Well went to the range this morning and I don't really know what to think. I had so much anticipation for this rifle to be a tack driver today that I was kind of let down. Here is how it went down today.
First Round: set target at 50 yards to check the new scope. 3 Rounds, Surprisingly it was almost dead on. Lucky I guess.
Second Round: 100 yard target with 55gr Remington UMC. Approx 3 different 4 round groups. I would shoot two almost bullet holes then have 2 hit inches off the mark in different direction. (Story of the day) Let the wife run some rounds and same thing with her.
Third Round: 100 yard 55gr Hornady VMAX. 5 round target that ended with about quarter size group. I know rifles like different ammunition, but couldn't believe they shot that much different. So again I loaded up some UMC and it still was horrible.
Fourth Round: 100 yard 53gr Hornady Superformance. 5 round target pictured below. This round was the best out of the three and most consistent, however I would still have a few odd groupings that was comprised of multiple rounds touching then a few crazies. This picture shows my first shot bullseye then the next 3 touching then one flyer.
Overall: I have a few conclusions from today's range test.
1) scope mount or scope issues. It's a brand new Nikon P223 3x9-40 and Nikon P series mount. I had it dialed in and different rounds would land high,low, left and even right with the same hold on target. I would then reset my zero to hit bullseye and proceed to have rounds jump around on me again. (This is my bet on the problem)
2) The play or slop between my DPMS lower and RRA upper seemed it could have been effecting my rounds on target. However I did check the DPMS upper and the play seemed closely identical, which makes it even more of a mystery.
3) my less then nice NCStar 1.5-4.5 power on my DPMS Oracle Upper shot more consistent though slightly less accurate just due to the magnification then my R3 and P223 on 9x. That is unacceptable.
All of this leads me to believe that there is an issue holding me back from achieving the accuracy this rifle should be getting. I also understand that shooter error comes in to play, but i still believe strongly that this rifle should be more consistent regardless the different ammo I feed it. Any suggestions or anyone who has had some similar experience please chime in. My testing is not over, so overall I am not real sure what to say bc I can shoot better then what happened today on the range.
First Round: set target at 50 yards to check the new scope. 3 Rounds, Surprisingly it was almost dead on. Lucky I guess.
Second Round: 100 yard target with 55gr Remington UMC. Approx 3 different 4 round groups. I would shoot two almost bullet holes then have 2 hit inches off the mark in different direction. (Story of the day) Let the wife run some rounds and same thing with her.
Third Round: 100 yard 55gr Hornady VMAX. 5 round target that ended with about quarter size group. I know rifles like different ammunition, but couldn't believe they shot that much different. So again I loaded up some UMC and it still was horrible.
Fourth Round: 100 yard 53gr Hornady Superformance. 5 round target pictured below. This round was the best out of the three and most consistent, however I would still have a few odd groupings that was comprised of multiple rounds touching then a few crazies. This picture shows my first shot bullseye then the next 3 touching then one flyer.
Overall: I have a few conclusions from today's range test.
1) scope mount or scope issues. It's a brand new Nikon P223 3x9-40 and Nikon P series mount. I had it dialed in and different rounds would land high,low, left and even right with the same hold on target. I would then reset my zero to hit bullseye and proceed to have rounds jump around on me again. (This is my bet on the problem)
2) The play or slop between my DPMS lower and RRA upper seemed it could have been effecting my rounds on target. However I did check the DPMS upper and the play seemed closely identical, which makes it even more of a mystery.
3) my less then nice NCStar 1.5-4.5 power on my DPMS Oracle Upper shot more consistent though slightly less accurate just due to the magnification then my R3 and P223 on 9x. That is unacceptable.
All of this leads me to believe that there is an issue holding me back from achieving the accuracy this rifle should be getting. I also understand that shooter error comes in to play, but i still believe strongly that this rifle should be more consistent regardless the different ammo I feed it. Any suggestions or anyone who has had some similar experience please chime in. My testing is not over, so overall I am not real sure what to say bc I can shoot better then what happened today on the range.
