Target Sports

RIFLE REVIEW: THE JEWEL IN THE CROWN

Created on 27th May 2009

ANDY MASSINGHAM reviews a Swiss military and tactical rifle

Brugger & Thomet is a small Swiss company that was founded in 1991. It initially specialised in supplying high quality firearm suppressors and accessory mounts to a large European firearms producer (Heckler and Koch) and is now one of NATO's major suppliers. In 2004 B&T introduced a small range of weapons for military and tactical purpose, including the APR308 which is the subject of this review. The Brugger & Thomet APR308 (All Purpose Rifle) is manufactured in a high tech engineering plant in Switzerland. There is a saying in Switzerland: "a job isn't done until it's well done." This rifle could well be the jewel in Brugger & Thomet's crown.

Concept and construction

The APR308 is a modular design, comprising of a main alloy spine chassis system, an integral folding stock, a steel CNC machined action, quick-change stainless steel, fluted barrel and various accessory mounts. All components are attached to the frame with hex head bolts. The main frame of the rifle is a CNC-machined alloy frame, which is immensely strong. This frame is the foundation of the stock; it has a synthetic forend handgrip and an adjustable folding butt section. The forend has a bipod permanently attached; however, this may be removed via Allen key.

The bipod is similar in design to the Parker-Hale system, but is silent to deploy and equally silent when stowed in the carrying position - a bonus for the intended user, who will no doubt hope to remain unheard! The bipod has 6" (150mm) legs which extend via a series of ratchet stops to 9" (230mm), and it allows for cant and swivel if deployed on uneven ground or tracking moving targets.

The forend has a lower rail system machined into the bottom of the frame, so a hand stop or Harris bipod accessory mount could be attached if required. The stock features an M16-style pistol grip, which is covered in a rubber Hogue grip, providing a very comfortable and natural hold.

Just forwards of the pistol grip is the magazine release, which is an ambidextrous toggle within the lower edge of the trigger guard - an obvious and neat place to have it - where it falls naturally to the fingers when changing the 10-round metal magazine.

The trigger blade is adjustable for weight and length of pull and has a secondary safety built into the blade. In use the blade was comfortably wide and the factory-set, two-stage release was very crisp and light. The ambidextrous safety lever is found just above the pistol grip on both sides of the frame.

The folding stock has two simple but effective latches: the larger latch retains the stock in the open position, the smaller latch in the closed position. In use the stock was very solidly locked in either position, with no free play or rattles whatsoever.

Moving rearwards to the butt - how much adjustment does one need? The length of pull, cheekpiece height and butt plate vertical height are all adjustable with the Allen key tool kit. I would hazard a guess that the stock could be altered to suit just about any body shape in a matter of minutes. At the base of the butt is a fixed ‘blob' rest.

Stored within the skeleton butt is the adjustable butt spike. It is released from its stored position by a simple locking mechanism and locks firmly in place at vertical. The spike offers no less than 80mm of vertical adjustment, making the bipod/butt spike a very versatile rest combination indeed. The spike has a wide disk at the base that does not easily sink into the ground and is somewhat more substantial than other designs I have seen.

The stock also houses a total of five flush cups (three on the right hand side, two on the left), allowing quick-detachable sling studs to be fitted with the butt folded or open. All of the flush cups have a clever integral spring-loaded dust cap, which prevents dirt ingress when not in use. The cheekpiece is formed from a simple but comfortable synthetic material and is adjustable for height.

The action is CNC-machined from a solid billet of steel; a piece of Delrin machined at the rear of the action allows a guide way for the bolt to be inserted quietly and without damage to either the bolt face or rear of the action if done in low light/darkness. The bolt release is located on the left-hand edge of the action and with the stock in the folded position, release/refit is easily accomplished.

Sitting atop of the action was Brugger & Thomet's own mil spec Picatinny rail, having numbered lugs, a feature that made resetting the quick-detach scope mount very easy.

A one-piece three-rail accessory system was also fitted to the forend. This enclosed the barrel and featured Picatinny rails at three, nine and 12 o'clock allowing the fitment of an image intensifier, laser, torch or other accessory. Again all the lugs were numbered, making re-fitment of equipment an accurate and easy task.

Barrel and suppressor

Made from stainless steel, the 22", 1-11" twist, straight taper tube has six flutes. It is entirely free floating. A large nut has been machined into the breech area, which suggests that this rifle allows the end user barrel changes with the necessary tools. A large purposeful clamp-style muzzle brake is fitted to the business end of the barrel; this was threaded for the equally impressive B&T suppressor - an accessory for which the company is renowned. The supplied suppressor just reinforced this reputation for quality. Measuring 9½" (240mm) long and just 1½" (40mm) in diameter but weighing a hefty 875gr, it is a screw-on type with multiple internal baffles. The rear section of the suppressor forms a mount interface to the muzzle brake and has an internal O ring seal to prevent any gases escaping the wrong way. The thread screws to the muzzle brake without any slop and the O ring provided a perfect, tight union between the barrel and the suppressor.

Bolt

The substantial three-lug bolt features a 60° throw and has anti-bind grooves machined along its length. An extractor is housed in the lug adjacent to the bolt handle; this performed faultlessly. The bolt face encompasses the case head in a recess approximately 4mm deep. A forcing cone is machined immediately behind the lugs, which appears to help the bolt to be concentric to the centre of the bore line. I noted that all lugs bore witness marks indicating true locking of the action.

Scope and mount

The rifle came fitted with a Schmidt & Bender 3-12 x 50 PM11 illuminated scope mounted in a one-piece quick detachable mount of B&T's own design. The scope had a custom mildot reticle, which appeared to be a variation on the Klein (P4) reticle. The mounts were, as now expected, high quality CNC machined from alloy and operated by two QD levers. It was a two-second operation to fit and lock or remove the scope from the Picatinny rail on the rifle: this mount is built to military standards.

In action

I was kindly supplied with some boxes of Lapua factory ammunition loaded with 180gn Scenar bullets for testing purposes. I also took a few rounds loaded with 167gn Scenar, one of the loads my Accuracy International AWP shoots well, to see if that suited the APR. When I arrived at the range, I set up in still conditions and decided to use only the bipod and rear adjustable butt spike in ‘field conditions,' as I would imagine this would be the way most people will use this rifle, either in a work-related role or in practical, tactical or F-Class shoots. I also fitted the suppressor.

I set up a target at 100m and shot several groups in different ways. Using the supplied Lapua ammunition, the first three shots measured .416" - not a bad start.

I then shot five rounds of my own ammunition loaded with 167gn Scenar bullets, but the rifleappeared not to like these - the group was just over an inch.

Returning to the factory loads, I shot a further five-round group and then removed the scope in order to see if the point of impact changed when I re-fitted it. Firing another five shots, I found the POI was exactly the same, all 10 shots going into just .700".

Five shots of ‘rapid fire' went into just an inch. The report from the suppressed 308 was as quiet as any other large-calibre moderator I have used, but without any ring or resonance. There was little felt recoil and virtually no loss of sight picture. I removed the suppressor to see how effective the muzzle brake was and fired another five shots. I lost sight picture momentarily, but it was obvious the brake was effective in its task. The bolt was very smooth to operate, but required a firm pull to ensure that it was fully retracted or I found that it would misfeed, mainly operator error on my part. Importantly, having realised what I was doing wrong with the bolt throw, there were no more mis-feeds. Extraction and ejection were smooth and faultless. The trigger broke very well, with a crisp and unexpected release at the second stage - just what one wants. I also noted that while cycling rounds from the magazine into the chamber, there was no metallic rattle - another feature designed with the intended user in mind, no doubt!

To conclude, as a system the rifle is extremely well thought-out. I cannot think of anything I would change to improve the ergonomics or ease of use. Being intended primarily as a tactical weapon, the APR308 is very accurate with the supplied factory ammunition and the quality of the engineering and construction are obvious. I would expect that with more time, experimenting with handloading would have only improved on the already impressive results.

As a tactical rifle, it is especially suited to the civilian target or police user, who I am sure would not be disappointed by this package.

The suggested retail price, including Picattiny rail, butt spike, suppressor and range bag, is £6,000 including VAT. The B&T one-piece quick-detach mount has an SRP of £325 including VAT

For more information contact the UK Distributor for Brugger & Thomet, Viking Arms Ltd, on 01423 780810.

RIFLE REVIEW: THE JEWEL IN THE CROWN

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RIFLE REVIEW: THE JEWEL IN THE CROWN

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