Not A Milsurp Rifle, but an ACOG and Ammuntion Test

[jmoore]

_300______________________________________________ _____500_____________400____________________519?_


Just a quick run out to the new metallic silhouette range to see if 75gr Prvi Partisan ammo out of a 16" barreled AR would be ballistically compatible to the range markings on a TA31RCOM150 (or a TA31RCOM4) ACOG scope (as used by the US armed forces, so this test sort of fits w/ the Milsurps theme).


Actual photo of the ACOG reticle type used. (From another loose scope. It doesn't "lean" particularly- that's my fault.)

Also a test of the zero holding ability of the rifle as I haven't fired ANY firearm since about April (this being September), and have added a big stinking heavy light to it.

Previous zero was checked on another range at 200yds, but for some reason the 200yd gong on this range went missing. Checked out the facility, having never used it before, painted the plates, and went back and flopped on my belly. Had some towels to protect me from the concrete, but no rifle rest except for some of the wadded up excess fabric.- I wasn't going to get all super scientific here!

Fired a couple of rounds, missed low, and then realized that the 200yd target was in actual fact the 300yd plate. Stupid!

Put the top of the vertical line on the plate and Presto!- center hit!


The off center hits came later, as described below.


Did that a couple of more times and moved to 400yds- Same-same. Cool!


Definitely seems to be some drift to the right, here, but it could be the operator.


500yds- First round a bit low right, but still a hit, then two low misses, and then another hit. I'd call it pretty good enough, considering the platform and the unsupported shooting position.


A couple of shots went a bit low, striking the bare earth patch directly behind the plate.- Here the patch appears off to the right as the photo was taken off to one side of the bullet path.


The dramas started at the biggest plate, both in actual size and MOA, at what looks like "579" but I think is "519". Missed the first few, maybe, but no dust signature to indicate where. Tried adjusting windage a skosh, as I noticed a bit of RH drift at 500, but that was a definite mistake, as a quick check back at 300 showed the zero off, and how! Fired a couple more at 300 to return to old zero and went back to the 500+ plate. Ended up w/ a slightly high centering of the target between the "5" and "6" marks in the scope and started getting solid hits. Turns out there were a couple of grazing hits that I probably counted as misses because those little pills weren't making much racket on this plate even w/ solid strikes.




Note tiny edge strike on bottom of plate- it left a copper coloured line across the entire width.



High peripheral hit, unnoticed until the drive down range. I was trying some variation in hold at this intermediate distance- bullets are dropping quickly this far out, and I think I held too high, mostly.

Anyway, I'd call this ammo, barrel length and scope combo as close to spot on as most anyone could want for what is still essentially a "close-in" weapon platform. (No, it wasn't a whole lot of rounds downrange! Had other things going on...)



ETA:

Oh, BTW, Plate sizes are as follows if you're curious:
200- 9" (4 1/2 MOA)
300- 12" (4 MOA)
400- 12" (3 MOA)
500- 15" (3 MOA)
520(?)- 18" H x 24" W (Whatever MOA- it's big)

[jmoore]

Couple of notes:

The honeycomb "killflash" anti-reflection filter on the front of the scope was removed on the shots past 300yds. This action increased the scope's resolution a bit, and those 400 and 500 yd plates were about covered by the crosshairs. (In actual fact, the killflash was simply pulled forward on it's elastic strap and swung off to one side. Nothing likely to get lost that way, unless you forget to replace it at some point after completing the "precision work".

Also, the results were pleasing enough that ANOTHER 1000 rounds of the 75gr Prvi Partisan Match .223 were ordered the same day!

If you're interested , here's the weapon used in an older photo, previously posted on this site:





Kuh-Nig-It's Super Duper Thingy in 5.56mm
(Knight's SR-15 E3 IWS)

[Badger]

Great stuff ...

Thanks for posting the pics ...

Regards,
Badger

[jmoore]

Because I'm a shameless self promoter, and due to the fact that I edited the first post of this thread- AGAIN- to give the plate sizes, I just had to add this post to link to the M14/M1A and M16a4/AR15 thread of similar intent. So, if you have gotten this far, here's a link to the other thread. There may well be more to follow, probably gonna start dragging out "real" rifles soon! (Barring a slight interruption for deer season.)

http://www.milsurps.com/showthread.php?t=25378

Thanks for reading!