Inaugural Bula M14 shots today after my Granby long range orientation. Did a quick trigger job last night to bring the break down to 5 lbs even.
From the long range, the first position is 177 yards. Eyeballed the sights and barely missed a ~6" (maybe 8") square steel plate. Grabbed a spotter and sent some to a IPSC plate at 367 yards. Barely missed above the right shoulder- twice. Per the spotter, made some very cool vapor trails when the rounds were close to the target. Good enough for the first three shots out of a new build. Lord knows I've chased shots for AR builds all over the 25 yard berm, LOL. I'm either getting better at builds or have a string of increasing luck. Prior to accurizing my .308 Garand build, the first shots were OK but nothing to write home about.
First group of 5 at 100 yards was under ~1.8". Shot 3 groups of 3 to further dial in sights and not waste too much ammo. Worst was a hair over 1.6", two were almost exactly 1.5" I know 3 shot groups don't count for much, but in each of the 3 groups there were two shots very close. Average distance between the closest two shots was less than 0.27". Promising, and with factory PPU Match as well.
Very good accuracy for a new steel and wood build. I'll clean and lightly lap the barrel, plus there's probably some settling in to do between the stock and action. Groups were mostly spread vertically, so that's probably my eyes and skill a bit and perhaps careful reloading could tighten the groups vertically.
More or less split the middle between my 1-3" poll choice, so everyone who voted there was correct.