First day for the AW .308

[goatliver]

I finally got the AW .308/ SB 5-25 out to the range today. I had made up a few handloads (varget & 175SMK) to try out. I went ahead and shot 30 rounds without breaking in the barrel (or whatever you want to call it )!! I was amazed in many aspects, all the way from how the gun recoils.... very easy to spot hits to how the two stage trigger feels. I shot 6 groups, first was to get the SB dialed in, the rest I shot 5 round groups. The groups ranged from the worst at .67 to .34 center to center, on average they were 1/2 MOA. I think once I get used to the two stage trigger I should see better performance. I will post pictures tomorrow. BTW I borescoped the barrel after the session to find only a few streaks of copper close to the muzzle.

 

[beenjammin]

Re: First day for the AW .308

congratson the AW. post some pics, we'd like to see

 

[bm11]

Re: First day for the AW .308

Enjoy! And x2 on the pics.

 

[YN*Dotte]

Re: First day for the AW .308

Sounds sweet, I have always wanted a AI just a little too expensive for me, congrats!

 

[Goldbeachman]

Re: First day for the AW .308

Congratulations! Looking forward to working up a load for it and seeing what you can make it do I bet.

I cleaned my AW for the first time the other day. Had over 1000 rounds.

Good luck!

 

[yourotherleft]

Re: First day for the AW .308

Congrats. Maybe someday I'll be lucky enough to own one. Post some pix.

 

[goatliver]

Re: First day for the AW .308

Finally figured out how to post pictures, here they are fellas..... sorry about the shit quality.

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[beenjammin]

Re: First day for the AW .308

dang you stepped it up in .10 grain increments. how you goona pick between 43.3, .4? they all look good.

 

[Chiller]

Re: First day for the AW .308

looks to be 1 hell of a setup.

 

[Papagallos]

Re: First day for the AW .308

Great groups.

 

[goatliver]

Re: First day for the AW .308

I didn't give it too much thought towards load development, I pretty much used what I had on my other .308 as a starting point. I suppose going past 200 yards and some chrono work will help on my decision. More trigger time is also what I need!

 

[goatliver]

Re: First day for the AW .308

Kimo
When did you see your accuracy deteriorate?

 

[Hawk45]

Re: First day for the AW .308

Drool....

 

[Goldbeachman]

Re: First day for the AW .308

The other day.

I could figure out the exact round count by reviewing my records kept for each separate lot of brass I reload but haven't done that yet. Its a 1000 or so though. Since I received the rifle last summer I would run a patch with hoppe's 9 occasionally followed by an oiled patch if I knew the gun would be sitting for awhile.

Last time I went out it had opened up to over an inch at 100 yards (shooting dot drill). Decided it was time for a cleaning and did a once through with Sweets followed up by Witches brew on a patched brush. Then hoppe's 9 and an oiled patch. If it (or me) starts throwing rounds out of group I'll be looking at scope mounts next. Figured its probably just super fouled though. We'll soon see.

Now it will be time to see how it does completely clean. I expect it to return to typical accuracy (.5 and less) after a magazine or two.

I love that AW and I bet you will too.

Good luck.

 

[3PER]

Re: First day for the AW .308

Very nice. I'm sure that you will enjoy that rifle!!

 

[yourotherleft]

Re: First day for the AW .308

That Dark earth color starts to grow on me....

 

[goatliver]

Re: First day for the AW .308

Thanks for the info Kimo. Please give us an update when you shoot next after your deep cleaning. Regards.

 

[aam]

Re: First day for the AW .308

Congrats on the AW. You will find the AW is very tolerant of different weight projies. 155 up to 190, so I found with my AW. One thing I found with my rifle is that it shoots 100 fps slower than the other 308 rifles.

Enjoy and have fun shooting it.

aam.

 

[Timo Turl]

Re: First day for the AW .308

did you loads those all to the same coal and if so what was that ? thx

 

[goatliver]

Re: First day for the AW .308

Hello TJ
Il give you the specs tonight, I measured from the ogive...... the rounds were well inside the magazine giving me .020 from the lands.

 

[LoneWolfUSMC]

Re: First day for the AW .308

You are in trouble now.

Since I began shooting my AE MkII I have just not enjoyed shooting anything less accurate.

 

[goatliver]

Re: First day for the AW .308

You know you are right, my other custom .308 shoots slightly better however the AW feels damn awesome....... and as I get more comfortable I am certain it will be my "go to" gun. Thanks for the positive comments guys.

 

[goatliver]

Re: First day for the AW .308

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: TJ.</div><div class="ubbcode-body">did you loads those all to the same coal and if so what was that ? thx </div></div>

TJ, checked my data, for the particular gun the OGIVE measurement I used was 2.273 giving me .020 off the lands. Yours may vary of course.

 

[Timo Turl]

Re: First day for the AW .308

Thanks. nice shooting

 

[FlashGordon]

Re: First day for the AW .308

Info on scope mount please!

 

[LoneWolfUSMC]

Re: First day for the AW .308

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: goatliver</div><div class="ubbcode-body">You know you are right, my other custom .308 shoots slightly better however the AW feels damn awesome....... and as I get more comfortable I am certain it will be my "go to" gun. Thanks for the positive comments guys. </div></div>

I don't shoot groups very often with the AE, but I was having a crappy day with another "problem child" rifle. So I dialed up 0.3mils and busted out five shots on a shoot-n-c at 100yards. You could have covered it with a dime. This was with plain old 168 FGMM. I actually think this rifle has been getting better with more rounds down the tube.

I have some 178's worked up for it. I am praying I can get the same level of short range accuracy with them. It will make KYL stages boring.

 

[Timo Turl]

Re: First day for the AW .308

Let us know how you get on with the 178s in your AE. They shoot well for me with 45gr Varget but I'm trying to figure out the magnitude of any difference between loading to mag length in the AE or way back at 2.80 oal. I'd be interested to know what you think works best for you. Thx

 

[goatliver]

Re: First day for the AW .308

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Flash Gordon</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Info on scope mount please! </div></div>

The scope mount is from Near Manufacturing, the fit and finish is outstanding. The particular mount has 20 MOA built in..... I think he has them all the way up to 45 MOA. Richard is very helpful and informative.

 

[CoCaDoRi]

Re: First day for the AW .308

Those groups are nice... very nice... If there wasn't vertical in the 43.4 I'd say that is the load to go with. Possibly driver induced?

I too have an AW... I'll say this. regardless of what I feed it it is plenty accurate. It isn't picky. Jumping to the lands a considerable distance really doesn't seem to matter either. .05, .10, .15, .20 they all shoot about the same. The rifle just shoots.
It took me a few years of looking and drooling and finally I gave in and bought one. I have had some of the best .308's made by all the top smiths. They were all one holers. But they were picky. The AW isn't and you'll still get .5 moa (give or take) or better.
You just can't beat them for confidence and reliability.

They are heavy, but having the confidence and the point and shoot reliability makes it worth it.

 

[goatliver]

Re: First day for the AW .308

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: goatliver</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: TJ.</div><div class="ubbcode-body">did you loads those all to the same coal and if so what was that ? thx </div></div>

TJ, checked my data, for the particular gun the OGIVE measurement I used was 2.273 giving me .020 off the lands. Yours may vary of course. </div></div>

COAL is 2.85..... still loads of room in the mag.

 

[LoneWolfUSMC]

Re: First day for the AW .308

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: TJ.</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Let us know how you get on with the 178s in your AE. They shoot well for me with 45gr Varget but I'm trying to figure out the magnitude of any difference between loading to mag length in the AE or way back at 2.80 oal. I'd be interested to know what you think works best for you. Thx </div></div>

The test cartridges are at 2.85". Once I get a good charge I may play with the length to see if it "fine tunes" it any, but I usually just run them at standard COL so I can shoot the same load in most of my rifles. Right now if I push them out much more they won't mag feed in the Remingtons.

Since the AE is my main rifle I am working up the load FOR it, but when I am done I will test it in each of the other .308's. That way I can load a bunch and shoot it in whatever rifle I grab for the day.

 

[FlashGordon]

Re: First day for the AW .308

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: goatliver</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Flash Gordon</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Info on scope mount please! </div></div>

The scope mount is from Near Manufacturing, the fit and finish is outstanding. The particular mount has 20 MOA built in..... I think he has them all the way up to 45 MOA. Richard is very helpful and informative. </div></div>

Thank you for the information.

 

[medic103]

Re: First day for the AW .308

Awesome set up.

 

[goatliver]

Re: First day for the AW .308

Went out today with the chrono to see what kind of numbers I would get with my current load. I had some issues initially with the chrono (user error), however I was able to capture the last group of shots. ES at 22 with an SD of 7. This coming weekend I'll do some more testing. Smallest groups measured at .20 and .27, the rest .34 and up, this gun keeps impressing me.

The goat

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[jswhitesell619]

Re: First day for the AW .308

Great looking rifle and defiantly seems like a shooter to me!