225 Gr. FTX

[Texas Sheepdawg]

Hoot,
This is my load
lil' gun powder. I tried charges @ 37.2gr @ 38.2gr and @ 39.2gr, all produced about the same inaccuracy roughly 7" @ 100 yard
bullet seated to an oal of 2.12 (right on the cannelure).
crimped to .475 with the Hornady die (not for nothing but what is wrong with the lee factory crimp die? Everyone raves about that die.)
cci small rifle primer.

I KNOW its not me, and I'll leave it at that.

I don't think it's load that's the problem. I don't think it is possible tweak a load to reduce a group size 6moa. I'm new to reloading though, I've only been reloading for 12 years.
In the past when I've had such lousy groups, I changed out the junk bullets, for better quality ones, and it solved the problem.
I'm not saying its the bullets though (it could easily be the POS Athlon scope, not able to handle the recoil. I have no idea why the scope is rated so highly on amazon, it really does seem like a POS), the bullets are just the first thing I want to try in the troubleshooting process.
It's pretty cold here in RI now, so I might not get to test the 250s out until spring, but I will update when I do.

and Hoot, if the recoil is too much for you, check out the Fab Defense gl-shock buttstock. It works very well for this caliber.

I was reading along here trying to come up with some answer. Then you actually said it.
AMAZON.
Never buy optics off of Amazon man.
That barrel might be lemon but I would get myself a Nikon scope and Burris rings from either Cabelas or Midway USA or Brownells, re zero and start over. Almost every incident I’ve had with shitty groups, the problem corrected itself with quality rings and a Nikon scope or equivalent.

[Seedyn]

Another thought here might be to try the factory Hornady 250 gr FTX cartridges if you have not tried them. From my experience and that of many others you should get anywhere from .5" groups to 2" groups at 100yds on the AR platform. Darn things just shoot well! From my AR on a good day I can consistently get three shot cloverleafs using the factory cartridges!

[plant_one]

I was reading along here trying to come up with some answer. Then you actually said it.
AMAZON.
Never buy optics off of Amazon man.
That barrel might be lemon but I would get myself a Nikon scope and Burris rings from either Cabelas or Midway USA or Brownells, re zero and start over. Almost every incident I’ve had with shitty groups, the problem corrected itself with quality rings and a Nikon scope or equivalent.

i dont think its so much of an amazon problem is as its likely an Athlon optics problem... thats assuming its an optics issue to begin with.

other than their chronos line... all their optics are mfg in china.

just as an example... considering that a 6-24x50mm ARGOS FFP with a 30mm tube is sub $300... while a similarly featured votex optic varies from 30% more (in the diamondback line) to nearly twice that price (in the viper line).... they had to cut some corners somewhere - which when translated into the real world of chinese manufacturing means that its quality control that suffers.

so retailer aside... you're rolling the dice a bit at the very least. because lets be honest... any retailer can get a bad optic from the mfg, or have warehouse/shipping damage happen (although usually a box would show such!)

i know thats a very generalized statement. but it definitely speaks for something and putting it against a benchmark of vortex optics (or nikon, etc - any of the well established optics companys) gives us at least a baseline to make assumptions from.

[randyf]

I have some 225gr poly tip blems that have sitting on a shelf for several years.

After reading this thread I decided to load some up and give them a go.

35gr Lil Gun

WOW......5 shots, pretty much one ragged hole at 100 yds.

[aurelius689]

So I braved the cold and shot some 250 ftx's today. The accuracy was not much different from the 225s. Something wrong with my gun, I'll leave it at that.

[aurelius689]

So it's been a while, but I finally got it figured out. The accuracy problem was my Faxon Firearms barrel.
Last year cdnn had Bushmaster barrels on sale for $99, so I figured what the heck... I bought one and replaced the Faxon barrel. I used all the same components otherwise (ammo, scope, muzzle brake, etc...), sure enough my group size shrank to roughly 2 inches.
I let Faxon know, they said they'd send me a new barrel. I told them I was satisfied with the Bushmaster barrel I had, and asked if they could send me a 458 socom barrel instead, along with a 458 BCG to make up for all the time, and ammo I spent proving their barrel was faulty. ...I mean I tried new ammo, a new scope, new scope mount, new muzzle device... all that crap cost time, money, and ammo!!! They said nope... but they sent me a new 458 Socom barrel...
But that's all beside the point, I feel 2" groups from the 225gr ftx's is outstanding (especially considering I'm using a $99 barrel)!! A better shooter could even shrink that group down an inch using my rifle...