Cascade Crew

[chevymad]

My new toy! I figure next is a turbo camaro right?



Still need to get it sighted in. I have popped off about 10 rounds. Kick in the butt!

[rjmcgee]

I like it!

[aaron_sK]

The zombies won't stand a chance.

[QwkTrip]

Looks like maybe it's a Bushmaster optics ready carbine? Is it the Carbon 15 with the composite (plastic) lower, or a XM-15 with the aluminum lower?

AR-15 are like potato chips, you can't have just one. And you're going to find yourself wanting to change it up pretty soon.
Is this your first AR-15? Do you know how to lube it and care for it?
These need to be much wetter (oil) then most guns. And a bore guide is a must when cleaning or you'll probably damage the throat of the barrel.

If you're interested, I have a slightly used 20" HBAR (heavy barrel) chrome lined from a National Match rifle. It would be a better match to your scope and improve accuracy quite a bit over your current barrel profile. This is an older Bushmaster barrel from the days when they made better stuff. The only reason I changed it is because it is not threaded and I'd rather have a threaded muzzle.

[chevymad]

You're close. This is a Windham WW15 SRS. Scope is a Nikon for AR rifles.

[rjmcgee]

you need to throw it down in the mud and drive over it a couple times. Then blow it out with an air hose and spray some rem oil in there, then it will be ready.

Jon, how many tactical rails on yours? lol The urban sniper edition?

[QwkTrip]

Huh. Never heard of them. I see they are the former Bushmaster employees banned together again. Lots of good feedback on the internet.

I didn't realize that was a BDC reticle. My barrel won't be of any benefit for you.

[QwkTrip]

[chevymad]

This is only my 3d gun and first higher powered rifle of my own. Dad is an avid gun collector/shooter however. I looked at the guns available then went home and did a net search on reviews. That's how I settled on the Windham. It was one of the least expensive yet had great reviews, is totally american made and comes with a fully transferable lifetime warranty. Though the brand is new, the owner, factory and workers are all experienced through Bushmaster. I figure they're probably selling these rifle's for less money to get their name out there.

Figure it will be a fun plinker, able to pop a coyote or 2, and will be good for home defense from both human and animal predators around here. Just need to get it sighted in and see how accurate it is.. right now I had trouble hitting a 3ft box from 25 yds LOL Need to get a better target because the mark is so small I couldnt tell I even hit it.

[QwkTrip]

I think you made a good choice! That transferrable warranty will be worth gold if you sell it some day.

Those little holes are hard to see. You can buy self-marking targets with black or white background. It will turn a bright color where you hit and that will help some. Black/orange works well. Black/green does not because colors blend at distance. Personally, I use one of my other rifles with a long range scope on it for spotting but even that gets difficult to see .22 caliber holes at 300 yards. Once sighted in, shotgun clays make good targets that are fun to shoot and biodegradable. I have a bunch of clay stands I push in the ground at various distances. Stop shooting boxes, man. You need some paper with calibrated 1 inch grid lines and sight alignment aid so you know you're level. http://www.mytargets.com/target103%20grid%20black%20corners.pdf

Sight in from bench rest. Put the barrel hand guard on a bag of sand or rice. Hold the hand guard so you don't get flyers and have more consistent groups.

I don't know which reticle you have in your P-223 scope (600 or 800 yard), but eventually you're going to zero the 200 yard hash at 200 yards. Put the first target at 50 yards. Take out the bolt and look down the bore of the gun and line it up with the center of the target. Without moving the gun, look through the scope and use the turrets to bring the zero into center of paper. That will get you on paper. Fire a round. Place the aim point on your hole and measure how many inches you need to move to hit center on the target, vertical and horizontal. Click the turrets to move the aim point in that direction, 4 times for every inch. Fire again. You should be very close to center. We don't care yet if we're dead nuts on.

Move out to 100 yards. Hold zero and fire a round. Do the same thing as before to make adjustment, except now it is 2 clicks of turret for every inch. Once you fly one in near bulls eye, take some time to shoot a careful 5 shot group to get a feel for the consistency of the rifle. (A) You should be able to hold 1.5 inches across the groups measured from hole centers. Keep practicing and getting familiar with the gun until you can do this consistently. (B) After you can hold 1.5 inch groups, then make final adjustments of turrets, based on the middle of the groups, to bring the groups into the center of the paper.

After it feels good at 100 yards then move out to 200 yards. Now if you have the 800 yard reticle then you're going to zero at 200 yards. If you have the 600 yard reticle then you're going to zero on the first ring. Do the same process as you did at 100 yards, except each click of turret is 1 inch. Your rifle is sighted in. If you can hold a 3 inch group at 200 yards then you're doing really good. Put some 3 inch clays at 200 yards and see if you can hit them.

One thing you're going to figure out real quick is the holdovers on your BDC reticle aren't real precise. The holdover likely isn't correct for your ammo and atmospheric conditions, and are completely useless if aiming uphill or downhill, and have no guidelines for windage. It's basically meant to hit a man size target out to 300 yards. I would seriously consider a different scope if you want to hit small critters consistently. For home defense you'll probably find you don't want any magnification and would rather have iron sights. You can install a rear sight on the rail but you'll probably want to remove the front gas block and install a mil-spec front sight. As long as the existing gas block is pinned on the barrel you should be able to swap front sight with gas block easily. You can buy a flip up front sight that will mount to your gas block but it's far more likely to break since it's held together on a hinge. Don't use a plastic flip-up on the gas block or it will melt.

[chevymad]

Wasn't really trying to sight it in yet. Just wanted to shoot the dang thing at something to see if it worked! Ran 10 shots through it and come back in til I get proper targets. This is a 600 yard scope. Nikon says to center at 200 then each hash mark should be an additional 200.

Home defense.. who needs to sights? they better start running when the shots start coming.. 30 rounds oughta hit something somewhere LOL

Any coyotes I shoot at will probably be within 200 yds. They're pretty brazen. The other day watched one chase a deer out of the backyard. Dad has some long range rifle's and likes to shoot coyotes from way out. Has a bad ass long range pistol too.

We've also had bear, cougar and bobcat in the yard. When the bear attacked one of Deb's goats I borrowed Dad's browning 300win mag for awhile. Figured the 22 wouldnt do anything more then piss him off, same with the 20 gauge.

[QwkTrip]

You've got some serious predators around your place! I see an excuse for another rifle!

Looking at the manual, I interpreted zero at 100 yards with the BDC 600?
http://www.nikonusa.com/pdf/sportoptics/P-223Riflescope.pdf

[chevymad]

When I saw the bobcat I had my feet dangling over the side of the hot tub.. cat thought they were interesting. When I flipped around he was about 30ft away and headed my direction. We looked at each other a bit and he walked off. I've never seen any of the cougar, but they're spotted in the area all the time. Neighbor managed to chase the bear off, best thing about that is the mother in law took all her goats back!

[chevymad]

It's the BDC carbine reticle.

[QwkTrip]

Let us know how that scope works for you.

I think I would struggle with it because there is no way to verify range and the resolution is way too large for the effective range of the rifle. The only useful mark is the 200 yard zero.

Vortex is really progressive about reticle designs and giving consumers options. This one might bridge the gap for what you want. No magnification for home defense, and up to 4x power for coyotes. And it has a reticle that allows you to aim using any ammo in any conditions.
http://www.vortexoptics.com/product/vortex-viper-pst-1-4x24-riflescope-with-tmcq-moa-reticle

I have no problem spending on optics 1x to 2x the cost of the rifle. Optics are more important than the rifle you choose. It's a lifetime purchase and you keep the optics when you sell the gun. At the end of the day, ammo will cost you more than anything so just buy the gun and optics you want.

[rjmcgee]

[QwkTrip]

I seriously doubt yours is cheaply built and that it is actually a pretty decent piece. You just picked it up years ago when it didn't cost a lot in the first place.

I don't know what you consider "high dollar" but let's clear up one of your poor assumptions. Every last one I own is used. That fancy dancy bull barrel you seem to be sooooo concerned about? I got it so cheap last year that I can double my money any time I want. I've never spent more than $900 on one and that was a National Match with a Jewell trigger, extra 20" HBAR, and Turner Saddlery sling. Add up those parts for yourself!

Obviously I know how to shop for these things. Nevermind I'm friends with an FFL and I can build one for half of market value. I'd share his contact info with you but unfortunately law requires you to sign paperwork at his shop so it's just not practical.

[rjmcgee]

That's ok, an Indiana gun dealer isn't high on my priority list right now. And for the record I love bull barrels, had a friend that insisted his made him a long range threat and took it coyote hunting one day. He was exhausted from packing it and couldn't hit shizzle without a good rest. I've just seen alot of these products come up short in the outdooors and basic weapons perform well, but the guys that invest thier $$'s in the high end products get pretty touchy about it, like you. That rifle Brandon bought looks great, I'm just not personally a fan of building a super accurate AR, but my needs out of one are different than the next guy

[QwkTrip]

[rjmcgee]

Nothing to do with money Jon, wasn't even trying to get in a pissing match. I just started giving you shizzle when Brandon bought a nice rifle, has barely even shot it and you started telling him what he should do, try to sell him some crappy barrel that nets him nothing. Thats all, was just stating my experiance that a whole lot of that stuff is not so great in the real world. I'd love to see your collection some day, or even go shooting so you and your fancy pants guns can put me to shame.