Excellent thread. I recall doing some very fine work at the 500 yard line with one of those an iron sights the difference was ours had the triangle handguards. Maybe thats a different model. Not really up on the different model numbers. These days Id imagine I need some kind of magnification.
I'll wager you a PF dollar™ 😎
The lunatics are running the asylum
My very first AR was a Bushmaster National Match, back in the 90s.
Weighted and free floated, boy could that, shoot.
"... And miles to go before I sleep".
I don't have any real war stories, but I do have some nostalgia...
My first AR was a (just barely) pre-ban Eagle-Arms EA-15. I wasn't really in the market for an AR at the time--I was young and poor, but having plenty of fun blasting rocks in the SoCal desert with my buddies--shooting a $99 SKS and cheap Chinese ammo. A friend convinced me that now was the time to buy--because if I didn't, I'd never be able to. I didn't have the money, so I charged it. It had practically doubled in price--to $1100 in 1993 dollars. But I had it, and I loved it! Learned to shoot aperture sights. Learned to ignore the surprising and annoying twang of the buffer spring. Chased jackrabbits, coyotes, and had a lot of fun.
Over the years I bought into the flat-top scene, purchased a couple M4gery uppers and put A1 stocks on most of my lowers. Funny thing is, even before I saw this thread that A2 upper has been calling to me. My son was born six years after I bought that Eagle Arms and 19 years after that he joined the Marine Corps. I was proud in general, and even more so for qualifying Expert. I busted out the A2 during one of his early leaves so we could take it to the range. He did fine with it, but all of his shooting had been with an ACOG, so my iron sight group was a bit tighter than his. Good times. Hard to believe that rifle is 30 years old.
That would have been an XM16 or M16A1 depending on the exact year & timeframe. A beauty in its own right, lighter and handier than an M16A2.Originally Posted by UNK
Man so long ago you made me count the years. Late 70’s early 80s was the time frame.
I'll wager you a PF dollar™ 😎
The lunatics are running the asylum
Definitely an M16A1 in that case!
My aging eyes are making shooting iron sights on the M4 or AK more challenging but the longer sight radius of the A2 and the M1/M14 make them a joy to shoot.
There is just something really satisfying about reaching out and touching with aperture sights that using an optic just can’t duplicate.
I will never claim to be any expert rifleman, and I’ve never had military or other formal rifle training, but a dozen years ago I took great satisfaction in pinging a 10 or 12” plate at ~600 yds with my A2 irons from a desert hilltop. I had to really bear down and concentrate, but when I did my part I was successful about 80% of the time. That was awesome.
The Colt A2 barrels were capable of some decent accuracy/precision.
Colt AR-15 20” A2 Barrel Accuracy
This Colt 20” A2 barrel started its life on a factory-built Colt 6551. This was a pre-ban rifle, but this barrel did not have one of those evil, havoc-wreaking bayonet lugs. It’s otherwise essentially the same barrel found on the Colt M16A2 and M16A4 as well as on “civilian” variants of those rifles. The barrel has a government profile, a chrome-lined NATO chamber and bore and a 1:7” twist. The barrel stamp reads:
C MP 5.56 NATO 1/7
I installed the barrel on a Colt flat-top upper receiver and free-floated the barrel with a 12” Knight’s Armament free-float hand-guard. I conducted the accuracy evaluation from a distance of 100 yards from my bench-rest set-up using match-grade hand-loads topped with the Sierra 55 grain BlitzKing.
I conducted an accuracy (technically, precision) evaluation of the 20” Colt A2 barrel following my usual protocol. This accuracy evaluation used statistically significant shot-group sizes and every single shot in a fired group was included in the measurements. There was absolutely no use of any group-reduction techniques (e.g. fliers, target movement, Butterfly Shots).
The shooting set-up will be described in detail below. As many of the significant variables as was practicable were controlled for.
All shooting was conducted from a concrete bench-rest from a distance of 100 yards (confirmed with a laser rangefinder.) The free-float handguards of the rifle rested in a Sinclair Windage Benchrest, while the stock of the rifle rested in a Protektor bunny-ear rear bag. Sighting was accomplished via a Leupold VARI-X III with the magnification at 25X and the scope adjusted to be parallax-free at 100 yards. A mirage shield was used. Wind conditions on the shooting range were continuously monitored using a Wind Probe. The set-up was very similar to that pictured below.
The Wind Probe.
This barrel turned in a 3-shot group at 100 yards with an extreme spread of 0.180”.
This barrel produced a 5-shot group at 100 yards with an extreme spread of 0.516”.
Six 10-shot groups fired in a row from this barrel at a distance of 100 yards had an average 10-shot group extreme spread of 1.35”.
The smallest 10-shot group had an extreme spread of 1.085”.
A 30-shot composite group had a mean radius of 0.42".
….
Member of the General Population
Thanks (as always) for this write up. It certainly reflects and confirms my experience with my Sporter Target barrel.
Do you feel that the FN barrels were any more accurate?
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