Unfortunately, I Took Pictures of it First

I feel conflicted. On the one hand, today I got to shoot an AR-15 in my own yard, far from Miami. That’s excellent. On the other, I shot like a cop wearing tactical pants with 35 zippers.

I took the AR-15 out and shot Fiocchi Extrema ammunition from it. This ammunition has Hornady V-Max bullets. Based on my experience with Fiocchi ammo in my .204 Ruger, I have no doubt that Fiocchi makes good stuff. Still, this is what happened:

The first bullseye I shot is at the bottom left on the first target. I shot 9 rounds into it. The others got 5 rounds each. It’s pretty good, even though I forgot to extend my buttstock. I was hanging off the rear of the rifle for 9 rounds.

I always start at 7 o’clock and go clockwise. The second bullseye is not as good as the first, but it’s okay. Five rounds and 4 holes, not far apart.

The next bullseye, at top left, is not great. I got a fairly big semicircle of 4 shots, with a shifted area of impact. One shot was so bad, it’s outside the black. Three of the shots are elongated. No idea why. I don’t think bullets should tumble and keyhole at 100 yards.

The next bullseye, at 4 o’clock, is okay, but why are there only 4 holes? Sometimes I shoot two rounds through one hole out of pure luck. I certainly hope that happened here, because thinking of the alternative gives me stomach cramps.

Next, at 7 o’clock on the bottom-left bullseye on the second target, I did okay, with a flyer. After that, things went completely nuts. The bullets went in random directions, and I got elongated bullet holes. No idea what that’s all about. I’m hoping I can blame the bullets. If they’re tumbling at 100 yards, I want my money back.

I’m starting to think this may not be the most accurate gun on earth. I am not a great rifleman, but I’m better than this. If I were the problem, you would expect my shooting to improve during a session, but my last three bullseyes are scary.

It sort of looks like things went utterly sideways, with elongated bullet holes, and then things started to get normal again on the last bullseye. Is that even possible?

I’m using a LaRue trigger I installed. I liked it at first because it was a great improvement over my stock trigger. Now I like it less. It seems like a quality trigger, but the pull is just too heavy. It’s not made for precise shooting. At least I don’t think so. I think it’s aimed at people who put on plate carriers and walk around shooting at steel with their thumbs on top of their barrels. I could use something lighter.

I changed my rear bag. My first rear bag was a leather rabbit-ear bag. When I bought it, I assumed it was a useful item, because legitimate companies sold leather rabbit-ear bags. I didn’t think they would sell something no intelligent person would use. I eventually found out real shooters used soft rear bags. I bought an Armageddon Gear X-wing fabric bag, and it was not bad. It seemed too small, though. I found I was always working to lift the butt of the gun high enough. I got a larger one, and it’s much, much better. Not good enough to make me shoot well today, however.

Now I have a puzzle to solve. What’s causing the keyholing?

It may be that the gun just doesn’t like 40-grain ammo. I should shoot a little 55-grain before I give up on it. It has a 1:9 twist, and that is supposed to be a little fast for light rounds.

Actually, I read that barrel twist actually correlates with bullet length, not weight. Life is never simple.

If the twist rate is the problem, why is the keyholing intermittent? It seems to appear and then go away. Is something collecting in the barrel, causing keyholing, and then blowing out so the gun can shoot accurately again?

I feel like I should quit changing the gun until I get some more shooting time in with something that actually works. I can’t eliminate the human factor unless I’m sure I’m shooting well. Unfortunately, it will be at least Wednesday before I can shoot the .204 or the .17 HMR with new glass. I could always stick the ATN night scope back on the .204. The problem is that I’m reluctant to keep shooting with fuzzy imaging when I can wait a couple of days and use a Vortex.

I can shoot the Ruger Precision Rifle. I have a sanity-hearing-level stockpile of ammo.

I’m starting to wonder how good my Sellier & Bellot 6.5 Creedmoor ammo is. A Youtube guy appeared to shoot it into under 1 MOA with an RPR, but people have been known to lie, and ammunition doesn’t always perform the same way in different examples of the same gun.

The RPR has a new bolt shroud. I am eager to try it with live ammo. Maybe I should take it out to the pasture tomorrow.

I was not totally happy with the trigger in my Thompson Center Venture, which is my .204 Ruger gun. It seemed heavy for an adjustable trigger. I contacted Smith & Wesson (Thompson Center is a fiction) and asked about buying parts so I could upgrade to the Venture II’s trigger, which is better. No dice. They refuse to sell the parts. I guess I’m all done buying Thompson Center rifles.

I found an aftermarket spring. A company called Mcarbo sells it. Today I installed it. I was hoping for a pull weight of maybe 2.5 pounds. I don’t have a gauge, but when I was done, the trigger felt lighter than that. Mcarbo has an installation video, and their own guns came in under 2 pounds.

I like a light trigger, but I don’t want my rifle to go off every time the wind blows. If my scope rings ever arrive, I’ll take the gun out and see what it feels like in use. The impression I get is that instead of shooting this gun, I’ll be thinking the bullet into the target. I’ll think about pulling the trigger, and the bullet will take off. The pull may be lighter than desired, but the gun may turn out to be a dream to shoot.

I guess I should clean the AR’s barrel and try 40-grain and 55-grain ammo. If heavier ammo doesn’t keyhole, maybe it means the gun has a peculiar hatred for light bullets. If both weights keyhole, something abnormal must be happening.

Of course I want a new barrel. I always want new gun parts. But maybe a new barrel won’t help.

I should have known this was going to be a rough session. When I set up my first target and got settled in to shoot, a calf wandered over and started chewing on the tape holding it up. I used to think I was crazy for thinking they were eating my targets. Now I’ve seen it. I had to jump up and run him off before he ate everything.

Maybe I can get some Ruger redemption tomorrow. I can break out the Sellier & Bellot, and if I can’t make it work, I have two flavors of Hornady match ammo standing by.