S.E.G.

300 BLK subsonic from a pistol at 7 yards is just too damn much fun.

 Now if I could just get the right powder to make my own- H110 is not right for subs, AA1680 is supposed to be the best, but I can't find any right now. Of the test rounds I loaded with different powder charges, all of them ejected and locked back on the bolt carrier, but not the bolt itself. Some of the Hornady factory stuff did that today, depending on the mag.

Also scored like 60 .223 cases from the brass bucket.

All in all, a good day at the range.

Range Pr0n

You know when someone posts about a range trip without target pictures, well, they had a bad day. Nah, just learning to shoot something new.

Finally found a barrel to my liking- 8.5" Rainier Arms Match 300 AAC Blackout, 1-8" twist. Aero upper and lower, AR Stoner nickel boron bolt carrier with a Windham C158 bolt. Ace pistol stock. Right now, I am using the Midwest Industries G2 2 piece free float rail and am topping it off with a Troy Claymore.

Robbed the TruGlo off of one 6.8 for now. Quick impression; it sucks on a pistol. Needs to be bigger.

150 rounds today. Mostly reloads. Even ran factory Hornady subsonic fine. Hornady supersonic was harsh, but locked back okay. More on that below.

 

Protip- do not run an extended charging handle on an AR pistol. Luckily, my nose is big and has plenty of crush space.

Why no SBR? State of Iowa is an Only Ones State for NFA weapons.

Lancer 20 rounders, Troy 30 and Pmag 30 ran my reloads fine, even the 30-30 bullet reloads. It hated with a passion the 30-30 reloads from a Gen 3 PMag 20 rounder. Same rounds fed like a top in a 30 round Pmag. 

The factory Hornady 110 grain in the QD hole is the one that got my nose. Those fookers are loaded hot. I'm running a carbine buffer, not an H2 buffer. The latter might help with taming it some, it landed near 6 o'clock. Subs landed 3 o'clock, and my other reloads landed 4-5 o'clock.

Range time

Sighted in the Blackout with my reloads. 16.8 grains H110, CCI 450, 125 grain Speer TNT. 2.10 OAL. All at 25 yards.

 

Playing mix and match with the purple. The A2 stock is a little long. Who decided on that length? I'm 6'5" and it seems like a stretch. But, the scope might be a little forward for an A2 stock.

 

The 6.8 target. 50 yards, 115 grain Nosler, 25.8 grains Re10x, CCI450. 2.29" OAL

The readjusted cases worked better. (bolt closing is good, right?) Lock back was intermittent. Hell, feeding was intermittent. This thing was dead nuts with new ammo. Now, anything over 10 rounds, it is pissy. Thought the rifle extension and its heavy buffer would slow it down. It might be too slow. I will also try a different bullet, see if it will digest some 130 grain hot cores. Its sister eats those for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. but groups like crap with the 115 grain Noslers. This load was on the light side.

Center was cold bore. Top right 8 were the finale. Top left 7 was shoot, clear, shoot, clear. Lube stupid bolt carrier more, shoot, clear. Bottom left and right were 15 round mag shot slow, steady with flyers caused by a cranky trigger yanker cursing the single shot crap.

Range trip: now with words

Went to the range for only the second time this year. Helped sight in the Burris FFIII/scope combo a coworker bought. I shot this 7 shot group through the Fast Fire III at 25 yards with 115 grain Noslers over Re10x. Not sure how many grains, we mixed up magazines once. I think 26-26.6 grains. I had a ladder loaded up in the box, I'm not sure which mag he grabbed. I was also testing new, fully loaded mags and didn't have Magpul baseplates on them yet.

 

The new 300 Blackout ran great. Locked back on empty. Fed great from a melted Pringles can lid, M3 20 round PMag (10 rounds) and 20 rounds from a 30 round Gen 2 Pmag.

Carry gun mag got a spring cleaning. No problems, even with all the lint on the gun. Also ran a Pmag that had been loaded for 2 years. Fed great in the 11.5. It locked back every time with the lighter BCG. That thing must have a small gas port- it runs the best with a carbine buffer and AR-15 bolt carrier. The M-16 carrier is in the Blackout now, no problems with it at all.

Sunday range trip

Took the 6.8 out for a few shots on Sunday. Nothing major; 350 reloads of various grains. I've it said before, if I don't shoot for whatever reason, I still reload a few more. Had to buy some more ammo boxes this time. Also ran some .223 reloads through Fugly. I am convinced it works much better with a commercial bolt carrier vs a mil-spec (m-16) carrier. Or my M-16 carrier sucks. Or I need an XM177 moderator....wait, that would be 2 stamps in one....

 I actually tried on this target-the corners are 110 grain Prohunters that I loaded in a ladder. The best groups were the lowest and second highest loads. There is a "but" I will get to later. Like a dumbass, I spilled the box of reloads after the first time through. So that batch turned into blasting ammo. Guess I could have brought it home and weighed them. Nah....

 The center was 130 grain of some type. I don't have a picture of the 120 grain Hornaday SSTs- I loaded them hot and they hit about 3" above the center of the targets. Ok, I do have pics, but they are of 25+ round groups. Not very informative.

Last of the zombie chick targets:

Zombie bacon:

I mentioned a "but" earlier. I was not shooting off my normal rest. Other people were using them, so I was shooting my ARs off a crappy sandbag and 2 loose 2x4s. Yeah, might be time to get/make a proper rest. It was funny, watching one of them resting the barrel directly on the 2x4s. Um, you have a bolt gun that is free floated.... ah, never mind. Says the guy shooting a non-free floated AR :)

All targets 50 yards, irons or cheap red dot. 1395 rounds since early October on the 6.8. Put 90 through Fugly, including some Fiocchi 40 grain v-max. Shoot that, then shoot 140 grain from a 6.8 back to back. The latter does not feel like a poodle shooter.

Soon to come- case annealing.

And the aftermath

At least I have figured out that if I keep the cases separated at the range, it makes prep easier.

Took the 6.8 out today

Ran 245 through the PSA upper. In under an hour. It was windy. 30 mph winds across/down range and drizzling. So, I gave up on targets- they would not stay on the cardboard. Put some cardboard up at 25 yards and plugged away at that. It was more of a bullet/minimum load test anyway. Turned it into a full mag test- found out one mag hated being loaded past 16 rounds at 2.295+ OAL, so it wasn't a total failure. Also placed a cardboard box on the ground at 100 yard and plugged away at it. Okay, it blew off the stand and ended up there. Had an interesting hole in the backside with 130 grain Speer #1458 bullets. All shots fired standing, kneeling or sitting. The benches and tables were soaked, the concrete was dry enough to sit on.

I think it was from a lengthwise shot at an angle- about 2x3" total. This pic was taken after recovering the moving box and tacking it the the 25yard stand. Most of the holes were from 90 grain Speer TNTs.

 These were from some 130 grain Speer 1459 bullets. Do like. Referenced on the crease.

This was factory SSA 115 OTM fired at the end of the trip- again, the only reference point was putting the dot on the crease in the cardboard.

Current config- that is a Truglo Triton TG8365B. So far it has held up to 605 shots through this thing. Still haven't picked out a matching stock.

Today's loads:
130 grain Speer 1458 and 1459. 24.2 grains Reloder 10x, Win Large Magnum or CCI 450 primers.
90 grain Speer TNT, 29.5 grain Reloder 10x CCI 450 or Win Large Magnum.
120 grain SST, 26.3 grains H322 Win Large Magnum primer. These flattened the primers. No swipes.

Added: Ace was supposed to bring out his new Rock River to try it out. Guess I'll buy his excuse that it would be hard to sight in with the wind and rain.....

Felt the urge yesterday

To run my poor, neglected 16" AR. All my reloads ran fine in it and in the 11.5. Put around 200 downrange. It now wears a MOE grip. Think I like the feel better than the MOE+ on the 6.8. Did not have them side by side to compare. Maybe next time.

Range trip

Went shooting with Ace. I should never hand him my guns. He makes them look like bullseye pistols.

 Not sure what he is pointing out here, think it was a g27 group. The top right left was his group with my M&P 357. Full house carry load. Even his LCP group was tight. For an LCP. Or he is pointing out one of his groups with the AR. He did shoot it semi rested once. He's a better rifleman than me, too.

Shot about 170 through the fugly painted gun. Not all in a row, but all mags shot fairly quickly- over 15 minutes or less. No paint burned off. Got the barrel up to 300 degrees. Non-contact thermometer. The MOE handguard was around 140, that may been from the sun. 100 Fiocchi. Shot great. Buy more will I. Also ran some reloads, and new S&B that the 11.5 doesn't like and won't lock back on. The gun ran perfect on some Tula 55 grain I had laying around. Go figure.




We shot both targets, anyway, I did, with the AR. Sometimes back and forth. And sometimes, I'll admit, just shot the gun in the general direction of the targets to get the job done.

Here's me blathering:

That was fun

Went to the range, ran a brick (okay, 450 or so) of Rem Golden Bullets through my CMMG 22lr kit in the Armalite 16". If you would believe, 0 misfires and only 1 misfeed the entire batch. I'll attach pictures sometime; I had way too much fun to worry about pics. Those damn things jam up my 10/22, Smith 22A, and any other gun they are exposed to. Go figure.

Shooting like crap- now in HD

Well, some of them, anyway.

Took the 1943 out, had the range to myself, so I whipped out the camera and tripod. The new Mosin has a bayonet allergy, so it was sight adjustment time. Initial shots:

Watch more dirt fly, after adjusting the sights. All shots aimed at the bottom of the target.

Now for the comedy part of our routine:

Wow, I am rusty as hell with a pistol. Glock or M&P, no difference. I flat suck .7 or 10 yards. Yes I hear the zings- they are from the bullets impacting the ground at 80 yards or the side of the berm. I've watched other shooters do it before. But I do adjust my POA for later shots. As seen below.

Remember, I'm 40 lbs lighter than only 6 months ago. Yes, my fly is up.

And my own commentary: