10-08-2017, 05:34 PM
Yep! All comments are spot-on.
I did gamble and used some of the PPU brass for the starting loads, bad idea. It is definitely "one and done" material. Found a local source for more Hornady 123gr. SST ammo, that gave me a good baseline and decent brass to re-use.
Loads with 30.6gr or less of Hodgdon CFE 223 pushing 129g, and all 120gr. loads, would not cycle the bolt. Ejection was good, but not enough bolt travel to catch the next round in the mag. Looks like it is close, but needs more gas.
Didn't have the tiny allen wrench for adjustment in my range bag, won't do that again! A lot of the shooting was like my familiar bolt gun action. Hard for me to keep a consistent form doing that charging handle stroke.
Still had a good range day, and learned a bit more about this rifle. The Kiddo was working with "his" rifle, a 5.56 with recently upgraded upper, he had good results as well.
No surprise, my best goupings came from the factory Hornady 123gr SST ammo. That same store also had the bullets, I will have better results with them and better brass that isn't swelling up!
I did gamble and used some of the PPU brass for the starting loads, bad idea. It is definitely "one and done" material. Found a local source for more Hornady 123gr. SST ammo, that gave me a good baseline and decent brass to re-use.
Loads with 30.6gr or less of Hodgdon CFE 223 pushing 129g, and all 120gr. loads, would not cycle the bolt. Ejection was good, but not enough bolt travel to catch the next round in the mag. Looks like it is close, but needs more gas.
Didn't have the tiny allen wrench for adjustment in my range bag, won't do that again! A lot of the shooting was like my familiar bolt gun action. Hard for me to keep a consistent form doing that charging handle stroke.
Still had a good range day, and learned a bit more about this rifle. The Kiddo was working with "his" rifle, a 5.56 with recently upgraded upper, he had good results as well.
No surprise, my best goupings came from the factory Hornady 123gr SST ammo. That same store also had the bullets, I will have better results with them and better brass that isn't swelling up!