Took an LMT 7.62 to the range today to do the dreaded "gather ballistic data for the computer" giration. Was shooting FGMM 175 and some Lake City M118 LR at the 100 yard zero range. Up till now the Federal ammo has been more accurate, we believe, due to standard deviation in muzzle velocities realized with the Lake City 175. Just started shooting with a new suppressor and wanted to chrono and POI test the M118 to see if it would group any better with the can. To my and 3 other Hide members utter amazement, the M118 was doing sub 1/2 moa and even a few 1/4 moa groups. Had to repeat the effort several times as we were in complete disbelief that it was more accurate the the Federal Gold Medal, and that M118 could produce groups like that. The best I could get out of the Federal was fat 1/2 to 3/4 moa +- Wonders never cease. The rifle clearly likes the can and the military ammo.
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Surprising Results with Suppressed LMT and M118 LR...
- Thread starter Kilmore
- Start date
Doesnt the M118LR have higher pressures than SAAMI max? Wonder if that was keeping the bolt locked up just slightly longer allowing the bullet to run out the barrel and be gone before the gun unlocks. Wonder if that is the reason for the higher pressures in that ammo. Would be interesting to know.
Im not suggesting anybody load up any real hot ammo and shoot it through their gas guns, BUT it would be interesting to see the results.
Im not suggesting anybody load up any real hot ammo and shoot it through their gas guns, BUT it would be interesting to see the results.
I have had fluctuating results with M118 in my LMT. Some boxes have shot very well, sub-MOA with ES in a 10 shot string just over 20fps, and some boxes will shoot just over MOA with velocities ranging from 2470 to 2580 in a single 10-shot string. I hope your results stay consistent, but in my experience the QC at the LC plant has a bit of tolerance.
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Gun has a 16 inch CL barrel, 1/10 twist, Elite Iron suppressor, old Leupold 4.5x14 56mm Tactical VariX III scope and NF 30mm rings, MagPul PRS stock with a Slash Heavy Buffer, PRI Gas Buster charging handle. The M118 chrono'd at 2467 average, with 35 fps deviation. The gun is a shooter from square one, and the FGMM 175 was yielding very tight groups without the can. Shot a 20 inch CL barreled rifle without the can using FGMM 168 and Speer Gold Dot 168 and got sub 1/2 moa with those rounds. The 20 inch did not like the 175 ammo for some reason. Was shooting stringers. The M118 has never been consistent until this test run. I think redhooker is right that QC at Lake City is spotty "but good enough for Gov't work". I have a LMT 18 inch SS match barrel (Rock Creek) with 1/11.25 twist that I am going to try on the rifle to see what happens next.
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