2" Isn't So Bad

Doing my normal reading and surfing on the various gun fora and stumbled across someone worried that they're not a good shot because they just plopped a $1,200 ACOG on their AR and their groups, while better, are just 2" at 100 yards.

The reassuring thing, for me, is that an AR shooting 2" groups at 100 appears to be decent with J-Random barrel and over the counter ammo.

Valentine's mil-spec barrel from Brownell's is in the J-Random category.  As is nearly everything that Palmetto sells.

Better barrels are readily available and often not a great deal more expensive.

Brenda and Valentine represent a different philosophy in barrel selection.

Valentine needs to look like an M16A4, that dictates profile and finish.  From what I've read; the barrel I selected is one of the better ones fitting that bill.  It also occurs to me that it's hardly even broken in.  Prolly fewer than 100 rounds total so far.

Brenda was built being very budget conscious.  Sure, for a bit more I could have gotten a Faxon tube that reviews well...  But that doesn't fit with the Behind Every Blade of Grass concept of lightweight at an affordable price.

The poster did not mention trigger, but the basic milspec trigger will hamper attempts to tighten your group.

Dottie has a LaRue MBT trigger in her and it makes small groups easy.  Of course, she has a match-grade barrel and expensive match-grade ammo.  There's not much "range fodder" available for 6.8 SPC if you're not a reloader.  She also shoots just under an inch-and-a-half for me at 100.  And it most assuredly IS me.

I need more trigger time.  As little as gets done, I seem to take all damn day doing it.