Range Day - Preferred Ammo

I finally had a chance to get out yesterday and put the Ruger American Rimfire to use this month. As a result, it appears that I have found my preferred ammo for this gun; CCI Mini Mags HV 40 grain part# 0030.

 

The last time I had shot the RAR was a few weeks ago and at that time I was trying to get the gun zeroed for the CCI 0030's. After getting all set up, yesterday, I tried something a bit different. Instead of running 10 rounds of junk ammo at a warm-up target, I went straight into shooting 5 shot test groups. The first group of the day has 2 sub-groups with three 3 rounds close in one and 2 close shots in the other. The larger hole you see to the left of the large group is from a a previous shoot that I had covered up with a sticker. The sticker got knocked off removing the black material with it. I had opted to re-use the 12 inch target since I didn't have extras with me. I was happy with that group.

After shooting that first group on the 12 inch, I ended up shooting the rest of the 6 inch targets. By the time I had gotten to the last target, I had made a few adjustments to the scope to bring it in a little tighter.

You can see that those last groups are pretty decent. The middle target I had reset with black dots to test out an Axis XP with Remington Core-lok 180 grain. I'm not impressed with the rifle but to give it a fair test I will try out different ammo.

All in all, I feel that the RAR is running good with the CCI 0030's. I will see about making that my preferred ammunition with this rifle after a few more runs with it. Midway USA had it in stock this week but I missed the opportunity to buy any. It goes very quick.

Long Range Project - Thoughts on Phase 2

I know the project hasn't been going on for very long but since starting I've learned a little something in regards to the gear.  I definitely have WAY more to learn in general. I'd say that I'm consistently (at least minimally) achieving the goals I had set for Phase 1. I still want to improve my skills and solve my issues (like solve my stringing issue). As a result I've been spending more time thinking about Phase 2.

A good example of the lessons I've learn might be that .308 Winchester in a light weight rifle isn't great for the kind of target shooting I am typically doing. Another might be related to patience; try having some. And that a heavy trigger really sucks. Applying what I'm learning to developing the next rifle will help make sure I build it to exactly, or close to, what I'm looking for in that rifle. From there, the process should repeat itself into the next build. Another example could be as I've shot the Ruger American Rimfire, I'm looking for any issues related the way the gun is set in the rests I use. For example, I've moved the front bag rest from mid-front part of the rifle stock rearward. Instead of the bag being just forward of the receiver I'm trying it where the bag is just in front of the magazine release so the rifles mounting points are totally resting on the bag. My thinking is to help keep any pressure off of the fore-end of the stock and away from the barrel. I don't know if there needs to be any pressure but this should help keep it off. Adding a folded scarf to lift the rifle up has helped with my seating position but the best option would be to replace the stock. Having one custom made will help the most.

Having the right stock seems to be one of the options/solutions that keeps coming up. Issues with weight (too much or too little) appears to be very important when it comes to application and enjoyment of the use of whatever firearm. A light weight rifle (less than 7 lbs.) chambered in .308 Winchester makes for a rifle that is fine for carrying around but the recoil is pretty gnarly. The recoil isn't so bad that shooting said rifle completely sucks to be behind but it's just enough that extended shooting sessions are unpleasant. By adding additional weight to the stock you can absorb some of the recoil without having to make changes to the barrel or receiver (such as adding a muzzle break to the barrel). Yes a good pad will also help but you can add that to the new stock for additional performance and comfort.

Of course, it's possible to add too much weight to a rifle for it's application. Said light weight rifle may not be so pleasant to shoot often like a target rifle but the gun is easier to carry when walking to a preferred hunting location. The felt recoil may be more than desirable but you only have to deal with it on the few shot(s) you take when bagging your game. Its a trade off. Since I seem to be more sensitive to a rifle's recoil, I think the best option for me when I go to build the long range rifle will be to have a heavier rifle to suck up that excess recoil. I'm thinking around 10 to 15 lbs. If I need to reduce the felt recoil any further then I'll see about adding a muzzle break.

All that said, I think, however, I may end up building a different Phase 2 rifle. Originally, I had intended to build a general purpose rifle that would be 90% target rifle and 10% deer hunting rifle. After an experience at the range I'm beginning to lean more toward something in .223 Remington and for-going the hunting asspect. A friend of mine purchased a Savage 10/110 Trophy Hunter XP for use as a target rifle. I had a chance to try it out while at the range. The rifle was a good shooter even using cheap ammo (PMC) at 200 yards. It had a great trigger (the Accu-Trigger) and a nice stock. The recoil was pretty negligible. Based on this experience I'm now leaning toward building a rifle in .223 Remington as a 100% target rifle. Originally, I had intended to build something in .308 Winchester for it's wide range of abilities, availability and to teach myself recoil management for larger cartridges. I will still build a rifle for these reasons but it will end up being an additional Phase 2 rifle. The low recoil of .223 Remington really has me sold.

So, to introduce the new Phase 2 rifle build; Phase 2b.

The new Phase 2 rifle will be purely for use as a mid range (100 to 400 yards) target rifle with low recoil. It COULD be used for hunting small game like ground hogs/other varmints but that would be rare. This may end up being the centerfire rifle that I'll spend the most time with at the range (other than my .22). While it will be chambered in some .223 based cartridge, I haven't decided on whether I want .223 Remington or .223 Wylde or just have a 5.56 NATO spec chamber. I also need to figure out what action I want to use; bolt action or semi-auto. I will choose the chambering based on the action I go with.

If I go with bolt action, I think a Savage will be on the menu and chambered in just .223 Remington. This would be like that 10/110 I shot but I could also look at something like the Remington 700. If I choose a semi-automatic rifle I have to choose based on what's not on Maryland's hate/ban list. Thankfully, heavy barrel (or H-BAR) AR's are still legal and can be built as of this writing.

If I go down the semi-auto path, the rifle will likely be an AR platform rifle and will be based on either 5.56 NATO or .223 Wylde chamber specs. If you're not familiar with .223 Wylde, .223 Wylde is more of a chamber specification than it is an actual cartridge. .223 Wylde chambers are designed to take advantage of .223 Remington's accuracy potential while maintaining compatibility with 5.56 NATO spec ammo. If you're not familiar, 5.56 NATO and .223 Rem are dimensionally similar (if not the same) cases but 5.56 NATO has a higher pressure rating and slightly different chamber specifications making 5.56 NATO un-usable (or unsafe to use) in rifles chambered in .223 Remington, however, rifles with 5.56 NATO spec chambers can safely fire .223 Remington spec cartridges. Basically, you would be able to use el cheap-o mil-spec/surplus ammo but still have a rifle capable of excellent accuracy when using match grade .223 Remington ammo. I would suggest checking out this PDF from JP Enterprises about their .223 Wylde reamer for details on .223 Wylde. Thankfully, modifying, replacing the barrel or even the upper receiver with a .223 Wylde chamber can be easy so I'm not totally worried about making sure that I have the correct chamber out of the box. Most AR-15 barrels are offered in the 5.56 NATO spec.

As for the options for building an AR, I'm looking at picking up a built upper receiver (possibly this one from Model 1 Sales) then piecing together the rest of the rifle. The complete upper I'm looking at is Model 1 Sale's Varmint upper half. It has a 24 inch heavy bull barrel with a twist rate of either 1-in-8 or 1-in-9 per the customer's specification. I'll probably choose the 1-in-8 so I can run heavier bullets. I can choose various options such as fore-ends/rails, sights, carrying handles and chromed BCGs just to name a few. It comes with the bolt carrier group but I have to supply the lower receiver and parts related to the lower. Some of their other kits have every thing you need, including the trigger pack but you need to provide a striped lower receiver. You can buy the stripped lower from your LGS since that's the serialized part then you use all the included parts to build a complete rifle. It's a really nice idea.

Figuring out what lower receiver should be pretty easy but finding one that's available in the state may be difficult. In any normal state I would be able to hit up any LGS and order one or have any one I want shipped into an LGS for transfer from an online retailer. But since this is Maryland I may end up running into some unknown hurdle requiring me to buy a specific lower other than which ever one I may want. The likelihood is that I will have to buy just a straight-up stripped lower receiver then build it up as an HBAR, which is fine.

Whatever gun I choose it will end up being more expensive than what I had originally intended for this Phase but given the modular nature of the AR-15, purchasing the parts over time will make this process easier on the wallet. I will also be able to configure multiple complete uppers for other uses such as a National Match config.

I think I'm pretty much set on building a AR-15 HBAR for the Phase 2b rifle. I can pretty much guarantee I will build an AR in the future regardless of whether it's part of this project or not, so why not make it part of this project.

Oh and I have access to a Savage Axis XP. I'm not all that interested in it anymore. It's not accurate enough and it's too light weight for my purposes. It probably makes for a better hunting rifle but its definitely not a target rifle.


*** BTW, not that this has come up but just in case anyone is wondering I am not plugging these products for profit or personal gain, or being solicited/paid by/getting kick backs from any of the companies I've listed. If I'm talking about the product, it's because I'm looking at it as part of this project. I will put disclaimers in the article if I do get anything from some company and I talk about it in an article.

Long Range Range Day - Ammo Testing

Today's shoot was actually pretty fruitful. I was able to acquire a 100 round box of CCI Mini Mag 40 grain CPRN to test earlier in the week and finally got a chance to try them out. I would have to say they seem to be just as consistent as the Eley Club Xtra I shot a few weeks back. Every group I shot today ended up in around 2.5 inches exactly. It's kind of freaky. 

Several of those groups have three rounds right next to or touching each other (one group has 2 rounds through the same hole) with 1 of the other 2 rounds being a flier and the last being closer to the main group. However, one of the groups seemed to be complete BS. Half the shots weren't even on the 6 inch target... IDK what happened there because the next group had the shots through the same hole. Go figure.

I had another box of this ammo I had bought a few years ago so I have a little over 100 more rounds to test with. I will see if the groups stay the same. If they do that means I can use these as backup ammo to the Eley Club Xtra. The Club Xtra seem to produce groups around 1.8 inches from my rifle but it's expensive at around $13 for 50 rounds. These CCI 0030 seem to be around $20 for 100 rounds and it appears to be easier to find. 

I also took the Air Hawk out for zeroing. It didn't go as well as I was hoping. The scope will need to be replaced as none of the adjustments had predictable outcomes. I found a spot that was close but the gun shot high left. Any adjustments would bring one round close to zero but the second shot would go right back to were I started from. The rings are also junk. I will need to get some rings specific for 11mm dovetail mounts and not these 11mm to 13 or 14mm multi-use rings the gun came with.

I really like the stock on the Air Hawk, BTW. It is SOO much better than the stock on the American Rimfire. I will DEFINITELY be replacing the stock on my American. I will add pics later.

Update: I chose one of the targets for my record book. A rough measure of the group shows the first 3 shots I took produced a group of approximately 5/8 inch. The next shot totally ruined the awesomeness, giving me a total size of approximately 2.5 inches from a distance of 100 yards. The fifth round land about half an inch from the small group between the small group and flier. I tell you, I wanted to stop SOOOO bad after shooting those first 3 rounds. If I had though, that would have been cheating and I can't accept that.

Ruger American Rimfire - My Review **I made a oops**

**In the below I note that I have the 18 inch barrel model, however, after actually measuring I ACTUALLY do have the 22 inch barrel model. I thought the one I got was the 18 inch model. The LGS was incorrect. I feel dumb. lol**

It's finally time to talk about the Ruger American Rimfire. Basically, it's a good gun for a good price but there are some things you need to watch out for. I got the standard model with the 18 inch barrel from an LGS. I mounted a 3-9x40 BSA Sweet .22 scope off of Amazon and used Weaver high rings from Wal-mart. For a budget gun, the Ruger American Rimfire is a good buy.

I like the gun for the most part. It shoots pretty accurately with the right ammo at 100 yards. I can usually get sub 4 inch groups with most mid range ammo and less than 2 inch groups with the higher quality ammo. The best I ever shot was less than .9 inch at 100 yards with Eley Club Xtra (I got lucky) but I usually get around 1.7 to 2.5 inch groups with the Eley. The trigger is possibly the best feature about the gun. It's crisp and adjustable down to around 3.5 lbs. I really like that it uses the same rotary magazine from the Ruger 10/22. If you had one of the BX-25 mags, you could use those as well. Removing the magazine is easy. Simply push on the tab in front of the trigger guard and the empty mag should fall right out. The action seems smooth and the tang safety is easily manipulated. Removing the bolt is also very easy. Open the action then press and hold the button on the left rear of the receiver, then just pull the bolt out of the receiver. The receiver has a dovetail type rimfire scope mount directly milled in but it also has holes drilled and tapped for a scope base. I ended up using the Weaver #12 mounts from Shopruger.com. The gun comes with 2 comb adapters for the stock. By unscrewing the rear sling mount you can remove the plastic insert. If you plan on using a scope you can use the high comb. If you want to shoot with the open sights you can use the standard comb. Speaking of the sights, we NEED to talk about them.

My biggest issue with this gun is likely particular to my gun but you should be wary of the one you are buying. My sights are messed up! The front sight's mounting hole was bored off axis to the right in addition to having been rotated clock-wise to the barrel axis. The screw hole also had severe burring that needed to be filed off but wasn't while at the factory. These burs kept the front sight from resting on the barrel and allowed the front sight to rotate with pressure. The dovetail cut for the rear sight was also cut clock-wise to the bore axis and the horizontal perpendicular cut wasn't cut correctly either. Basically, the factory screwed up in just about every way you could, on an open sight install. Thankfully, the scope mounts appear to have been cut correctly so using the scope hasn't been an issue. I only use the scope so I wasn't worried about sending it back but you NEED to be aware of this issue.

Other things to talk are the length of pull is too short for me and they don't make a comb to increase it (the gun has a 13.75 inch length of pull) so a custom replacement stock will be a thing. Swapping out the stock though isn't necessarily all that easy. The gun uses these 2 V-shaped bedding blocks that mate up with cut outs in the bottom of the receiver. The stock will need to have slots cut out for those blocks. Thankfully, Boys stocks already has an option for this rifle with those cut outs so it shouldn't be a big issue. The original stock isn't bad but the front is a little flimsy and will flex but for the most part, it's free floated. Another thing I don't like is that the barrel isn't replaceable. Maybe in the future it could be replaced but I have no idea. A bull barrel option would be totally awesome. However, you should note something important. When I use Remington Golden Bullet, sometimes I get gas leaking around the bolt and back into my face. When I extract the cartridge case, you can see where the burning powder left a sooty spot on the outer case wall as it vented. This is likely due to the case not expanding properly creating a sufficient seal with the chamber. I don't have this issue with any other ammo. It could be specific to the batch that I bought but I haven't found any other runs of RGB yet to see if the issue continues.

For the most part, the Ruger American Rimfire is a good gun for a good price. The other versions have threaded muzzles for devices, different barrel lengths, different stock options and can come in .22 Magnum and .17 HMR. My biggest suggestion for the gun is either they need to make a version with a bull barrel or make it so we can replace the barrel. I would totally buy another RAR if I could get a 22 inch bull barrel and maybe in .17 HMR. Otherwise I would likely purchase a Savage MKII or highly customized 10/22. If you want to know how the gun does over time, check back periodically as I work my way through my long range project. The RAR is the gun I'm starting with and will be used for other activities as well. I intend to shoot this gun for some time.

Pros -

• The adjustable TRIGGER! I really like it

• Uses 10/22 mags which are available just about everywhere

• Comes with replaceable combs

• Comes in .22 Long Rifle, .22 Magnum and .17 HMR

• Street price is good at sub-$350

• Reasonably accurate

Cons -

• Watch out for QC issues like incorrectly installed sights

•  Barrel not replaceable

•  No bull barrel option (maybe they will have one in the future)