Latest report about my AR10 18.5" Fulton ".308 Tomato Stake Barrel"

[VaniB]

I originally posted a question in the "Benchrest Forum" asking if Moly bullets made any difference in accuracy. Well, seperate of the issue about moly coating, a discussion ensued about what rifle and barrel I was using, and a gentleman in that threade declared that the $400 I paid for my light-weight 2.5 lb chrome lined Fulton barrel bought me nothing more then a "tomato take".

After making numerous adjustments, I went back to the range today to see if I could find improved accuracy over the former 1 - 1/4" groups that I had been previously getting.

Here's the rifle I am shooting. I built it to provide both long distance sniper style shots as well as close quarters combat duty. The scope also pulls off in seconds for iron sight shooting, and can be reattached with no zero loss;

Here's today's 100 yard improved groups. I fired the two groups in sucession. The group on the right will be the the chosen load for this rifle and delivered the first 4 of the 5 shots into 7/16". The last shot expanded the group to 3/4";

Considering that this is a chrome lined barrel being fed magazine length cartridges, and that a collapsible stock isn't exactly conducive to bench resting, I'll take a full orchard of these "tomatos" any day!

In case anyone is considering the purchase of a Fulton barrel, I think you should be very satisfied.

 

[John Kielly]

What a shame. A couple of clicks down & the same across & you would have colleted the guy with the Billy Ray Cyrus haircut.

 

[alinwa]

IMO those two groups are equivalent, "equally accurate."

al

 

[Larry Elliott]

You've got to fire more than a group or two to truly determine which load is more accurate, unless one really stinks the place up. It's always possible (for others at least) to have a load shoot an out of character good group, but rarely to have a truly skunky group from a good load.

As Al says those two groups are practically identical. Flip a coin and that's it.

 

[flatlander]

Well, you've obviously invested in quality parts & components for your AR10 build. I've got three built on DPMS receivers with the DD Lite 12 rails & LMT Sopmod buttstocks - a 6XC, 6.5x47L, and 308 - and have been very pleased with accuracy & reliability.

Have fun with yours, but understand that chrome-lined bbls. aren't generally expected to provide accuracy such as your groups. It doesn't make much sense to go to a lot of expense & effort to make a match grade barrel with an extremely uniform bore dia., then put it through the process of chrome plating the bore, because it's difficult to apply the plating without having it come out with varying thickness through the length of the bore. Obviously, not every chrome-lined barrel is inaccurate, but chrome-lining introduces another variable into the mix - otherwise, most of the custom barrel makers would offer chrome-lined barrels.