Mission:
If you could only have one rifle what would it be? A question we set out to answer as completely as possible. We built this rifle to be the most versatile and complete rifle that it's possible to build. with the highest quality parts currently available to civilians, and without spending any more money than we absolutely had to. You may hear modern battle rifle and think SCAR, ACR, or some other piston driven dream gun but we're not their yet. It's not a piston driven SCAR that could blow up on you like it did with a SF friend of mine while his unit was testing them out west. He now has them at his disposal on engagement in Iraq while gearing up for round two... But the SCAR stays in its pelican case with its new ELCAN optic and space age FDE polymers. When the green beret's I know (shown in photo below) leave the wire they still take the old M4. Why? You wont have to worry about a clogged gas port sending springs flying, or polymer parts breaking on a direct impingement rifle. That's because Eugene Stoner perfected the AR10 gas system back in the 1950's. This rifle platform actually preceded the m16, but its modern in every sense of the word. And more importantly: battle proven. The SEAL's have had great success with their version dubbed the Mk11, and the Army has grown fond of their Knight's Armament M110 with only minor problems reported (an issue with the ejection port cover causing malfunctions which has since been fixed). Versatility is the name of the game in weapons and this particular rifle has it in spades. With an experienced shooter it can send a .30 caliber projectile out to a target a mile away. It's overall weight is around 10lbs depending on how its loaded out. A high level of accuracy, Semi-automatic box fed magazine capability, and the familiar AR platform make this rifle truly modular and mission capable. It has great knock down power and as long as you keep it clean, its extremely reliable.
Barrel:
We chose a Krieger barrel in 18.5" that will shoot sub MOA groups and still maintain a velocity of 2550 fps with Federal Gold Medal Match 168 Gr HPBT ammo. The 7.62x51 round itself has proven very effective in combat and can do the damage of two or three standard 5.56 rounds out of even a 16" barrel while maintaining an effective range out to 800 yards (some shooters can use a 16" bbl effectively out to a mile in this caliber). Aside from maintaining long range capabilities our 18.5 " barrel helps
keep the overall length down to approx. 37" with the carbine stock in collapsed position. This means the rifle can also be used effectively in CQB, room clearing, and even vehicle based operations when a designated marksman is absolutely necessary. Barrel break in an important and often overlooked aspect of getting the most accuracy out of your precision rifle. We used Montana X-treme .50 BMG copper solvent ( www.montanaxtreme.com ) for our barrel break in procedure. The procedure involved swabbing the barrel with the copper solvent after each shot for ten shots, then after two shots, then after three shots, and on up to ten. This allows for an even base layer of copper to be formed throughout the barrel. On the end of our barrel is a great compensator from Primary Weapons Systems ( www.primaryweapons.com ) that helps with recoil management.
Quad Rail:
To sheath the barrel from harmonic disruptions and to provide an accessory platform for iron sights, lights, scope level, quick detach sling attachment point, and bipod, we chose a Yankee Hill Machine ( www.yhm.net ) smooth modular rail. The round rail isn't always getting caught on stuff like a Knights Armament rail seems too and it's much lighter. You can also add rail sections when needed in virtually any position or size.
Upper Receiver and Bolt Carrier Group (BCG):
The upper receiver is a standard DPMS style upper we got from the folks at Fulton Armory ( www.fulton-armory.com ). They seem to be higher quality than DPMS (although DPMS blank receivers themselves are not quite the same poor quality as some of their small parts) while utilizing the same standard .308 pattern. We also got our bolt carrier group and all upper parts from Fulton Armory: it's hard chromed which is a huge improvement over standard mil-spec finishes. It is much easier to clean, more resistant to wear, and seems to run much better for longer periods of time with less lubrication. The folks at Fulton Armory make some great high end precision rifle components, and that's why we chose them.
Lower Receiver:
The lower receiver is standard DPMS ( www.dpmsinc.com ) and its the only truly DPMS part on the rifle other than the butt stock. We had a DPMS buffer retention pin failure during testing and no longer use DPMS parts in any of our rifles. The specs of the pin were way off and even the shape itself led to the buffer tube jumping the pin and rendering the rifle inoperable. The trigger is a drop in self-contained unit from Timney Triggers ( www.timneytriggers.com ) made specifically for the AR-10. The pull is short and crisp with a break at about 4.5lbs, not to mention a huge improvement over standard AR triggers. It is very important with drop in triggers to get a set of non-rotating trigger pins like the set we picked up from KNS precision ( www.knsprecisioninc.com ) nicely cerakoted in flat dark earth. This helps to insure full reliability of the trigger group since the tension on the pins is different with a drop in trigger unit. The anti-rotational trigger pins are a good upgrade for any AR but essential for reliability with self contained triggers. It also alleviates a wear point. The rest of the springs, upper, and lower receiver parts we got from Fulton Armory with no problems during testing whatsoever. The new buffer retention pin came from Olympic Arms ( www.olyarms.com ) and is also an excellent design.
Accessories:
Moving back up to the forend of the rifle lets talk a bit about that beast of a bipod called an ATLAS. It's stronger AND lighter than a Harris. Each leg is also independently adjustable. If you cant tell we love it. Our back up sights are Dueck Defense Rapid Transition Sights ( www.dueckdefense.com ), which are really quite nice. I particularly like the quickness of the large peephole rear aperture. They are for use with the rifle from point blank to 100 yards or so even though myself and some of our other guys like to shoot mostly by feel and muscle memory for quick shots at short distances. The scope is a Bushnell Elite ( www.bushnell.com ) fixed power mil-dot reticle. The mil-dot reticle is absolutely essential for making quick accurate shots at extended ranges. The fixed power scope delineates this DMR from a precision rifle in that its faster on target, with a higher rate of fire, and no focus adjustments are necessary. I have had mixed luck with Bushnell, and have probably had to send back at least 10 different optics with problems over the years. I continue to use them because they always take care of their customers and their Elite line is a whole other level of quality with very few problems. I have definitely not had any problems out of their Elite line. Putting a scope on an AR like this creates a problem in being able to get to a stock charging handle. The TacOps-1 charging handle from www.mechdefense.com has gone above and beyond fixing that problem. It's not the newest fad in charging handle's, no their charging handle is a genuine work of art. They also make armored turrets for our military so they know what the heck they're doing and they enjoy dealing with military and ex-military individuals. The two point sling from Blue Force Gear ( www.blueforcegear.com ) is very high quality and an excellent way to keep this rifle close. The rubber butt pad from U.S. Palm is not a necessity but simply a nice comfort item. Different parts as well as the rifle itself have been duracoated, cerakoted, gunkoted, and krylon rattle canned camo in various stages of its life. Its seen different stocks, buffers, buffer tubes, scopes, and accessories but the setup shown and described is the best we could come up with after thousands of rounds of testing. Hope you enjoyed this reading material.
