cevgunner

Hmmm... OK, mea culpa. Didn't know you were a benchrest shooter. You obviously have the basics down pat. My daughter's lawyer shoots an AR10 off the bench with an adjustable front rest with a bunny ear bag to support the foreend. I think it's a Caldwell rest. He goes to So. Dakota for groundhogs , at 200 yards he uses 3/4" orange pasters for his aiming point. He has a small bag he puts under the toe of the butt, and uses his left hand to pinch the buttstock and push it into his shoulder. His rifle is generally set up as you describe yours, except he had Mike Bykowski build his trigger, as no one had a trigger he liked. Mike is a local High Power match rifle builder deity, very high end stuff. As far as your trigger, you might look into a Timney drop in unit. As to technique off bags, I'd offer that you rest the foreend on bags, use your left hand to control placing the stock into the pocket of your shoulder, keep it tight. Your hand under the foreend may be adding a variable to your groups. If you are going from a .222 to .308, I can see where you'd notice the recoil. Stay on top the rest, butt tight to your shoulder, rest close to the receiver, bag under the foreend should be smooth. Avoid bipods. Look into a freefloat fore end kit, let the barrel vibrate on it's own. Leave that for later, just work the rifle as you have it now. Start with your 150gr load, shoot for groups, adjust your gear and position, keep shooting the one 150gr load until you have debugged the rest of your technique. Figure out which variable gives you the change in group size before changing the load. I shoot off a bench when I chronograph ammo, and shoot from position , so my concept of groups may differ from yours. My rifles tend to be either .22LR, or military calibers - recoil isn't something I notice, beyond what it does to my position and alignment. It's just sort of there, roll with it. Different from bench shooting. HTH, cevgunner

The Bushmaster takes either the Metric or Inch pattern, interchangeably. The release is a block fitted into the receiver, accessible from either side, and fixed with no adjustment. It's never been disassembled from the receiver,and the pins are solid - similar to a dowel pin. Haven't miked them , to check for a taper. I'll try for pics later. 331_.pdf

How do, all; I have a Bushmaster BAR308, uses the FAL mags , and came with that dippy ambidextrous mag release. Problem is , it's sticky, hard to release the mag from either side, and RRA won't respond to confirm or deny if their parts for the LAR-8 are interchangeable. I'm not about to blow $100 plus shipping on something that I can't send back. Visually, the two rifles are alike. I don't have an original manual ( bought the rifle used) , like the platform, but would like a few spares, and want to have the ability to get new parts if my tinkering goes awry. Any thoughts? Thanks, cevgunner

Just a picture of the rifle itself? Not yet. From the feel of the mag release, it's a tolerance issue, and sticky seems the handiest discription. You have to bottom out the button before it releases form the right side, and the left side button needs only to go about 3/4 of the way in to release.

Ok, I thought you meant the barrel was shorter. Reprofiling the barrel wouldn't have too much of an effect , in that case. Unless your sling is too tight, in which case you'd see some kind of stringing, in the direction the sling pulls the barrel. Just for giggles , try this: Do several strings, single load the rounds. Bolt hold open should work, just drop the round into the port, trip the bolt release , let the bolt drive the round into the chamber. Stay in position - don't tip the rifle- break each shot carefully. What this should determine , is if your group size will vary due to magazine pressure against the bolt, similar to what you get with an FAL. Single loading takes out one variable. Granted, the bolt lockup is different in the FAL, but the idea is to break this down to where you can examine one area at a time. As well, it can show you if it's the rifle, or something you are doing , that you may not realize. As well, shoot from the same position , if possible. Ensure you don't rest the barrel itself against anything , as disturbing the harmonic of the barrel any more than you already have (reprofiling) will disperse your shots more. Take your time, break your shots clean, focus on your front sight post, and follow through. Blazing thru a magazine is fine for a function check of the mag, but gains little beyond knowing the extreme spread of your group in rapid fire. To determine the inherrent accuracy of your particular rifle, start with one load, and go thru all the above steps, beginning with the single loading. It's more challenging with iron sights, but the test of the marksman is his skill with whatever equipment is laid before him. The basics of sight alignment , position, trigger control , and breathing - apply to whatever weapon you pick up. Look for Jim Owens book, "Sight Alignment, Trigger Control , and the "Big Lie" ", JAFEICA Publishing, Milwaukee, WI - for whatever details I glossed over , here. Some other reading you can look into is Precision Shooting Magazine , or write a note to Peter Kokalis, at Shotgun News, or at SOF Magazine, where he was the technical editor for evaluating firearms. Small Arms Review also does articles on things we enjoy, maybe take a look at their website. Shooting at 20 degrees isn't so bad, it's just harder to focus on what you are doing. Try to slow down a bit, break the shot with more care. Have you done an Appleseed Shoot with your rifle yet? They typically work at 100 yards, so it's just challenging enough , yet not so bad it's discouraging. They also have experienced shooters to coach you, and spot what may be an unnoticed habit in what you are doing. If it's not a loose pin in the sights , it might just be a loose nut behind the buttplate. Briefly, a recap: *One type of ammo ( load or bullet weight) *Single load thru the ejection port *Stay in position, consistently *Breathing *Natural point of aim *Sight alignment *Focus on front sight ( yes the target IS blurry- it's OK) *Pressss the trigger smoothly *Follow through, reacquire sights *Repeat Measure group size, see how it works out for you. Curious: you shot bolt actions before this? What distance are you shooting at , presently? Does the rifle group better warm , or hot? ( barrel may be "walking" ) What rate of twist is your barrel?

Have you tried a slower powder? Cutting the barrel changes the time/pressure curve that the gas system was designed for. Someone had a gas tube called a Pigtail, for the Shorty Ar15 types, to offset the time/pressure issue in the shorty AR. The operating characteristics are determined by the distance between the muzzle and the gas port . Back in the day, the Army changed the powder in the ammo for the AR15, screwed up the time/pressure curve, ruined the reliability and accuracy of the design in the process. You might have lost some accuracy with the velocity drop - any chance you chronographed your loads before having the barrel clipped? How much velocity have you lost? What twist is your barrel? Might be that you are stuck using 165gr, at a heavier powder charge to bump up your velocity. Or a slower powder, anyway.

How do, all; I have a Bushmaster BAR308, uses the FAL mags , and came with that dippy ambidextrous mag release. Problem is , it's sticky, hard to release the mag from either side, and RRA won't respond to confirm or deny if their parts for the LAR-8 are interchangeable. I'm not about to blow $100 plus shipping on something that I can't send back, and if they don't want to talk to me , why do I want to give them my business? Visually, the two rifles are alike. I don't have an original manual ( bought the rifle used) , like the platform, but would like a few spares, and want to have the ability to get new parts if my tinkering goes awry. Any thoughts? Thanks, cevgunner 10 years, US Army 30+ years , shooting , reloading , tinkering. Breaker of small parts, sometimes on purpose. Up in Wisconsin , for a while yet

Sounds like you are just pushing the mag up past the latch. It's not designed to prevent much more than overinsertion. It may be your magwell is long front to rear , and the mag is tipping. Try a piece of shim stock in front of the mag, see if that helps. Your rounds crashing into the feed ramp? If so , mag is high in back , low in front. Have you tried an Inch pattern mag? They have that ugly big tooth on the front, might take out the slop. Just curious - Why are you holding the magazine? If anything goes wrong, that's one spot where you DON'T want your hand! Saw pics of a CETME that blew out a mag, video of an M16 at KCR that vaporized the upper, and helped a guy find the parts for his BAR mag , after he had an out-of-battery misfire at Knob Creek -- all of which seemed to prove that having body parts near the magazine is a bad idea, at any time other than combat conditions. Just my opinion , been shooting for 30+ years.