AR Match Report

A

AVanGorder

Guest
Today was the first IBS Match to include ARs. Well, today was really a trial run as the inclusion of ARs doesn't start until March 1st. Five people were asked to shoot in the match. One didn't make it but four of us were a part of the test. One of the guns failed after the start so the shooter choose to take a DNF instead of shoot it single shot all day.

At the start of the match, some were not quite sure what to think about the ARs, but as the match progressed, come questions were being asked. By the end of the day I was quite surprised as the level of support. After the match was over, I spoke with the match director about his thoughts and he pretty much summed it up by saying that the ARs were quite seamless. Not exactly his words but the meaning was the same.


Here is a brief rundown of the hardware;
Caliber
1 308
3 223
Barrel Length
3 24"
1 20"
Scope
2 Weaver
1 Bushnell
1 Luepold
Upper
All DPMS
Lower
1 DPMS
1 Rock River
1 Sharps
1 Stag
Average rounds fired per shooter was 57 (including warm up).

Breakdown of shooters in each class for the whole match
12 VFS
4 AR
4 Factory
1 Varmint Hunter

My thanks go out to the Fairfax Rod & Gun Club (Wayne & Hal) for agreeing to work with us on this.

Overall, this was a very positive experience and I hope many clubs will give this a shot.

Adrian
 
ConRich said:
How did the AR's score compared to the single shot BR rifles.

Dick
Click to expand...

Not even close. All the ARs were pretty much stock. No custom barrels or anything like that. The wind was tough and it really tossed my 223 around.

Adrian
 
My 22mag AR15 has a 3" glide plate screwed to the free float tube,,,,,, hmmmm:D It goes bang and ejects everytime so it meets the semi-auto fire rule ;)

I have actually shot it in a BR Silhouette match. It shot clean except for one weak cartridge hitting low on the 188 meter rams :(
 
How did the AR's score compared to the single shot BR rifles. :eek:

Adrian,

That was a Hunter gun, not Varmint Hunter.

DA
 
AR match report

So how was the feed back from the Ar shooters.
Did they have any imput on the match'
I E how to improve it or maybe possable caliber choice etc.
Did the scopes hold up.?
 
Thanks Adrian, Congrats to Francey, Dick and Herbie. As Brady Knight would say, Ya'll better be glad I won't shooting! I hated to miss the match but had to play nurse at home. Steve
 
Well, here's a picture of the AR participants.

argroup.jpg

Tommy Trumbo, Holder Trumbo, Hal Drake, Adrian VanGorder

Yes, we had our challenges and I am sure there are more experienced AR folks out there who "could have" scored better or who have more worked out rifles, and I really hope to see them come on out. I enjoyed it, my son had a blast and we got to shoot with the same folks we usually get to enjoy. No scary moments, just lots of good natured ribbing and humor, kinda like always.

I'll say my son and I both did score higher with our bolt guns, but he is not letting me forget that he outshot me with the AR.

Adrian, did we decide to rename the class P-guns as suggested by our friend Mr. Apple?
 
How did the AR's score compared to the single shot BR rifles.

Dick

Not even close - Adrian (he meant to the VFS guns)

but they were pretty close to the hunter gun

Dick has the full posting of scores etc on the IBS website
 
AR Stuff

Gerry said:
So how was the feed back from the Ar shooters.
Did they have any imput on the match'
I E how to improve it or maybe possable caliber choice etc.
Did the scopes hold up.?
Click to expand...

Holder made a screen wall to prevent brass from leaving the bench. It worked extremely well. I have been using a towel draped over my scope to stop the ejected brass. It works well, the brass falls straight below the action of the AR without any issues.

It was extremely windy so the 223s were tossed all over the place. I think something larger would be great and I'm looking forward to folks testing different rounds. One shooter has a 6.5 Grendel he is hoping to have ready by next weekend.

All the scopes on the line were of quality stuff. One guy, I won't mention his name but his initials are HD, rolled up there with a 45X Luep Competition on his AR.
 
AVanGorder said:
One shooter has a 6.5 Grendel he is hoping to have ready by next weekend.
Click to expand...
Someone needs to call Ezell about a 30 Major AR.

I'm very happy with my bolt gun in 30 Major and it looks like the USAMU likes Mike's idea well enough to steal it.

They're shooting the 125 gr NBTs. Say "can't do it with commercially-available powder". Think they're breathing lead fumes there. Mike has long since figured it out.

Greg J.
 
SGJennings said:
Someone needs to call Ezell about a 30 Major AR...
Click to expand...

Mike,

What is the overall length of your 30 Major? Do you shoot it in an AR10 or AR15 lower? How does it feed? What about magazines?

Adrian
 
OAL depends on the bullet used, but it can be loaded to reach the lands and still fit in an AR15 magazine. Standard AR15 mags can be used and with a little work on them, they cycle reliably.
I may start out the year shooting my .223 AR just to see what level of interest and competition is like at the ranges I attend. If the interest is there and people begin to experiment, I'll bring a 30 Major AR to an AR shoot.
My main interest is VFS, but want to support the AR class when I can. The 30Major will be hard to beat in AR for score. It's proven to shoot in bolt guns and I've seen some really nice groups from it in A15 guns too. I shot one of mine over the weekend some and will be ready to bring it out soon enough. It could make things tough on 22 cal ARs, particularly at score matches.--Mike Ezell
 
30 Major in AR

Mike,

What bolt do you use? Do you change the buffer, spring or anything else? What length barrel you using on the 30M/AR, what bullets?

Adrian
 
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