TACTICAL RIFLE: PART TWO CLEVER COMBINATIONS

Created on 14th May 2009

In part two of the series, NIGEL GREENAWAY outlines some cash-saving ideas for CSR and PR

LAST MONTH I highlighted some rule changes introduced for the 2008 season. They govern Civilian Service Rifle (CSR) and these changes have moved CSR away from Practical Rifle (PR) in some important areas - perhaps enough to even consider using different dedicated rifle/scope combinations for each event. PR would require a thick barrel, bipod attachment and variable power scope while the CSR rifle would be lighter with a thinner barrel, no bipod and lighter four-power scope. Depending on which competition you are entering you just swap uppers and have no worries about changing zero or getting used to a different trigger pull. Given the current economic climate and considering that the AR15 is the dominant rifle in both these disciplines, I will now examine the money-saving option of using two different uppers (upper receiver and barrel) with only one lower (lower receiver/trigger and butt). This offers an immediate £300-£400 saving, plus £150-£200 if you have an adjustable/match trigger and upwards of £250 for a fancy butt! The savings could easily total £700-£850.

Lower (the receiver/trigger and the butt)

This lower will form the basis of the rifle and will allow you to become used to one trigger, one pistol grip and one butt - consistency being one of the founding principles of marksmanship. The lower I have chosen is from the UK's longest standing producer of AR15 rifles, the Southern Gun Company (SGC). Bob Clark at SGC has been making custom AR15s for the UK market for over 10 years. Over 1,000 have been made and SGC are now producing a Mark 5 version of the receiver. On the basis that my first PR specification SGC Speedmaster AR15 was able to shoot half a minute of angle, and even less with handloads, I saw no reason to change manufacturer when looking for a lighter upper for CSR.

The SGC receivers offer both left and right hand cocking (being able to grab both cocking handles can be very useful when you have a stuck case). The left hand cocking is designed for bipod supported rapid-fire prone or weak shoulder PR stages. These receivers can be a flat top style or with a raised scope rail. Both are machined to accept Weaver or Piccatinny scope rings. The flat top has the advantage of being able to mount an Iron Sight Carry handle for use in Hi-Power rifle competitions or Any Iron CSR. The top picture above shows both types of upper, my new CSR rifle having a flat top with a Nightforce 2.5-10 x 24 scope. The smaller scope in the picture is a military surplus four-power Hensoldt on an A.R.M.S. #5 base for mounting on flat tops.

My original SGC Speedmaster was fitted with an optional Arnold Jewel two-stage adjustable trigger, which nowadays will not see much change out of £200. There are other match triggers available and the decision to opt for single or two-stage is largely down to personal choice. Single stage is probably a better choice for the standing, kneeling or sitting stages while I prefer two-stage for prone. The important thing is that you will have a much better trigger pull that you can adjust to a precise 4.5lb. Opt for the standard military trigger and you will end up paying someone to tune it. Altering the weight of the trigger pull is largely down to using trial and error to bend a piece of wire! Adjustable or match type triggers are not eligible for Hi-Power competitions. On the Jewel trigger the weight of the trigger pull is adjusted by moving the spring wire around the serrated wheel - this and other adjustments can be done while the trigger unit is mounted in the receiver.

AR15 butts tend to be rather short for most people so adjustable butts are popular - particularly adjustment for length. The standard pistol grip also places the trigger around the lower joint of the finger when the joint nearest the fingertip would be better. Magpul makes a MIAD Multi Grip which has five different sized front and rear panels. These can be easily changed to suit all hand sizes - having tried one on the firing point I shall be ordering one from SGC shortly.

Uppers (the upper receiver and the barrel)

This is the area where the divergent requirements of PR and CSR are most apparent. PR requires at least a 20" long, thick and preferably fluted barrel while CSR is better suited to a thinner, possibly shorter and consequently lighter barrel. Both disciplines benefit from muzzle brakes to help with faster target acquisition, less recoil and the ability to stay on aim and observe bullet strike (splash) in the sand at all ranges.

I never believed that a muzzle brake was required for the lightweight .223 round so I didn't have one fitted to my PR barrel. It wasn't a big drawback, especially when shooting prone supported because the heavy Parker Hale bipod I use helped add weight at the forend. However, when the CSR rules changed, effectively eliminating bipods in the Service Optic class, I noticed two things when using the magazine resting technique. First was the noticeable barrel flip that made it hard to spot splash at ranges of 300yd or less and secondly, the one in eight tight rifling twist and the use of 77gn bullets created a twisting effect on the whole rifle. A quick search on the internet revealed the Primary Weapons Systems DNTC compensator (www.primaryweapons.com), which is designed to solve both problems. It really works so I had SGC fit one to the 20" H-Bar profile stainless steel barrel with one in eight twist that I chose for my CSR rifle. Both barrels are cut with a Wylde chamber as I had specified to SGC that I wanted to shoot both standard NATO 62gn ball and 77gn Sierra MatchKing home loads. Wylde chambers are match chambers but with a slightly longer throat than commercial chambers, optimised for longer bullets to enable safe use of NATO specification ammunition.

There is a multitude of different AR15 forends that you can use but weight and a comfortable grip are important considerations. For PR you might want to buy a forend with rails so that you can attach accessories like bipods and forward vertical handgrips: these are not allowed in Service Optics, so a simple Hogue over-moulded free floating forend, available in different lengths, was my choice. I also think that the same style of forend will help with consistency when swapping the uppers between disciplines. I had previously used a simple DPMS alloy forend but this lacked the grip and heat insulating properties of the rubber coating moulded onto the external surface of the Hogue forend.

Scopes

When the rules changed for CSR the maximum magnification allowed became 4.5-power for Service Optic. While my Leupold Long Range Tactical 4.5-14x50 was eligible on my AR15 I felt it was bigger and heavier (22oz not including mounts) than required for CSR. As a PR scope it is ideal because you want at least 10 power for 600yd, so 14 power is great whilst the ability to power down to 4.5 is crucial for shooting at 100yd. It also has quarter minute click adjustments, which is useful at the longer ranges. In my search for a nice compact scope I noticed that there were a lot of military surplus German four-power scopes being sold on Ebay for about £300. The Germans had replaced their H&K G3 rifles with the new G36 so the Hensoldt 4x24 scopes became surplus to requirements.

Hensoldt is the military brand of the Zeiss group so the quality is great. The scope shown (left) is the third model known as the FERO- Z 24. In next month's article I will cover this scope in more detail along with another compact scope - the Nightforce 2.5-10 x 24. In addition I will show how the different combinations performed on the rifle range with some tips on reloading .223 for the longer ranges. 

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TACTICAL RIFLE: PART THREE CLEVER COMBINATIONS

NIGEL GREENAWAY looks at scopes and loads in part three of his money-saving series Last month I examined the benefits of using a common AR15 lower (lower receiver/trigger and butt) with two different ...

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