SCAR 20S RANGE REPORT: 175 SMK vs 168 ELDM

[GreenJavelin]

For anyone interested, did a little shooting with this gun over the past couple of days. I’ve been trying to evaluate if going to the slightly higher BC 168 ELDMs would be worth it in this gun.

I shot my usual FGMM 175gr @ 2560 fps and Hornady TAP 168gr ELDM AR @ 2580 fps, factory loads.

Theoretically, the 168 ELDM move faster and are longer with higher BC, but practical reasons prove they may not be the best option for my application as seen below:

Here are the first 3 groups with the 168s:

I noticed after the first 5 shots, they opened up quite a bit. Chalked it up to I’m bad and maybe the barrel is warmer, but I wasn’t totally convinced. Removed mag and this is what the remaining bullet tips in the mag look like after enduring the recoil:

Obviously these started out perfectly straight when I loaded them in the mag.

I don’t know how big of an actual impact this makes, but it’s certainly not confidence inspiring. Anyone have experiences that vary?

The 175 SMKs with the standard copper jacket meplat had no issues at all, by comparison. They look normal. Same gun same recoil; arguably a little more recoil.

Here was the worst group of the day with FGMM 175:

This was the best 175:

For now, I’m sticking with the 175 SMKs.

Shot some steel plates as well yesterday, here’s the DOPE from the day:

100m 0 MRAD
150m .1
200m .4
250m .7
300m 1.2
350m 1.6
400m 2.2
450m 2.8
500m 3.6
550m 4.4
600m 5.2
650m 6.2
700m 7.2
750m 8.3
800m 9.4
850m 10.7

 

[BCP]

Damn that’s a lot of drop for 850m are you at sea level? And yeah 175smk fly really well.

 

[GreenJavelin]

I'm debating loading 169 SMK. Once again, look good on paper but also BTHP so should have real practical potential.

This was shot at 200m above sea level.

 

[nn8734]

I'm debating loading 169 SMK. Once again, look good on paper but also BTHP so should have real practical potential.

This was shot at 200m above sea level.

Def switch over to the 169. I did a head to head comp with the 175 out of my mk11 a few years ago and 169 was/is the clear winner. I use it in my M14 and M40A5 to 1000m...

 

[BCP]

I shoot at about 5000ft and 175smk out of my 16" 308 AR tracks right along with the 62gr 5.56 BDC. Bolt gun it's about 4.5 to 600 and I think 9.7 to 1000. The 169smk needed a little bit less also it seems to be more consistent with a little bit of wind at 1000. Nothing wrong with the 175 though there are about 1000 of them in my closet for when I run out of 169s.