98Z5V

Here's what I think is the bootom line for this thread you started. You have a shooting fundamentals issue. You talk of shooting at 30 yards. Your gun don't matter at 30 yards - it's a long gun, not a pistol. The shittiest barely-qualifying Army recruits can keep it on the paper at 25 meters. You need training. It's not the gun. Quit trying to find a problem with the gun, and go get some training. Appleseed is gonna be your best, cheapest resource for that. Stop delaying it, and get some real training. Or enlist. They'll give it to you, through BRM.

Just for note - CCI 450 Magnum primers and CCI 41 primers. Exact same power, the CCI 41s are made to the "thick cup" dimensions that the .mil states. Same power from them, the 41 has a thicker cup. CCi 41s are a small tick larger in OD, too, for a tighter fit in the primer pocket.

Now, HOW MANY TIMES have I told you that Varget and RL-15 are damn near identical twins?... How many?... Run out of one, start with the other at your exact same load, and see how it does. Twins.

The one I sent you was sticky already... Maybe it's just a Phx-area thing, but those bitches go soft like dirt bike grips...

Here's my .308 Win load data (in this thread) that I talked to you about at the match. Load data comes up on page 2. It ROCKS. "New" gun mandated re-looking my handload for it. As I told you, the Hornady 178 HPBT is an excellent round. The 178 ELD-M wasn't that much of an improvement. When they dropped that 178 ELD-X, THOUGH!!! Wow! Big improvement in projectile technology. That was worth buying, and going through the "load development process" again, just to get a good load. Double-tap that pic to make it bigger, might need to triple it.

^^^ That's a damn great explanation of it all, Nate. There is nothing to pick apart in what they state. Gas guns are just different. I have some .308 Win bolt gun loads that I'd NEVER shoot through a gas gun. One thing in there, auto-loaders, you ALWAYS need to crimp those rounds, and the Lee Factory Crimp Die is the best at this. In order to get an effective, uniform crimp on every single one - they all need to be the same length, before you crimp. Sierra is owned by CCI/Speer. What impresses me most in that read, is that they're not hesitant to recommend parts or tools from other companies, that do a great job for auto-loader reloading. That's class, right there.

I love the coffee mug!

Good deal, Nate!

Just for notes, Max Effective Range (Point Target) for the M16A1 running M193 ammo (55gr, 3250fps) was 460 meters. With the A2 running different rifling and the M855 62gr, that changed to 550 meters. No matter what you shoot, 69gr will run out of gas at 700 yards-ish. 75 and 77gr at 900 yards. It's possible to make hits beyond that. We shot DirtBike Tommy's 16" LaRue (suppressed) and made hits on the 1k yard target. I can't remember what ammo he was running, but it's possible. Anything is possible. An Accurate Gun is always an Accurate Gun. Making shots at distance comes down to "what's in your Brain-Pan?".

You're gonna max out a 1:9" twist barrel at that 62gr. As long as it's not Green Tip. I've got a long story on that. M16A1s were 1:9" twist. M16A2s were 1:7" twist. When the A2 dropped, a new ammo was developed with it, and that was M855/SS109 - Green Tip. The two projects ran concurrent, and the twist rate was determined because that was the projectile selected. Plus, greater accuracy with tracers, with 1:7" twist. Tracer projectiles are long as fuk. There's a Winchester 62gr Trophy Bonded Bear Claw loaded ammo out there, and that will work okay through 1:9". Border runs that stuff. There's another 64gr LE duty ammo out there that's supposed to run well through 1:9", but I've never seen it in use, myself (seen a gun run it on a range). Most of the time, you're gonna be stuck with a range of 42gr through 55gr. 55 past 600 yards just sucks, bad. It has alot of drop at 400, and even more at 500. Example: If I run 55gr range ammo on the 450 yard target out here, through a BDC scope, I have to hold for 500 just to make hits on the steel... That's significant, and it's running out of steam. You can get a 55 running 3300fps. Safely. I've seen some of the lighter projectiles screaming at 3500fps. If you're going that fast, they won't so much "buck the wind" - but they're hauling ass THROUGH that wind... Less drop, moving that damn fast...

Aaaaah, lot's of good stuff going on in this thread! I like it! I won't bust anybody's balls over PSA AR15 stuff. There's a pattern for that, and they tend to stick to it. It's the .308AR stuff that they just can't seem to get right. Tommy's 69ers weren't doing too well on that 640 target this month. He had to put extra rounds out there and keep fighting it. Those bastards go transonic around 700 yards, so they're running out of steam out there. Anything in the 400~600 range, you'll have more drop - so more holdover - over the 75 and 77s. DO NOT BUY... Hornady 75gr ELD-M projectiles. They're great, but they're so damn long that you can't load them to magazine length (2.260" or less). Those 75s that Matt linked are perfect - and that's CHEAP for 500 of them. Those ones with the cannelure are in stock, so just grab 500 and start with that. The cannelure is in the perfect spot for seating them, too - seat them down in the case, to the cannelure, then crimp them. Done. Don't really even need to measure OAL. Should bring them right at 2.250", loaded. Like Matt stated, I'm using the Hornady 75gr HPBT projectiles, in Lake City 5.56 brass, CCI 41 primers, and 24.2gr of RL-15 powder, seated to 2.250" OAL. They're 2789fps out of that 18" gun. No Green Tip out there in that shoot. No Green Tip on steel targets - it just tears them up. No Green Tip on the steel we take out to the desert here. Green Tip is mean as fuk on steel. Save that stuff for barrier use, like windshields. It'll also rip some cinderblocks RIGHT UP. That's always fun to do/watch. One of these days, mister, one of these days. I'm gonna beat you at something. When I do...

We'll make SURE it is...

Lemme know if you need these 2x2s... They're either gonna go into this project for the Sex Swing, or they're gonna be "surveyed stakes" at out shooting positions for the long distance stuff - pound ''em in, survey them, leave them there... Known Distance, after that. Hope nobody hits them...

But, we (I) have to store this once it's built, and move it to the shooting location all the time... Wood, once it's together, will probably have to stay together, and that's a big bastard to move, store, keep. 2x2 steel square - main bottom frame, some uprights that can be removed... I can manage that, and store it. And move it. And erect it quickly when we shoot. It'll work.

I think the 2x2 will be perfect - and WAY lighter than that 4x4 thing we shot off of. It'll for sure be strong enough. I think we're covered on the 2x2 with what I've got...

That's the beauty built into THIS ONE, brother. You don't need to worry about her... YOU need to be satisfied when you get off this one... If you're not happy with how you did - get back ON there, and try it again until you ARE happy!!!

@JBMatt, there's no way around it. We MUST build this fucker for the Fall Shoot. No other way, brother. We may need to talk to Scuba Steve about this, and just get it done... I think 2x2 square would be perfect, and I've got a lot of that stuff already.

Here's the BIG BONUS, BROTHER!!! YOU... are gonna have to take a ride in the Sex Swing, too!!! Don't run, don't be scared. Just lay back, baby, let it happen... https://getyarn.io/yarn-clip/407d32bf-9ebc-45fc-94b9-a965f3a8786e

Oh, you know, if you need a guinea pig... I'm in... We can test the hell out of it out here in the desert.

I've still got this- been doing well since 2010. I'd welcome another one, though.

I've never had to deal with anything like that before, ever, either - before yesterday...

Oh, make NO MISTAKE. Some variation of this bastard WILL BE at the Fall Shoot. The timed 90-second course of fire is Tic-TACT-Toe at 450 yards. Off this thing. It's already decided. THAT is happening. Jump right up on that thing ANY time during the day to try to improve your previous best-score...

First time rodeo was yesterday... Never seen ANYTHING like that in a shooting match before, so there was no imagination in building something like that for traning for it. Show up, shoot it, and do your best. The only advance-notification was the email of the stage info late Friday afternoon, and looking at the stages, Stg 1 was the "wobble platform." Same as I posted above, the stage info - is what we got. You show up, and look at this sex-swing, and your mind is going WTF!!! I immediately thought about those poor 3 SEALS that had to shoot from ship-decks to save Captain Phillips... Had to be even worse for them, in rolling seas, from the back of a ship...

That would be pretty hard to do, watching through a magnified scope, at targets that were (2 x 10") at 220 yards, and targets that were (2x 2/3 IPSC) at 330 yards... There was no practice for this - get on the ride and do your best... You see my foot position on those sandbags at the back? I was doing the best I could, whist loading that bipod... It just SUCKED...

You touch ANY peripheral suspension device on that platform after you start (any chain), and that was a FAULT. You Fault, and you start back again on target #1, all over again from zero... It was weird, and accidental, actually. That vid is from the first few seconds of the start of that stage. As it went on, further into the 90 seconds, I fucked myself, in a weird predicament, and didn't even know it. Once you started moving from recoil, you either had to stop shooting completely and let the platform settle - or "ambush" the target, as you were swinging. The back and forth was nothing more than up-and-down, in your scope, as you're watching it (target). One of the MOA PRS guys said that he was swinging so bad that it was a 20-MOA movement in his scope, up and down. So, I'm shooting, and ambushing the target when it gets close to the crosshairs. I start swinging more and more, and decide "HOLD THE FUK ON HERE!: I didn't realize it until WAY later, and subliminally... I was shooting every time the platform was rocking BACK, and just making "the swing" worse. I accidentally shot when the platform was rocking FORWARD... and it stopped the platform in it's tracks... Of course, that realization hit at the END of that stage... so there was no more "timing of the shot" that I could have done after that... But, I learned a thing yesterday...