I made it to the range on Wednesday to tune my rifle before deer season, and I am rather disappointed. My plan has been to use the Accubonds for deer season on Dec 3rd. I shot several SSA combat loads and some TAP to compare them. All shooting was done off a front rest with a rear bag for the stock.
The rifle:
Cardinal Armory 18" SPR upper
YHM FF lightweight quad rail
Phantom FH
Bushmaster lower
RRA stock
RRA 2-stage NM trigger
Barska 4-16 x 50AO scope
PRI 10 and 15rd. waffle mags
C-Product 25rd mags

The ammo:
110gr. ProHunter
110gr. TSX
110gr. Accubond
110gr. TAP (V-max)
115gr. OTM (I bought my upper from CA during the chroming issue, so I wanted to test it to be sure my rifle wasn't affected -- it's not)
I started out with 10rds of the PH, zeroing .75" high at 50yds (250yd zero), then moved to 10rds of the Accubonds and OTM. I was surprised to see the Accubonds shoot higher than the PH.
I then tuned it for the Accubonds, and tried the PH and TSX to see where they would land. So far grouping isn't too bad for quick shooting off a rest, but I noticed that the PH still shoot a bit tighter.
I moved to the 100yd berm and here is where I am surprised:
Accubonds getting 4MOA? WTH??? I thought I was just doing a crappy job of shooting, so I switched to the TSX, and with the exception of the 1 called flier, it shot .75" and the PH shot about 2MOA with a called flier. I didn't even remove the rifle from the rest, I just loaded the mags. I had some TAP v-max loaded for home defense until I tested the OTM, and I am surprised that it shot so low, signifiying rather low veolicity, I think (I'm definitely switching to the OTM for hd). I switched targets and tried the PH again (almost out of TSX) and got about the same results.
I don't' have the time to handload some Accubonds before the season starts, so it's factory ammo this year. I'm very surprised and disappointed that the "premium" bullet that should be the best performer on deer is so innacurate in my rifle. I also noticed failures to lock the bolt back and FTF on a few Accubond rounds: 3 were the last one in the mag (both PRI and one C-Product), 1 was in the middle of a shooting string (PRI), and 1 was next to last (PRI). No other ammo had FTF or short stroke issues.
The question now is do I use the TSX or the PH? I could have a deer pop out of the trees at 35yds, or they might get no closer than 300yds. I'm leaning toward the TSX because they appear to be the most accurate and will work the best at long range. My concern is that it might be too much if a deer comes in close.
Any tips on which load I should use, or on how to improve my shooting? I'm fairly certain that the Accubonds just don't like my rifle, but if it's something that I did, then I'm all ears!
The rifle:
Cardinal Armory 18" SPR upper
YHM FF lightweight quad rail
Phantom FH
Bushmaster lower
RRA stock
RRA 2-stage NM trigger
Barska 4-16 x 50AO scope
PRI 10 and 15rd. waffle mags
C-Product 25rd mags

The ammo:
110gr. ProHunter
110gr. TSX
110gr. Accubond
110gr. TAP (V-max)
115gr. OTM (I bought my upper from CA during the chroming issue, so I wanted to test it to be sure my rifle wasn't affected -- it's not)
I started out with 10rds of the PH, zeroing .75" high at 50yds (250yd zero), then moved to 10rds of the Accubonds and OTM. I was surprised to see the Accubonds shoot higher than the PH.

I then tuned it for the Accubonds, and tried the PH and TSX to see where they would land. So far grouping isn't too bad for quick shooting off a rest, but I noticed that the PH still shoot a bit tighter.

I moved to the 100yd berm and here is where I am surprised:

Accubonds getting 4MOA? WTH??? I thought I was just doing a crappy job of shooting, so I switched to the TSX, and with the exception of the 1 called flier, it shot .75" and the PH shot about 2MOA with a called flier. I didn't even remove the rifle from the rest, I just loaded the mags. I had some TAP v-max loaded for home defense until I tested the OTM, and I am surprised that it shot so low, signifiying rather low veolicity, I think (I'm definitely switching to the OTM for hd). I switched targets and tried the PH again (almost out of TSX) and got about the same results.

I don't' have the time to handload some Accubonds before the season starts, so it's factory ammo this year. I'm very surprised and disappointed that the "premium" bullet that should be the best performer on deer is so innacurate in my rifle. I also noticed failures to lock the bolt back and FTF on a few Accubond rounds: 3 were the last one in the mag (both PRI and one C-Product), 1 was in the middle of a shooting string (PRI), and 1 was next to last (PRI). No other ammo had FTF or short stroke issues.
The question now is do I use the TSX or the PH? I could have a deer pop out of the trees at 35yds, or they might get no closer than 300yds. I'm leaning toward the TSX because they appear to be the most accurate and will work the best at long range. My concern is that it might be too much if a deer comes in close.
Any tips on which load I should use, or on how to improve my shooting? I'm fairly certain that the Accubonds just don't like my rifle, but if it's something that I did, then I'm all ears!