Originally Posted by FRAG-AFE

Now for the fun part. I've spent all of this time and money setting up. I managed to acquire a total of 13 20-round magazines, and I purchased ammo as it came available. Admittedly, my original intent is to hand load for this rifle. I also know that it has a habit of denting the poo out of the brass. Because it was a nearly new rifle, I picked up a range of surplus through match grade ammo and some things in the middle. Most with varying weights so that I could try to figure out what bullet weight the rifle likes, which brand it seems to like, etc. in order to give me a good starting point when I do get to reloading (currently on hold due to a lack of powder and primers)

So me and a couple friends went to our "range" location this afternoon and I brought some generic Brazilian bulk ammo (147gr), Magtech (150gr), Federal Fusion (180gr), Federal American Eagle (150gr).



First, it was hot. I mean, the report said that it was mid-80s, but with no shade it is just absurdly hot. Second, according to the Kestral there was an almost constant tail wind of 4-8 mph. Third, don't judge me ;-)
I was out here just as much to have some fun breaking in a new rifle as I was to see how accurate it could be with me behind it (I'm not the best out there, but sometimes I like to think I'm almost good) I did not bring anything to measure actual groups, I did not walk down the range to change out the targets after every time I used them (you'll see below), and by the end of the day I had fired roughly 120 rounds our of this sweet rifle and I have the bruises to prove it

Before reading below, please remember that this rifle was quoted from PTR Inc. as being a 2 - 3 MOA rifle. They did admit that given proper ammo it might drop into the 1-2 MOA range, so that's what I would like to aim for eventually as I get more comfortable with it.

The following are all at 100 yards except where noted.

So, first I decided to go through the stuff I knew I didn't have a chance of reloading, the Brazilian bulk ammo. I experienced only 1-2 failure to extracts from this ammo, could be chalked up to the break-in period, could have been that the ammo expanded too much in the chamber due to it being low quality. The world may never know. It took some time to get it into a group that I would accept as being accurate. Partly me, partly being impatient and not waiting for either a steady wind or a drop in the wind.
3-inch orange target, ignore the low flyer (it was from earlier). The sheet behind it is 1" square. Not too bad for my first time out with a .308 and using the Brazilian surplus
This is a three shot group using the Federal Fusion bullets. It also makes me sad. The Fusion was a decently accurate round, but my rifle hated it. It turned a beautiful magazine fed semi-automatic rifle designed to be a perimeter sniper into a mostly accurate bolt-action without any of the advantages of a bolt-action rifle. Not buying that again.
Sadly, this was my best group of the day. Why is this sad you ask? First, ignore the other bullets on the target, I was using the bench and firing through the chronometer so I was using the same target one of the other guys was using. So I didn't adjust the scope, I just kept aiming at the center. This group was not done with some awesome match grade ammo, nothing I hand loaded with case and precision, nothing special at all. One of the other guys brought some bulk Russian Brown Bear 145gr steel cased ammo that didn't extract properly from his rifle so we traded 20 rounds for 20 rounds. What you see in that circle is a 5 or 6 round grouping (I can't remember). Prior to moving to the bench I was 6 for 6 on cans of soda (12 reactive targets for $1.97. Just shake them up and leave them on the berm. Don't worry, we pick up all brass and clean up the area when we leave)

I have no pictures of the Magtech. Not only could I not land one on the 3" target reliably, it also jammed almost every shot I took.

Next, two of us decided to see what we could do... I assure you there is a target in this picture (slightly left of center):

Couldn't see it? Here it is with my camera fully zoomed in:

What you can see in orange is a target 18" wide and 36" tall. The yellow to the left is a standard bowling pin.
Using a sweet slide rule that my friend bought (I gotta get one of those http://www.mildot.com/ ) then double checking the calculation against the GPS waypoint he had placed at the target earlier, we determined that the target was roughly 807 yards away. He managed a hit on his second shot in the lower right corner. Using my magazine of American Eagle I managed a shot after 3 shots (learning how to use the turrets and holdover was cool). The nice thing is that, once I figured out my aim point I took another shot immediately after and scored another hit. I really wish I had checked the grouping at 100 yards with the American Eagle... next time.

Conclusions? I won't be buying Fusion, Magtech, or Brazilian again. I might try another box or two of Brown Bear if I can find it, and I didn't use my match grade Fiocci this trip. Other conclusion, much like the forums suggested, this rifle likes lighter rounds (150 and below worked best today) I want to try some Hornady 155gr if I can find it but I won't be going up above that again.