AW vs AE accuracy

[RINGMAN]

Hi guys. New to this forum, this is my first post.

Is the accuracy of the AI AE MK3 for 600 meters aquivalent to AI AW ?

Would it be wise to change the barrel of the AE MK3 to 26-28" to gain more accuracy to 600 meters shooting?

Thanks

GYT

[tackb]

Hi guys. New to this forum, this is my first post.

Is the accuracy of the AI AE MK3 for 600 meters aquivalent to AI AW ?

Would it be wise to change the barrel of the AE MK3 to 26-28" to gain more accuracy to 600 meters shooting?

Thanks

GYT

 

barrel length has little to do with accuracy , barrel quality is much more important. two more inches could gain you a little more fps but that would depend on powder and bullet weight? personally i think the 50fps ish gain would make little or no improvement at 600m.

 

the accuracy question i can't comment having never shot both side by side and anyway that would only be relevant for those two rifles! if it's specifically 600m shooting you do then you could build a rifle for that job at the expense of all round ability if you wanted ?

 

whats your overall objective ? put that down and i'm sure some of the guys on here will be able to help you towards that goal?

[brown dog]

 

Is the accuracy of the AI AE MK3 for 600 meters aquivalent to AI AW ?

 

For range use: Yes

 

For chucking in the back of an armoured vehicle, driving 60 miles cross country etc and knowing the zero will still be spot on: No

 

 

 

Agree with tacb on barrel length.

 

 

Bottom line: If you buy the Mk3 and it's for 'normal use', will you always find yourself looking at the AW being used on the next firing point and thinking 'wish I had one of those'? -if the answer's 'no' get the Mk3

[Davy]

For range use: Yes

 

For chucking in the back of an armoured vehicle, driving 60 miles cross country etc and knowing the zero will still be spot on: No

Truth be known you can slam the AE around a fair amount as well. Mine gets rattled around in the back of a 4x4 on Forrest tracks and dragged across all sorts of terrain and is yet to loose zero with the AI one piece and single turn 4-16x PMII. I would be the first to admit it would not fare so well in the Arctic circle or the jungles of Borneo but for UK and Europe it has worked OK so far.

 

The AW has a bonded/bolted action to chassis whereas the AI is bolted only, the AW has a squared off receiver versus the rounded AE one, bolts are interchangeable on the earlier AE's and the bolt on the A MkIII looks very similar to the AW. Having shot them side by side I saw no difference at 600m with identical ammunition other than a slight drop in required elevation for the AW.

 

I shoot an original AE with a 24" barrel and cannot fault it. Yes I smile when people ask me why I could not afford the 'proper' one (Explaining I wanted the AE never seems to sit right with them) Yes I nod and say good job when they tell me they are getting the proper one. Yes I shoot mine in all conditions from 100-1200 yards, mine is a few years old now, has been dragged all over the place, is scuffed and scratched and modified to suit my needs and still works nicely.

[LONG RANGE CAPT]

Hi guys. New to this forum, this is my first post.

Is the accuracy of the AI AE MK3 for 600 meters equivalent to AI AW ?

Would it be wise to change the barrel of the AE MK3 to 26-28" to gain more accuracy to 600 meters shooting?

Thanks

GYT

 

GYT,

 

A couple of considerations on your question.

 

One of the key things is caliber choice of your AE MK III or AW at present you can get .308 .22/250, .243 Win, 7mm08, 260 Remington & 6.5x47. You can also ask for other calibers and as long as it will mag feed you can have pretty much anything, within reason.

 

If you are considering an accuracy then I would recommend the 6.5x47, I know a number members from the forum who shoot to an exceptional standard with it. A brief search will get you some very good information on the 6.5, the following link will help:-

 

http://ukvarminting.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=12678&st=0&p=106518entry106518

 

If however you are set on a .308 then both the AW & AE MK III perform very well indeed.

 

As mentioned previously the bolts on all the AE series and AW's are interchangeable. the only difference being the rear shroud and the AE I & II has a two position safety. While the AE MK III & AW have exactly the same bolt with its three position safety.

 

Barrels, the AE series all come with a standard 24 inch barrel while the AW come with a 26 inch barrel.

It is possible to opt for a barrel length of your choice, which ever rifle you choose.

Most barrels fitted are Border - Archer barrels and shoot well, in the past Lothar Walther barrels have been used and again these also shoot well.

 

Accuracy wise I've never seen any discernible difference in the AW compared to the AE's but the variables to accuracy as ever come down to ammo choice, met conditions and the shooter.

 

An alternative maybe the AX - the big difference here is the amazing new trigger, the rest of the rifle apart from the new stock system is the same.

 

I would however say I'm a little biased to the AE's as I'm on my third rifle but to balance it out I do have a AWSM in .338 and enjoy shooting all of them.

 

 

Kind Regards

 

Rob

[Chris]

Truth be known you can slam the AE around a fair amount as well. Mine gets rattled around in the back of a 4x4 on Forrest tracks and dragged across all sorts of terrain and is yet to loose zero with the AI one piece and single turn 4-16x PMII. I would be the first to admit it would not fare so well in the Arctic circle or the jungles of Borneo but for UK and Europe it has worked OK so far.

 

The AW has a bonded/bolted action to chassis whereas the AI is bolted only, the AW has a squared off receiver versus the rounded AE one, bolts are interchangeable on the earlier AE's and the bolt on the A MkIII looks very similar to the AW. Having shot them side by side I saw no difference at 600m with identical ammunition other than a slight drop in required elevation for the AW.

 

I shoot an original AE with a 24" barrel and cannot fault it. Yes I smile when people ask me why I could not afford the 'proper' one (Explaining I wanted the AE never seems to sit right with them) Yes I nod and say good job when they tell me they are getting the proper one. Yes I shoot mine in all conditions from 100-1200 yards, mine is a few years old now, has been dragged all over the place, is scuffed and scratched and modified to suit my needs and still works nicely.

 

I can't believe people have said that to you that's disgraceful!!!!!!!!!! Mind you people have said to me why did I waste my money buying the AW when the AE is the same so the AW/AE will split peoples opinion.

 

I went for the AW as I like military rifles and when I added the cost of the bipod, brake and scew cutting the difference was more bearable and at the end of the day i just wanted it and it's my money!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

IMO they will perform the same.

[Dan534]

Bottom line: If you buy the Mk3 and it's for 'normal use', will you always find yourself looking at the AW being used on the next firing point and thinking 'what a mug, he's paid £1000 more for a square action and some epoxy'? -if the answer's 'yes' get the Mk3

 

:-)

 

Seriously though, when the mk1 came into being there where major differences between it and the AW: trigger, 3 position safety, and 5 shot only mag on the AE. Now with the mk3 the only major difference is the action shape and the fact its permanently bonded to the chassis. Yes from an engineering point of view the AW is more durable, but realistically if you where going use or throw the AE around enough for it to de-zero or change the point of impact I'd imagine it would have the same effect on the AW or do some serious damage to both the rifles and there optics. In which case a lost zero would be the last of your worries.

As far as accuracy goes I've seen no difference and its the same conclusion lots of others have come to.

 

This thread is worth a read.

 

http://www.snipershide.com/forum/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Main=247999&Number=2807462#Post2807462

 

Both shoot brilliantly, I've had 2 AE and I've never thought 'I wish I had the AW', you wont go wrong with either.

 

Dan.

[ChrisF]

The comment about , IF you are shooting next to a guy with a AW , and you wish you had got It instead of the AE is virtually spot on .

 

When I was looking at getting my 1st AI rifle , I actually did not even consider the AE , as I wanted either a AW or AWM , and really , I thnk in most cases buying what you truely want 1st time , is cheaper in the long run than UP grading later .

 

I have AWs & AWMs now , but the rifle that gets used the most at the moment is my stock std AW 308 26 inche rifle , and I LOVE it , and would not be with out one now .

 

get what you really want , or you will not be happy .

 

Money spent on top line gear , is seldom wasted .

 

To me the double feed/stack mag of the AW , is worlds ahead as a reliable 10rd magazine .

 

Just my 2 cents

[RINGMAN]

barrel length has little to do with accuracy , barrel quality is much more important. two more inches could gain you a little more fps but that would depend on powder and bullet weight? personally i think the 50fps ish gain would make little or no improvement at 600m.

 

the accuracy question i can't comment having never shot both side by side and anyway that would only be relevant for those two rifles! if it's specifically 600m shooting you do then you could build a rifle for that job at the expense of all round ability if you wanted ?

 

whats your overall objective ? put that down and i'm sure some of the guys on here will be able to help you towards that goal?

 

tackb

Well my original dilemma was to decide between two rifles options for mid – long range competition rifle

We shoot prone position, for 100-600 meters, bipod in front and sand bag at the rear.

Our ammunition is factory load only, from I.M.I, mainly .308 win 168 grain match cartridges. Occasionally we use 175 grain. No weight limit.

The two options were: AI AE MK 3 folding stock 24 inch barrel with 1:12 twist.

The other one, was custom build: Barnard SM Action, Jewel trigger, AICS stock, Bartlein 12 twist barrel, heavy contour, Barnard Rail for scope, 5-10 round HS magazine. Accuracy required : 0.5 m.o.a. or less.

It is a problem here, to find a gunsmith to change barrels in the future, or to make modifications and changes .

I post this dilemma in SNIPER HIDE forum and got the impression that the the AE-MK3 is the rifle to choose in my case. From there I continued to the AW vs’AE question in this forum.

By the way what do you,or other forum members,think about the original dilemma?

Thank you.

GYT

[ChrisF]

Donot get the Barnard ,2 reasons , 1 ) its a good target action , not a Tactical ( ie cannot handle being dirty ) , 2 ) the HS precision mag is not a very good magazine system .

 

As long as the rifle has a good barrel & trigger its going to be accurate .

 

You need to look at the other parts of the rifle , ie stock , magazine & design , the AE has a seperate recoil lug so is not as user friendly as say the AW in terms of barrel swaps .

 

I would not worry too much about barrels , as , any lenght you want can be fitted to both AW & AE models

[Gunsgobang88]

Donot get the Barnard ,2 reasons , 1 ) its a good target action , not a Tactical ( ie cannot handle being dirty ) , 2 ) the HS precision mag is not a very good magazine system .

 

As long as the rifle has a good barrel & trigger its going to be accurate .

 

You need to look at the other parts of the rifle , ie stock , magazine & design , the AE has a seperate recoil lug so is not as user friendly as say the AW in terms of barrel swaps .

 

I would not worry too much about barrels , as , any lenght you want can be fitted to both AW & AE models

 

Hi GYT,

 

I would agree with the above except the comment about the HS Precision mag. system. I have fitted or retro-fitted these into several rifles without any problems. Some of the 10rd .308 mags. are tight on the last round. The mags are adaptable to many non-standard chamberings including wildcats, HS Precision make a tool for altering the mag. lips. The only problem is slowness of supply, the factory seems to be permanently behind on deliveries due to demand,

 

Alan

[ChrisF]

I am talking of the 10rd version made by HS-Precision & it vs the AICS mag , msot in the US pick the AICS mag as being better made & designed , and easier to get hold of .