Hey AR Guys....A Review of my New AR and Questions

[INTJ]

I have had a half dozen ARs over the years. I just never really got into them. I am a bolt action hunting rifle and LR Benchrest kind of shooter. All but one of my ARs were A2s and a couple were setup for Highpower. Well, with all the unrest going on I decided I should get an AR again.

I got it Saturday, by luck. I happened to be the first guy by in my local Cabela's when they put out a Black Rain Ordnance Spec15 16" carbine. It had a mounted Burris Tac 30 1-4x scope and a blue "battle worn" finish (whatever).

I got it home and torqued the ring screws and base nuts. I liked the weight, balance, and trigger pull. It seemed like a quality firearm. I took it to the range today (Sunday). It functioned perfectly. The scope was initially 20" low at 100 yds. (I was lazy and didn't boresight it because I had a huge boresight target.)

My issue was the target dots I picked for ammo testing were covered by the dot in the scope. While it is very possible to shoot inside your sights when the aiming area is larger than the sight dot, it's much harder when the aiming dot is larger than the aiming area. The other issue was the butt stock was in no way setup to shoot from a rear bag. I bought bigger targets and have ordered a Magpul butt stock that will work a little better off a rear bag.

Groups were not great. Now I have discussed with @Jet and @Dusty Stevens and some others how when we are stable in a rest that an experienced shooter doesn't usually make big 1 MOA errors. They might make .1 or even .2 MOA errors, but a 1 MOA error from an experienced shooter from a stable rest is a LOT of dispersion. I think I made some 1 MOA errors because I couldn't see and I could not hold the rifle consistently on the rest. Most of the time the butt stock wasn't even close to my shoulder.

Five shot groups at 100 yds were:

Remington 55 grain FMJ: 3" group, 2976 FPS, 58 ES
Black Hills 77 Tipped MK: 2.625", 2671 (50)
Hornady 75 BTHP: 1.75", 2479 (54)
Hornady 55 VMax: 1.625", 2893 (55)

That was the order of the groups fired and noticed how they got better. I did start to figure out how to more precisely aim on the too-small target. I think the rifle is a little better than those groups, especially the first two, but I will need to be more stable and have the bigger targets to see that. I shouldn't have to put on a higher power scope if I have a proper size target. All my other ARs were sub MOA, but I don't remember having the issues shooting them that I did this one. The Ruger SR 762 I had was in a carbine configuration, but I used a 9x scope and it was stable on the bags.

Questions:

1. Thought on any of the above?

2. Black Rain says the Spec 15 has a carbine length gas system but the gas tube measures 9". Doesn't that make it a mid length? Yes, the recoil was extremely mild but three days earlier I was shooting a 33-28 Nosler with 48 ft lbs of recoil.

3. What is the best shooting rest for an AR carbine? After I pick an ammo I won't be shooting it off sandbags anymore, but the first step is to find the best ammo. I am not going to hand load for this gun.

4. Why type of defensive AR type shooting course should I look for? I have zero interest in any tactical type competition (LR BR takes most of my time), but I do want to gain proficiency in a self defense type scenario.

 

[INTJ]

Just ordered this:

https://protektormodel.com/collections/ar-rear-bag

 

[dolek]

Something is wrong with the rifle or shooter to get groups like that .

 

[spclark]

Something is wrong with the rifle or shooter to get groups like that .

... or the ‘scope.

 

[Bc'z]

5 or 10 round magazine for target practice.
Lose that scope if you cant see what your shooting at, and get 1 you can see your aiming point with.

 

[Adam in WI]

I had the same scope. If you can manage better than 2 moa with that reticle, you're ahead of the curve. I now have the 1-6 Strike Eagle and the reticle is much more forgiving.

 

[Dusty Stevens]

^+1. That scope is for shooting cars at 25yds

 

[Deleted outa08]

INTJ, The Burris is not a target scope by design. It is made for tactical uses,which is what you intend to use it for. The scope can be zeroed by using a target such as a IDPA target. Set up on a bench with any stable front rest and a rear bag or your off hand to support the butt.Set scope on high power.Focus your aim at the neck line of the target and center.Shot three rounds and check the results and make your adjustments, W& E. It helps me to tape the first shots but make a note of impact. I used this method to zero 2 Leupold Tac scopes with the same basic reticle.Oh and take Bc`z advice go with 5-10 round mags. Much better off the bench. Good luck. Jeff

 

[jepp2]

1. Thought on any of the above?

What twist, and is the bore chrome plated?

I "read" once where someone said if it will not shoot with Federal GMM 69 gr Sierra Match King, it will not shoot. I found that to not be 100% true, but pretty close. You might try those.

I liked the weight, balance, and trigger pull.

Really? The trigger is Ok? I've never seen a milspec trigger that was acceptable to me. Many options to improve that. To stay with the same trigger, I suggest Bill Springfield. https://triggerwork.net/contactinfo.html

So clearly I believe ammo and trigger are your biggest issues. But that is probably just a 1.5" rifle.

 

[MGYSGT]

Don't shoot with a rear bag, use a bipod. You bought the rifle for combat. Minute of man is what the scope was made for. Those dots are big for quick target acquisition. Kind of like a purpose built F Class or Benchrest gun.

 

[Lone Hunter]

I had the same scope. If you can manage better than 2 moa with that reticle, you're ahead of the curve. I now have the 1-6 Strike Eagle and the reticle is much more forgiving.

What Adam said. I have the 1-8 Strike Eagle on one of mine. As has been said use the dot to aim at 6 o'clock on the target and you will be surprised how much better you can shoot holding the top of the dot at the bottom of the target or 6 o'clock position. Trigger barrel ammo are the important parts in an AR. Optics also if you want to hit out further . Like BC 'z said 5-10 round magazines off the bench. I you don't like the buttstock you can order an A2 buttstock and have a fixed stock. There are several other type stocks out there too. From pricey to cheap. You can always upgrade parts and barrels real easy.

 

[msinc]

Most has been covered here, but I would add two things I don't see...who made the barrel??? You might want to scope it and see if it's worth messing with. Some AR's are just not fitted with decent barrels these days. There are some that are "less than stellar".
Next I would ask how much movement between the upper and lower?? Any at all is too much if you want it to be accurate. If you can wiggle the upper and lower to the point you "feel" slop how good do you think your benchrest rifle would shoot if you could move the action/barrel in relation to the stock?? Slop between the upper and lower has always been the worse thing about the mil-spec AR platform. If it's not loose now it soon will be. Few manufacturers have addressed this issue, the ones that did are very expensive guns.

 

[LVLAaron]

If it's for defense / home / car... Who cares if it shoots 1-2 MOA? If you're needing to hit targets at 100+ yards, get a DMR barrel. If it's a battle rifle.... Paint it black and make sure it functions every single time.

AR's can be anything, but it's hard to make them be everything.

 

[joshb]

It’s not a bench gun, it’s an off the shelf AR. AKA- fun gun or defense gun. The one you have shoots pretty well. Buy a couple thousand rounds of the best shooting ammo and shoot it. Learn the functions of the gun until you can shoot and reload without thinking about it. That’s your best training.
Also.....keep it clean!!!
DO NOT!!! expect it to shoot tiny groups or even try to make it so. You’ll just spend a ton of money and get a head ache!

 

[R.Morehouse]

You said you like the trigger & you like BR shooting. What trigger is in the AR? You like it compared to what? I have an AR15 & AR10. Both have Geissele SSA-E triggers and I believe that was the best accuracy enhancing I could have done short of handloading in addition to the trigger. Best of luck going forward, I have to keep my mindset that the AR's are primarily for SHTF deployment......It is just TO easy for me to burn up a TON of ammo....

Regards
Rick

 

[msalm]

I recently re-barreled a Black Rain AR for a friend that had shot multiple loads/bullets in his rifle trying to find a decent load. Never shot better than 3” groups. Even cheap AR’s should do much better than that. This barrel had a poor chamber that the throat was terribly off center. One land was full height all the way back to the start of the neck. The other two (3 groove barrel) were of different lengths. Black Rain offered no help and stated it wasn’t the rifle.

New barrel contoured and chambered properly and it is shooting 1/2 MOA. Barrel was a hammer forged blank from ‘un branded’ ar and after contouring and lapping it was beautiful for a $75 blank.

 

[afret]

It's hard to have an all around AR15. I ended up with one for shooting targets, one kind of a home defense gun, and one for fun shooting (AKA mag dumps). My target one has a Bartlein varmint barrel now. I had a Kreiger barrel which shot about the same accuracy wise. On a good day it has shot 5 at 100 yards in the .1s with Berger 77 OTMs but not very often.

 

[whatsupdoc]

Just get some quality 55gr military ammo and some steel plates and have some fun.
Off of a barricade with a cheap midway 16" barrel and a 1x-4x optic a 10" steel plate dont stand a chance at 400 yards.

 

[INTJ]

What twist, and is the bore chrome plated?

I "read" once where someone said if it will not shoot with Federal GMM 69 gr Sierra Match King, it will not shoot. I found that to not be 100% true, but pretty close. You might try those.


Really? The trigger is Ok? I've never seen a milspec trigger that was acceptable to me. Many options to improve that. To stay with the same trigger, I suggest Bill Springfield. https://triggerwork.net/contactinfo.html

So clearly I believe ammo and trigger are your biggest issues. But that is probably just a 1.5" rifle.

7 Twist, chrome moly, non-chrome. Trigger is not the issue. Not as good as my Jewell BR triggers, but it is fine--no movement as I pull the trigger but the the AR grip makes that easy.

 

[INTJ]

Most has been covered here, but I would add two things I don't see...who made the barrel??? You might want to scope it and see if it's worth messing with. Some AR's are just not fitted with decent barrels these days. There are some that are "less than stellar".
Next I would ask how much movement between the upper and lower?? Any at all is too much if you want it to be accurate. If you can wiggle the upper and lower to the point you "feel" slop how good do you think your benchrest rifle would shoot if you could move the action/barrel in relation to the stock?? Slop between the upper and lower has always been the worse thing about the mil-spec AR platform. If it's not loose now it soon will be. Few manufacturers have addressed this issue, the ones that did are very expensive guns.

I don't know who made the barrel. I can certainly scope it. AR barrels are easy to replace, don't even have to put one in my lathe....

Upper and lower are tight. I can get an accuwedge I suppose