For anyone who is interested, I've been experimenting with many different factory loads for my S&W M&P 10 308. Hopefully my experience will give some M&P 10 owners a good starting place for selecting factory loaded ammo to experiment with.
Rifle is as from factory with the exception of:
Warne X-Skel Mount,
Leupold VX-R 2-7x33,
Magpul MOE fixed rifle stock,
H&K V2 grip.
I'll start with precision data shooting at 100yds without any noticeable wind or other factors that would skew group consistency.
All groups are 5 shot groups. Though groups should rightfully not be picked or altered, I think it worthwhile to note if a group has one anomaly or flyer. So even though a 1.5" group is a 1.5" group, if 4 of the 5 shots are touching then that would be worth noting in my mind. So I will note a True Group (TG) and a Main Group (MG). True Group (TG) being the measurement of all 5 shots, and Main Group (MG) being the 4 closest shots if they are in a noticeably tighter pattern than all 5.
Federal XM80CL 149gr
Group 1 (TG)2.6" (MG)2"
Group 2 (TG)2.8" (MG)2.8":
Fiocchi PSP 150gr
Group 1 (TG)1.75" (MG)1.75"
Group 2 (TG)1.5" (MG)1.2"
Fiocchi FMJ 150gr
Group 1 (TG)1.9" (MG)1.2"
Group 2 (TG)2.5" (MG)1.3"
Hornady Match A-MAX 168gr
Group 1 (TG)0.9" (MG)0.9"
Group 2 (TG)0.85" (MG)0.85"
Hornady Black A-MAX 168gr
Group 1 (TG)1.1" (MG)0.75"
Group 2 (TG)1" (MG)1"
Hornady Match BTHP 168gr
Group 1 (TG)1.75" (MG)0.5"
Group 2 (TG)1.75" (MG)0.5"
Black Hills Match BTHP 168gr
Group 1 (TG)1.5" (MG)1"
Group 2 (TG)1.6" (MG)1.6"
Black Hills Match HP_Moly 175gr
Group 1 (TG)1.25" (MG)0.8"
Group 2 (TG)1.25" (MG)0.25"
Hornady Match BTHP 178gr
Group 1 (TG)1.25" (MG)0.8"
Group 2 (TG)1.1" (MG)0.9"
Hornady Precision Hunter ELD-X 178gr
Group 1 (TG)2" (MG)1.25"
Group 2 (TG)1.5" (MG)0.5"
Many of these groups would have been much tighter if I was only firing 3 shot groups as you can see. This is why I think it is important to shoot 4 or 5 shot groups. It gives the shooter a better idea of their capabilities as well as the rifle and ammo's capabilities. For a frame of reference I normally shoot the Hornady Match A-MAX 168gr for groups at the range in this rifle, and get 0.5"-1.25" 4&5 shot groups.
Limitations:
First and foremost, I am most likely the biggest limitation of this experiment. I am always learning and it costs time and money to shoot often; both of which I have limited amounts of.
Because the rifle is basically stock, it does not free-float the barrel. I have plans to purchase a free floating hand-guard down the road, but this would be an accuracy limiting factor as the rifle is.
Due to the nature of magnification of the optic, as well as the thickness of the cross-hairs, it was a little difficult to be precise. The cross-hairs are about 1 minute thick at the 7x magnification.
My plan is to add to this post as I experiment further and add to the rifle.
Cheers
Rifle is as from factory with the exception of:
Warne X-Skel Mount,
Leupold VX-R 2-7x33,
Magpul MOE fixed rifle stock,
H&K V2 grip.
I'll start with precision data shooting at 100yds without any noticeable wind or other factors that would skew group consistency.
All groups are 5 shot groups. Though groups should rightfully not be picked or altered, I think it worthwhile to note if a group has one anomaly or flyer. So even though a 1.5" group is a 1.5" group, if 4 of the 5 shots are touching then that would be worth noting in my mind. So I will note a True Group (TG) and a Main Group (MG). True Group (TG) being the measurement of all 5 shots, and Main Group (MG) being the 4 closest shots if they are in a noticeably tighter pattern than all 5.
Federal XM80CL 149gr
Group 1 (TG)2.6" (MG)2"
Group 2 (TG)2.8" (MG)2.8":
Fiocchi PSP 150gr
Group 1 (TG)1.75" (MG)1.75"
Group 2 (TG)1.5" (MG)1.2"
Fiocchi FMJ 150gr
Group 1 (TG)1.9" (MG)1.2"
Group 2 (TG)2.5" (MG)1.3"
Hornady Match A-MAX 168gr
Group 1 (TG)0.9" (MG)0.9"
Group 2 (TG)0.85" (MG)0.85"
Hornady Black A-MAX 168gr
Group 1 (TG)1.1" (MG)0.75"
Group 2 (TG)1" (MG)1"
Hornady Match BTHP 168gr
Group 1 (TG)1.75" (MG)0.5"
Group 2 (TG)1.75" (MG)0.5"
Black Hills Match BTHP 168gr
Group 1 (TG)1.5" (MG)1"
Group 2 (TG)1.6" (MG)1.6"
Black Hills Match HP_Moly 175gr
Group 1 (TG)1.25" (MG)0.8"
Group 2 (TG)1.25" (MG)0.25"
Hornady Match BTHP 178gr
Group 1 (TG)1.25" (MG)0.8"
Group 2 (TG)1.1" (MG)0.9"
Hornady Precision Hunter ELD-X 178gr
Group 1 (TG)2" (MG)1.25"
Group 2 (TG)1.5" (MG)0.5"
Many of these groups would have been much tighter if I was only firing 3 shot groups as you can see. This is why I think it is important to shoot 4 or 5 shot groups. It gives the shooter a better idea of their capabilities as well as the rifle and ammo's capabilities. For a frame of reference I normally shoot the Hornady Match A-MAX 168gr for groups at the range in this rifle, and get 0.5"-1.25" 4&5 shot groups.
Limitations:
First and foremost, I am most likely the biggest limitation of this experiment. I am always learning and it costs time and money to shoot often; both of which I have limited amounts of.
Because the rifle is basically stock, it does not free-float the barrel. I have plans to purchase a free floating hand-guard down the road, but this would be an accuracy limiting factor as the rifle is.
Due to the nature of magnification of the optic, as well as the thickness of the cross-hairs, it was a little difficult to be precise. The cross-hairs are about 1 minute thick at the 7x magnification.
My plan is to add to this post as I experiment further and add to the rifle.
Cheers
