finally decided to open up the gas port on my BA barrel. It was about 0.083 so I busted out the 3/32 drill bit and went to town. I was worried about getting a burr in the bore but everything came out smooth. I'm trying to pass this stuff on to my son so I had him help me out. While we were working on it he asked if he could shoot it, so I had him come with me to function check it. He went 10 for 10 on steel at 200. In the past he's had issues with loud noises so this was a big deal, especially since there was a bunch of guys there banging away today, each one with a brake that was louder than the next, haha. This is a quick vid of him behind the rifle.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4zgCdILmFVg&feature=youtu.be&fbclid=IwAR06bUv_eWukJuiuHzlwyDIg-0oKWBK8t_hE25dXV4dcFbvus_wVZfCQFIY
My Ballistic Advantage build - Londerko - 01-27-2019
Thats awesome about your son!
Why did you need to open up the gas port?
My Ballistic Advantage build - kcb38 - 01-27-2019
Thanks, I really enjoy sharing this stuff with him. Keeps him away from the video games for a while too, which is nice. BA is notorious for undersized ports on their Grendel barrels. Mine measured about 0.010 smaller than spec and it would not reliably hold the bolt open on the last round with Wolf. I've been living with it because it functioned pretty well with better ammo but I knew it wasn't right. It bugged me long enough that I finally decided to do something about it.
My Ballistic Advantage build - Londerko - 01-28-2019
I have no experience with opening up gas ports thats why I was asking
I have noticed a lot of the BA barrels have faster than average muzzle Velocities, I wonder if the undersized gas ports have anything to do with that?
Did you notice any velocity changes after enlarging it??
Im just curious is all
My Ballistic Advantage build - kcb38 - 01-28-2019
I never did chrono this rifle so I wouldn't have anything to compare to. BA has said that their small gas ports are "part of their recipe", whatever that means. I don't know if they were looking for a few more fps but I can't imagine any gain in that department would be worth the cycling issues it causes.
My Ballistic Advantage build - Londerko - 01-28-2019
My 18 RLGS hasnt had cycling issues at all but Ive only shot Hornady Black, American Gunner and Handloads.
Ive never tried wolf through it... but I dont plan on shooting it.
My Ballistic Advantage build - kcb38 - 01-28-2019
Yours is a BA? If so, what kind of accuracy are you getting from it?
My Ballistic Advantage build - Londerko - 01-28-2019
Yes its a BA
Technically Aero Precision but its the BA 18 SPR barrel.
Accuracy has been excellent for me
5 shot American Gunner is 1 Hornady Black is .75 and handloads with 123 eld have been .6-.7
Shot American Gunner our to 400yds on steel this weekend. 10 in a row on a 10 gong
My Ballistic Advantage build - kcb38 - 01-28-2019
That's a little tighter than what I'm seeing but I have to admit, my shooting could be better. I'll be hand loading for it shortly so I'm hoping to see some improvement there too. I can't wait for it to warm up a little so I can spend some more time with it.