Bushmaster Question

[Shag]

I gave my son a Bushmaster A3 w/20" heavy chrome lined barrel/chamber for his 21st birthday. We had some fun with it, shooting with the aperture sights but now wanted to try to "see what it could do". Now we've got a Leupold 3X9X40mm mounted on it with ARMS #5 base and ARMS #22 throw lever rings--pretty nice. He's at college so I took it this weekend and ran over to the range and tried shooting it off a rest. I'm not a trained target shooter (I'm more of a hunter) and don't have great eye sight as far as that goes. Now, I'm talking 50 yards here, haven't tried 100 yard shooting yet. I'm finding I can reliably get a couple shots with the holes about touching and one within 1/2" of the others. For 5 shot groups the best I got was something between 5/8" & 6/8" at 50 yards. I could span the group centers with a dime. Shouldn't a good shooter be able to shoot tighter groups than that? I'm assuming this rifle should be able to shoot "minute of angle" groups at 100 yards, which is my goal......shouldn't it? Is there somewhat of a learning curve involved with figuring out the sight picture and breathing part of shooting tight groups? I'm shooting 55 grain FMJ Winchester ammo that goes pretty sheap--about $3.90 per 20. How much of a real difference would better ammo make in trying to shoot a minute group? Is Black Hills worth a try or is it really more me getting thru a learning curve of how to breathe and squeeze? Thanks for any help (rookie).

 

[Chuck N. Lead]

Hey Shag, I wen't through the same routine recently with my ruger chambered in .223. I was shooting the cheap winchester 55gr.fmj and the rem. Umc brand. My groups averaged 1.25" to 3" at 100yds. Not impressive. I thought the problem was with my rifle. My buddy told me to buy some premium ammo. Black hills brand 52gr. match: three, three shot group average .30"!!! largest group was .34"

I shot my buddies bushmaster and it liked the heavier Black Hills 60gr. match ammo.

Good luck!

 

[Shag]

Chuck N. Lead, thanks for the tip. I'll keep practicing and get some of the Black Hills ammo ordered up as recommended. (.30"-.34".....awesome!)

 

[Chuck N. Lead]

Originally posted by Shag@Mar 13 2004, 07:44 PM
Chuck N. Lead, thanks for the tip. I'll keep practicing and get some of the Black Hills ammo ordered up as recommended. (.30"-.34".....awesome!)

Keep me posted Shag. I still can't belive it but I've shot the same groups on different days so it could'nt be a fluke. To think that I bought loading dies for my .223. I should just send 'em back! Not!

 

[Drake]

Shaq,
The Blackhills will do MUCH better than the FMJ Winchester. Find out what the twist rate is for your barrel on the Bushmaster. If it is a 1x8" twist, try the BlackHills with the 69 or 77 gr Sierra MatchKings. The 1x8 twist will not stabilize the 52 or 55 grain bullets well. If it is a 1x9", try the Blackhills in a 52 or 69 grain Sierra and this barrel will better stabilize the 50-60 grain bullets. That rifle should easily shoot MOA at 100 yds with good ammo. If you do any reloading and the barrel is a 1x8 twist, try 23.5 grains of Varget and a Sierra 77 with a CCI BR-4 primer. This will likely shoot no bigger than 1" at 100yds.

 

[Shag]

Thanks guys. I'm sure this will get us on the right track. Black Hills staff guy recommended 68 or 69 grain BTHP match ammos and also to try the 60 grain V-Max. It's a 1 in 9" twist rate barrel. Thanks again.

 

[Tree Doc]

My Bushy V-Match has a 20" fluted heavy barrel with 1:9 twist and it loves the Black Hills 52gr match reloads (blue box) and it shoots them well inside an inch @ 100 yards.