From a private group on Facebook:
Had a helluva time zeroing it at 25m, and at 100m it was all over the place. And some of the holes on the paper looked wrong…some of them were kind of…oblong. He’d bought some really cheap ammo online, so we were suspecting something was amiss with the ammo. Perhaps reloads sold as factory made. Then we got back to my place, he pulled the upper off, looked down the barrel, said it looked kind of funny. So I looked down the barrel. Then I quickly took my AR apart so I could look down it’s barrel. Then down his barrel again. Then mine, then his.
HIS HAS NO RIFLING.
It’s a fucking AR15 *smoothbore*.
The targets are from 25 meters. The one on the left is the smooth bore. The one on the right is a normal rifle.
I’m sure the “rifle” owner is far less amused than I am.
Wow. I think that’s what like they would look if the JEF threw the bullets at the target, instead of them being fired. Sheesh.
That certainly is a nice visual to show why rifling is useful. Wow.
The big puzzle is how an unrifled barrel ended up on an AR-15. Manufacturing error? If so, that’s a major black mark on the manufacturer. Fraud?
Was this some no name gun show purchase? We had a vendor here a couple of years ago selling garbage ARs at gun shows that were old junk parts kits badly assembled and spray painted.
Did he buy a Franklin armory reformation?
Aero Precision 16″ upper.
Ouch! Aero precision owns Ballistic advantage barrels. Heads going to roll down in QC dept.. So much for that 1 moa. guarantee! But, on the bright side. Aero/ Ballistic, will make good.
In every manufacturing system your going to get Friday evening products, and Monday morning products. It’s how the company handles the problem that matters the most. Keep us informed if you can?
That is a surprise. Aero is located a bit south of you as I recall.
Yes. They are in Tacoma. That is about a 45 minute drive south of me.
Ballistic Advantage has a nice 16″ mid length gas system stainless barrel in .223 Wylde for $190 plus shipping in stock on their website.
Ouch.
Maybe that wasn’t such a good deal.
Jeff B.
A 16″ smoothbore would be classified as a short-barrel shotgun. Needs to get rid of that NFA barrel! ATF is probably on their way already to shoot his wife and stomp his kitten to death.
I have to admit, that’s some impressively consistent keyholing. Think what the wound channel would be like if you could hit the target.
Maybe it was a Aero prototype that got away. AR version that shoots like a Somalian AK? AR/Shogun hybrid?
Like Rolf said, impressive keyholing!
On a side note; someone forgot to clean & check their bore before shooting their firearm? Not good!
Hmm, I saw a similar post saying it was a WSM rifle that had been used for years.
Still hilarious!
I’ve also seen pictures of targets from ARs (with rifling) that generated shotgun patterns when fired. Firing 55gr rounds from a 1:7 twist. Rounds were flying apart on the way downrange. Switched to heavier rounds and the rifle was no longer legal for fowl.
How do you test a printer toner cartridge when you’re supposed to keep it sealed until you actually install it in your printer?