New DIY 24” barrel 6mm ARC… amazing results

[SubieRubyRoo]

So I built a new rifle out of almost all sale price stuff just to have something to play with at long yardages. It’s all built around a Faxon 24” 416R 5R rifling with 1:7 twist. Poverty Pony upper & lower receivers, some off-brand Optics Planet clearance 20” handguard, Rise Armament RA-242 Gen 2 trigger, Ballistic Advantage BCG, Hogue handgrip & buttstock, Caldwell bipod, and an old Nikon 4-12x40 BDC scope in an AeroPrecision SPR mount that was sitting in my parts bin unused & forgotten. Nothing special, but nothing junk either.

Now comes the magic. Shooting Hornady 108gr ELD-X box ammo, with a 15mph crosswind. Took 4 shots to zero at 100yds. Open up the Nikon Spot On calculator to decipher the BDC reticle, every circle is basically 100yds drop each. Nice. Open up the Hornady 4DOF to confirm drop and calculate windage correction. Did not touch zero settings at all; BDC dots were used and simple holdover guess for windage based on 4DOF correction. Targets were the 8x11” steel silhouettes hung about 7’ off the ground at laser-verified distances.

Sighted the 200yd plate dead center of 2nd BDC dot, hold on right edge of plate. Dead center on first shot! Next up, deer silhouette at 350yds with a flapper plate for vitals. Hold bottom edge of 2nd circle and about 12” to the right for wind- the flapper was angry and made quite a loud clang! Next up, 400yd same silhouette at 200. This one is center of 3rd BDC dot. That one rang out as well. Now, by the time we’re at 500yds, 4DOF says it needs 26.7” of correction for the crosswind. Using dead center of 4th circle and eyeballing the 27” of drift, the 500yard plate was clear as a bell. Went ahead and dropped another on the 500yd plate just to confirm.

Summation: brand new Faxon barrel, only had one shot ever before today. Took 4 shots to zero. Then touched 200, 350, 400, and 500 yard steel plates on first shot at each distance with 15mph crosswind! Color me impressed with both Faxon barrels and the Hornady 6mm ARC! I’ve got some additional targets out to 850 yards, but figured with this breeze it would be pretty tough, plus there aren’t many places around here that one would be taking deer at 500+ anyways. All in, excluding ammo, was about $750 due to all of the sale prices. Considering at 500yds it works out to about a 0.8MOA rifle to get on steel I’m pretty happy with that. Will see if it gets any better as it sends more rounds downrange.

 

[burbguy82]

416r, 5R BA barrel nothing wrong with any of those choices. I would go the same route if I were going to build something in ARC.

With some of these "newer" calibers, they have been scineced out to the max, like Creedmoor...

edit: hit send by mistake.....

I am assuming that you are not much of a stranger to long range. Sometimes, matching the reticle with a generic BDC can be difficult. Do you have any experience with a mildot or similar milling reticle scope? If not, and you intend to get a new scope perhaps, I would suggest one.

No brake i assume? It will change you come ups, perhaps to the good, closer to your BDC, but might effect accuracy. Is it threaded?

Sounds like you got a keeper.

Anyway, good post. But without pics it didnt happen of course.

 

[SubieRubyRoo]

416r, 5R BA barrel nothing wrong with any of those choices. I would go the same route if I were going to build something in ARC.

With some of these "newer" calibers, they have been scineced out to the max, like Creedmoor...

edit: hit send by mistake.....

I am assuming that you are not much of a stranger to long range. Sometimes, matching the reticle with a generic BDC can be difficult. Do you have any experience with a mildot or similar milling reticle scope? If not, and you intend to get a new scope perhaps, I would suggest one.

No brake i assume? It will change you come ups, perhaps to the good, closer to your BDC, but might effect accuracy. Is it threaded?

Sounds like you got a keeper.

Anyway, good post. But without pics it didnt happen of course.

Yeah it’s got some Optics Planet clearance brake on it for now, but there’s not really any recoil to speak of (especially compared to an 18” AR-15 Bushmaster .450!) And yes, the 6ARC is my first foray past really about 200 yards without just winging it. The Nikon is really because the scope I “should” have on this is on my .308 Thompson Center right now… a 6-24x56 Vortex Diamondback Tactical. Deciding if I’m going to buy a serious scope for the ARC or play musical scopes between what I’ve got.

My personal previous longest shot was at the 350yd deer silhouette, last year on the 16” 6mm ARC I built. That was thru a SIG 2.5-8x BDX scope. This distance with ease stuff is all new to me. Living in a straight-walled case deer season state, there’s no logical reason to have a rifle that makes 1k yd shots fairly simple, but I decided to go for it. I’ll have some pics up later… but like I said, this was budget-minded from “go”, so it’s not sexy like a Nemo Omen or the like…

 

[SubieRubyRoo]

Here ya go @burbguy82…

 

[SubieRubyRoo]

The Nikon is so old it’s a 1” tube lol

 

[burbguy82]

Yeah it’s got some Optics Planet clearance brake on it for now, but there’s not really any recoil to speak of (especially compared to an 18” AR-15 Bushmaster .450!) And yes, the 6ARC is my first foray past really about 200 yards without just winging it. The Nikon is really because the scope I “should” have on this is on my .308 Thompson Center right now… a 6-24x56 Vortex Diamondback Tactical. Deciding if I’m going to buy a serious scope for the ARC or play musical scopes between what I’ve got.

My personal previous longest shot was at the 350yd deer silhouette, last year on the 16” 6mm ARC I built. That was thru a SIG 2.5-8x BDX scope. This distance with ease stuff is all new to me. Living in a straight-walled case deer season state, there’s no logical reason to have a rifle that makes 1k yd shots fairly simple, but I decided to go for it. I’ll have some pics up later… but like I said, this was budget-minded from “go”, so it’s not sexy like a Nemo Omen or the like…

A FEW words of advice, if I may.

Long range can get to be expensive, if one has unreasonable expectations. Long range shooting is a fishing story. Everyone has this killer gun that shoots one hole at 800 yards every shot. They are all liars, not bad people, but liars. (aren't we all sometimes) Long story short, I have some experience in "target" shooting out to 12ish, with some nice hardware. Beyond 1 MOA day in and day out, to save yourself some money and heartache, dont expect more than a 1 MOA average. Walk away happy, with a 1-.1.5 MOA average.

Beyond the normal BRM stuff. Locktite everything. If it has a screw, loctite that bad boy. If it can move, loctite it. try your luck without the brake, and if possible, use a rear bag ,multiple bags, stick bags all over the place. But also practice without.

"Deer" dont care much what they get shot with. Good to have a long range tool.

 

[burbguy82]

The Nikon is so old it’s a 1” tube lol

Good accuracy can be acheived with that for sure. 30mm or 34 even lets more light in, but is more difficult to center in the eye on an AR15.

one other thing......it ia hard on an ar15 becuase of the charging handle, but in long range, eye placement is very important.

Lay behind the gun, with your eyes closed, get in a comfortable position, then open your eyes. Optimal eye placement will be within 10% of the scope center.

Beyond that, thats all i got. Cool gun. Good luck with it.

 

[SubieRubyRoo]

A FEW words of advice, if I may.

Long range can get to be expensive, if one has unreasonable expectations. Long range shooting is a fishing story. Everyone has this killer gun that shoots one hole at 800 yards every shot. They are all liars, not bad people, but liars. (aren't we all sometimes) Long story short, I have some experience in "target" shooting out to 12ish, with some nice hardware. Beyond 1 MOA day in and day out, to save yourself some money and heartache, dont expect more than a 1 MOA average. Walk away happy, with a 1-.1.5 MOA average.

Beyond the normal BRM stuff. Locktite everything. If it has a screw, loctite that bad boy. If it can move, loctite it. try your luck without the brake, and if possible, use a rear bag ,multiple bags, stick bags all over the place. But also practice without.

"Deer" dont care much what they get shot with. Good to have a long range tool.

Thanks for the advice. But I have no crazy YT aspirations for LR shooting. Like I said this is like half “toy” and half “maybe I’ll go coyote exterminating”. The 16” ARC I have is what will go deer hunting. This one will likely end up getting 80gr factory loads and hopefully end some coyotes…

I’m also interested on a calm day will do for the drop… with 100yd zero it’s like 16’ of drop @ 1000; with 200yd zero it’s only like 9’, so that will be interesting. Also, I may pick up a Uintah Precision bolt-action upper- hand loads can go 52k psi in an AR platform, but 62k in bolt-action… some guys on YT are @ 3490FPS with the 80gr Varmint Express bullets. That would be an ideal coyote round. Now to save pennies for a decent ATN ThOR scope…

 

[burbguy82]

Thanks for the advice. But I have no crazy YT aspirations for LR shooting. Like I said this is like half “toy” and half “maybe I’ll go coyote exterminating”. The 16” ARC I have is what will go deer hunting. This one will likely end up getting 80gr factory loads and hopefully end some coyotes…

I’m also interested on a calm day will do for the drop… with 100yd zero it’s like 16’ of drop @ 1000; with 200yd zero it’s only like 9’, so that will be interesting. Also, I may pick up a Uintah Precision bolt-action upper- hand loads can go 52k psi in an AR platform, but 62k in bolt-action… some guys on YT are @ 3490FPS with the 80gr Varmint Express bullets. That would be an ideal coyote round. Now to save pennies for a decent ATN ThOR scope…

learning to use a milling reticle, and exposed turret scope will help with long range precision. I agree that if you arent going for long range precision, any scope will work for coyotes all day long. That is a flat shooting high BC round, so out to 5 sholud have minimal holdovers. Having a tail or head wind will have very little effect, side wind is the enemy, but out to 500, a full value wind (+10mph) should not effect the bullet that much, in that a coyote will still get hit.

I have no experience with that round BTW, just shooting long range precision.

@OVERKILL I think has same hardware.....oh wait he is in Canada, maybe it was not him.

 

[SubieRubyRoo]

learning to use a milling reticle, and exposed turret scope will help with long range precision. I agree that if you arent going for long range precision, any scope will work for coyotes all day long. That is a flat shooting high BC round, so out to 5 sholud have minimal holdovers. Having a tail or head wind will have very little effect, side wind is the enemy, but out to 500, a full value wind (+10mph) should not effect the bullet that much, in that a coyote will still get hit.

I have no experience with that round BTW, just shooting long range precision.

@OVERKILL I think has same hardware.....oh wait he is in Canada, maybe it was not him.

I just picked up some LR shooting book by some ex-SF guy Frank somebody IIRC… I’d say 95%+ of my shots will be inside 350yds, but it’s always nice to know you’re barely scratching the surface of your ballistics even at 600+ if you really needed it. My buddy’s range behind his house (1k yds) is far longer than anything you’d find on private ranges or public land around here. The 24” barrel was really to maximize ballistics in my given yardage, rather than trying to stretch things a half-mile or more. But if I ever get that trip to Wyoming or Montana… I know what rifle I’m taking

 

[OVERKILL]

learning to use a milling reticle, and exposed turret scope will help with long range precision. I agree that if you arent going for long range precision, any scope will work for coyotes all day long. That is a flat shooting high BC round, so out to 5 sholud have minimal holdovers. Having a tail or head wind will have very little effect, side wind is the enemy, but out to 500, a full value wind (+10mph) should not effect the bullet that much, in that a coyote will still get hit.

I have no experience with that round BTW, just shooting long range precision.

@OVERKILL I think has same hardware.....oh wait he is in Canada, maybe it was not him.

Yeah, I do have some LR stuff, you remembered correctly on that bit. I have a CADEX in .338LM with a Vortex Razor gen II HD on it in 4.5-27x56.

 

[wpod]

I don't have rifles for long distance shooting but friends do and I occasionally shoot them and long range shooting is the next level of intense and with the trick scopes , barrels , actions and loads the accuracy is shocking .

 

[burbguy82]

@SubieRubyRoo

any news?

 

[Hohn]

416r, 5R BA barrel nothing wrong with any of those choices. I would go the same route if I were going to build something in ARC.

With some of these "newer" calibers, they have been scineced out to the max, like Creedmoor...

edit: hit send by mistake.....

I am assuming that you are not much of a stranger to long range. Sometimes, matching the reticle with a generic BDC can be difficult. Do you have any experience with a mildot or similar milling reticle scope? If not, and you intend to get a new scope perhaps, I would suggest one.

No brake i assume? It will change you come ups, perhaps to the good, closer to your BDC, but might effect accuracy. Is it threaded?

Sounds like you got a keeper.

Anyway, good post. But without pics it didnt happen of course.

I ditched BDC for straight MIL or MOA long ago.

BDC is great if you only shoot one load in that rifle and the scope will only ever be on that rifle.

But I find that much too limited. It’s much, much easier to just get a decent MIL or MOA-hashed reticle and make a simple chart of come ups and ranges.

 

[burbguy82]

I ditched BDC for straight MIL or MOA long ago.

BDC is great if you only shoot one load in that rifle and the scope will only ever be on that rifle.

But I find that much too limited. It’s much, much easier to just get a decent MIL or MOA-hashed reticle and make a simple chart of come ups and ranges.

Yeah, I am not sure of how many people switch scopes on guns, I do not, nor do I think it is good practice. Mil-Dot is what I learned on, I like it universally. Any gun can use a Mil-Dot. It does make you learn the math, and in doing so, makes you a better shooter.

Im my experience, range is the most important factor in a solution. You control the turrets, you do not control the wind.

BDC works well, assuming you follow what the BDC was made for, but beyond a ACOG, I have not seen a low priced scope that was precise enough for me, as it pertains to come ups, etched on a reticle. Weird really. Maybe ring height? slope of the mount? Both I guess.