Palmetto freedom barrel

[Pilotscrappy]

Hey guys have a few questions about this upper from Palmetto. It's the "freedom" upper 5.56 16" 1/7 twist midlength gas.

I have about 800 rounds thru it and up till today have just had iron sights in it and shot steel / clays etc.

For shits and giggles I was curious to see the accuracy on it, so I threw my razor 4.5-27 on it (way overkill) and decided to shoot some groups.

Holy shit this thing is all over the place at 100 yards. I ran some of my reloads thru it, first was 55gr soft points and then some 68gr bthp match bullets (both hornady)

I would think the heavy bullets would shoot better? But group sizes were terrible on both loads, that being said the 55gr shot a little better.

My question is, is this pretty much expected accuracy for a cheap barrel like the psa?
My lower is a aero lower with a larue mbt 2 stage trigger.

I'm planning on building a new upper with a quality 18 barrel so I can use it for shooting groups off the bench at my local range. But until then I'm wondering if there is anything I can do to get any better accuracy with the Palmetto upper/barrel?

I'm also ordering a proper optic /mount for the new upper I'm. Going to build, I borrowed the razor from my bolt gun and didn't have a proper mount for thr AR so the eye relief sucked and was difficult to get behind.

Anyone else shooting with this barrel? Any ideas on the bullets it likes etc?
My load data was 25 gr of blc-2, federal ar primers, the hornady 55gr soft point and then hornady 68gr bthp. Mixed brass.

 

[hink001]

I like PSA as a company and my PA 10 gen 2 shoots a heck of a lot better than that w/ surplus... I just ordered one of their 14.7" pinned uppers but haven't had a chance to run anything through it... came today.

You're not the first to report 4" groups with the freedom uppers. Some have said it shoots 55gr better than the heavier stuff which of course is counter intuitive. I'll give the same advice, its a good backup plinking upper. Most guys say it is uber reliable but not very accurate.

 

[Pilotscrappy]

I like PSA as a company and my PA 10 gen 2 shoots a heck of a lot better than that w/ surplus... I just ordered one of their 14.7" pinned uppers but haven't had a chance to run anything through it... came today.

You're not the first to report 4" groups with the freedom uppers. Some have said it shoots 55gr better than the heavier stuff which of course is counter intuitive. I'll give the same advice, its a good backup plinking upper. Most guys say it is uber reliable but not very accurate.

Let me know how your barrel ends up shooting. And yea I agree if nothing 3lse it will serve as a good backup/plinking rifle.

Any idea on why it seems to prefer the lighter bullets?
I thought the faster twist would have had the heavy ones group tighter.
I bought a box of 73 gr eld match. I will load some up and see what happens.

If they don't shoot well I'll just go back to the 55 and work on some charge weights and see if I can get it any tighter.

 

[Vio515]

Similar experiences. I have one of their cheap uppers. Its 2 moa on average. Works fine. Great to work on close range drills and not burn up a more expensive barrel.

 

[The DFC]

That's about what I get with mine.

 

[gunsnjeeps]

Low 420's on a 100 yard National Match Course with Wolf Gold 55 grain, average is 440's with Wolf at 100 in a better gun. Not a match barrel but not terrible. Yours seems worse.

 

[Pilotscrappy]

Low 420's on a 100 yard National Match Course with Wolf Gold 55 grain, average is 440's with Wolf at 100 in a better gun. Not a match barrel but not terrible. Yours seems worse.

I'll have to snag some wolf ammo and see if I can get any improvement, I'm going to keep playing around with different bullets and see if I can squeeze any more accuracy from mine. I guess for the price of the barrel it's still not terrible, it can still hit man size targets so I suppose for a HD weapon it will do its job.

Ive got the itch for precision tho with an ar, might be time to start looking @ craddock?

 

[gunsnjeeps]

I'll have to snag some wolf ammo and see if I can get any improvement, I'm going to keep playing around with different bullets and see if I can squeeze any more accuracy from mine. I guess for the price of the barrel it's still not terrible, it can still hit man size targets so I suppose for a HD weapon it will do its job.

Ive got the itch for precision tho with an ar, might be time to start looking @ craddock?

I've been surprised by the Wolf Gold. A lot of High Power competitors have been buying their prime brass to load. I got into AR's shooting matches with them so.i lean towards Rock River or White Oak. The Palmetto State kit I bought was a built upper and parts kit with MagPul stock and 16 inch barrel to play with for 3 Gun.

 

[PhOnEpHrEaK]

My psa is a 1”-1.5” gun typically.

 

[hink001]

I have no idea why some people report the Freedom barrels shoot better with 55 grain vs 69, 77 etc. 1:7 should like the heavies... I shot a basic psa once with Wolf Gold at 50 yards offhand and they were all headshots, open sights. I'm an ok shot with a rifle but 50 yards and my eyes start to not see so good... just did it for fun.

I had a Saint Edge that didn't shoot too well with Frontier 75gr match. As in it shot about what the Wolf Gold did 1-2moa. My Daniel Defense V11 Pro Upper is MOA with the Frontier. The PSA CHF Premium's have an excellent reputation for accuracy. It might be my new go to... but I can't get out for a couple weeks.

 

[Mike_in_FL]

If you're not paying the extra for the PSA premium barrel, that is the FN barrel, I would think your results would be average. Even it is not a tack driver but I have found some things it will shoot MOA. I think your barrel would more likely be a unicorn if it actually shot really well.

That being said, I don't think I've ever heard anybody, anywhere, ever say that Hornady 68 grain shoots well. If you want to try an accuracy load, try 8208xbr around 23-ish grains with a 77 SMK.

 

[Pilotscrappy]

Thx for the info I'll give those a go this weekend and see if I can get any better results