Adult-size guns are mostly too long and cumbersome, kick too much or have a very loud report. Many require more strength to operate the controls than a pre-teen can muster. Fortunately, several companies produce .22 LR carbines made just for kids.

Child-size firearms date back to the early 16th century. The Holy Roman Emperors had diminutive wheellock arquebuses and even cannons made for their kids’ practice, to go with miniature suits of armor and swords. Such tiny arms remained relatively uncommon until the advent of fixed ammunition (originally BB and CB caps; later .22 Short, Long and eventually Long Rifle) and improvements in cost-effective manufacturing. Low-power, low-noise “gallery” guns became quite popular in the third quarter of the 19th century. Some of them were made smaller for teaching child shooters. By the start of the 20th century, a dedicated “Boy’s Rifle”—a take-down Rolling Block Remington No. 6 in .22 LR—retailed for about $2, a rough equivalent of $200 today. By the 1920s, several youth-size, single-shot, bolt-action rifles made by companies like Winchester were available for even less. Until 1968, any child could order these and other firearms by mail. Several of the models were expressly intended for the use in NRA safety and marksmanship courses, and were manufactured in substantial numbers.

Any new shooter is best served by a firearm fitted to his stature and strength, and that’s even more important for children who may have less patience than adults. A typical kid’s rifle is short, light, has proportionally reduced controls and uses fairly simple sights. Ideally, it should account for left- or right-hand preference and eye dominance. Several companies produce rifles dedicated to 5- to 10-year-old users, and several adult designs can be adjusted to fit teen and late pre-teen learners.

The total length of the gun isn’t as important as the length of pull (the distance from the buttplate to the trigger). The weight should be as light as possible, because smaller kids have much less strength than we would expect. For the same reason, the point of balance cannot be too far forward. Sling attachments are desirable, both for safe carry in the field and for support when firing.

The 3-pound Thompson/Center Hot Shot is the smallest currently manufactured rifle (in a conventional configuration) thanks to its compact, ambidextrous, break-action design. Its trigger guard is so small, the shooter has to cock the hammer before her finger can be put on the trigger. Windage-adjustable peep sights provide a very long sight radius but cannot be adjusted for elevation. The trigger is crisp, and the action is easy for a youngster to operate. The Hot Shot extracts the empties without ejecting them clear of the action, and with the back of the action facing the shooter, it’s very easy to ensure the rifle is clear. For older shooters, the stock can be extended with included spacers. The Hot Shot does not have sling swivel studs, but they may be added. The Hot Shot is available in black, pink and camo finishes.

Chipmunk bolt-actions redefined the kids’ rifle category when they appeared in 1982. Currently, similar Chipmunk and Crickett designs are made by Keystone Sporting Arms. The manually cocked rifles are available in left- and right-hand variants, and in a wide variety of wood finishes or plastic colors. A standard Crickett comes with a peep sight adjustable for windage and elevation, and the front sight may be fitted with a fiber-optic insert. A scope mount may be added for an optional 4×32 mm scope of surprisingly high quality, fitted with a mil-dot reticle. In consideration of its intended use, the parallax of the scope is fixed at 35 yards instead of the more usual 50 or 100 yards.  The Crickett weighs only 2.5 pounds, an important consideration for the youngest shooters.

The design of the action found in Henry Repeating Arms’ Mini Bolt Youth is very similar to the Crickett, but it adds a manual safety. The biggest distinction are the three-dot fiber-optic sights, which provide an easy means of teaching new shooters proper sight picture, but limit practical accuracy to hitting stationary sporting clays not much past 15 yards. For longer range shooting, a cantilevered Picatinny rail mount with a low-power scope or a red-dot sight is preferred. Sturdy construction and polymer furniture make the all-stainless Mini Bolt Youth a rugged, weather-resistant design at 3.25 pounds.

Compared to actions with exposed hammers, typical bolt-action rifles are fairly stiff for kids to make ready. Neither the Crickett nor the Mini Bolt Youth can be opened with the striker cocked, so it should be left in the down position until the decision to fire has been made. Manual de-cocking requires dexterity and finger strength, and is probably best left to the supervising adults.

Savage’s Rascal is a cock-on-open bolt-action with a machined, fully adjustable peep sight, and its receiver is grooved for tip-off scope mounts. Like the adult models produced by Savage, the Rascal includes the company’s excellent AccuTrigger, which provides a light, crisp trigger pull—an even more important feature in such lightweight rifles. A manual safety is also present. The action can be cycled for unloading even with the striker cocked. The Rascal is available with a polymer stock in several colors, as well as a high-quality walnut version. The polymer stocks are lighter by .5 pound (3 pounds overall), while the walnut stock is more solid and makes the rifle feel like a miniaturized adult firearm.

Chiappa’s Little Badger is a very unusual rifle for youngsters. With all-metal construction, a quad-rail fore-end and a threaded muzzle, it looks more like a science-fiction prop than a kid’s carbine. But, its ambidextrous, break-open action is simple and easy to use, and its sights—patterned after the M1 Carbine—are placed just low enough for a child to easily see. Adults with larger heads would have to use optics mounted higher than the irons. The threaded muzzle allows for the use of sound suppressors, which are very helpful for teaching new shooters, who are often noise-sensitive. A protected front sight and its generally rugged build make the Little Badger a good rifle to take camping. To that end, the rifle folds around the center pin and fits into a small included pouch.

The Smith & Wesson M&P15-22 and Chiappa mfour-22 are AR-15 lookalikes with polymer lower receivers chambered in .22 LR, ideally suited for smaller shooters. Thanks to their lightweight construction—a full pound lighter than ARs with aluminum receivers—and collapsible stocks, both fit young shooters well. If necessary, the grips can be replaced with abundant smaller variants. At just more than 5 pounds, rimfire ARs are noticeably heavier than the single-shot rifles, and have slightly more complex manuals of arms and maintenance requirements. But, they also offer greater capabilities, including optional magazines holding from 15 to 50 rounds (25 is standard for M&P15-22, 28 for the mfour-22) and are able to accept most readily available AR-15 accessories. Chiappa’s lower receiver may even be used with centerfire uppers once the shooter is ready to make that transition.

Accuracy with all of these rifles depends primarily on the skill of the shooter. The second most important factor is the ammunition: with bulk .22 LR fodder, all of these rifles produce about 4-MOA groups. That’s plenty good to break sporting clays placed on the 100-yard berm. If these are used for marksmanship training and not just for familiarization, higher-grade ammunition would be required. With match ammunition and quality optics, trigger and barrel differences become more important. Savage’s Rascal wins the trigger contest, and Chiappa’s mfour-22 wins on mechanical accuracy—with a trained shooter, match ammunition and high-magnification optic, it’s a sub-MOA performer.

Accuracy is only one factor for a training carbine. The Mini Bolt Youth, Rascal, Hot Shot and Crickett come out about even on the small-size scale, and the Little Badger gets high grades for compatibility with accessories and ruggedness. Depending on your child’s age, stature and level of experience, any one of these little rifles could be a good choice.

Keep in mind, high-magnification scopes so helpful to accurate shooting for adults can be difficult for younger kids to master. A fixed low-power scope would be easier for a beginner to use, while a red-dot sight would be simpler yet and extremely helpful for cross-dominant shooters. Systematic safety and marksmanship training on top of the mere possession of a rifle turns a good choice into an excellent one.

With orders for arms and ammunition already waning a year later, Remington’s leadership followed the example of company founder and namesake, Eliphalet Remington II, casting their eyes toward future horizons. The challenge was to transform a robust wartime industrial machine using outdated equipment and production methods into an efficient and modern company. Their goal was to meet the emerging needs of Amer-icans on the home front once again.

Before the war ended, Remington had begun a Reconversion and Modernization program that eventually yielded such iconic products as the Model 870 “slide action” shotgun. As a testament to the success of this new effort, the 10 millionth Model 870 recently came off the line at Remington’s Ilion, NY, factory.

One of the engineers tasked to work on these efforts was a man named Mike Walker. He came to Remington during the war and immediately led a successful program to develop munitions capable of defeating the formidable German Tiger tank. After solving several other problems—like how to button rifle a barrel—Walker created the Remington 721 and 722 bolt-action rifles. These popular actions eventually yielded one of his crowning achievements: the Remington 700.

Remington's Custom Shop has a lot to offer, whether you're looking for more "exotic" chamberings, or a proven catridge, like this model in .308 Win.

Since its introduction in 1961, approximately 5 million M700s have left the factory, destined for happy customers around the world. Astoundingly, Walker continues to be an active shooter, gun-builder and bullet-maker at the age of 100. A few highlights from the lengthy list of his achievements include developing the competition-dominating 40X action and .222 Rem. cartridge, early developmental work on VLD bullet designs and providing the engineering wizardry behind the first cartridge-fired nail gun. He also held many national titles in his long and active benchrest shooting career. Remington’s 700 and 40X actions continue to be carried by our military snipers in the form of the Army’s M24 Sniper Weapon System and the Marine Corps’ M40 family.

Among law enforcement snipers, the 700 action is still the dominant force, despite stiff competition from several directions. There’s no doubt Walker enjoyed seeing the 50th anniversary of the Remington 700.

Remington was not content to merely offer stock production guns, despite the modernization program’s success. Accordingly, it started a Custom Shop around the same time as the 700 action debuted. Another page from the playbook of Eliphalet Remington II may have been used here. Remington was a master blacksmith, gun-builder and innovator, but that did not stop him from inviting other 19th century inventors into his company’s factories to fully develop their ideas.

Ever the good businessman, Remington then marketed the best of these inventions. The mid-20th century creation of a Custom Shop would capture the talents and experience of the company’s gunsmiths and craftsmen in an environment that made the best use of them. Their goal was to offer customers the kind of hands-on treatment to make them loyal shooters for life. Nearly 50 years later, Remington’s Custom Shop is a successful enterprise. It offers a wide array of firearms and services that continue to grow in scope and complexity.

Current Operations

The modern Custom Shop employs 12 gunsmiths with an average experience level of 30 years within Remington Arms. Though most of their work centers on rifles, the Custom Shop offers a “sky’s the limit” list of options for Remington’s shotgun lines as well.

Rifle work is divided into several series: Hunter, Target/Tactical, Historical, Rimfire, 40X and High Grade. Many choices fall within each of these categories, but as this is a truly custom operation, the options are nearly limitless. One thing the Custom Shop doesn’t do is the type of aftermarket modifications typically performed by gunsmiths. If they did the small jobs, such as drop-in trigger replacements, they wouldn’t be able to satisfy their larger customer base with newly built custom guns. However, the Custom Shop will rework a customer’s existing rifle or shotgun into a sleek beauty or tricked-out tactical wonder.

Remington Custom Shop creations, like the .338 Lapua Mag. rifle built on the company’s 40XS action, provide superior performance over stock guns.

I recently tested a pair of the shop’s bolt-action rifles based on the 40X action. One was chambered in .308 Win., while the other was a 40XS action chambered in .338 Lapua Mag. I requested these chamberings because I wanted to evaluate familiar tactical calibers with an eye toward the performance required for real-world precision applications. Both rifles acquitted themselves relatively well on the range.

Custom Shop rifles all have standard features you’d expect on a high-end gun, like trued bolt-engagement surfaces, hand-lapped barrels, surface-ground recoil lugs along with adjustable and match triggers. All rifles built on 40X actions are guaranteed to shoot .5-inch, three-round groups at 100 yards. Both test rifles came with sample targets showing examples of this performance. I did manage a singular sub-.5-inch, five-round group with the .338 Lapua Mag., but that was the only one.

I’ve written in the past about my preference for five-round groups. My test results would look a lot better for all guns tested if I stopped at three shots, which is why I opt for the higher number of rounds. One simple reason is because a rifle’s point of impact may change as the barrel and chamber heat up. That dynamic is among many that make up the shooter-gun-ammunition triad I test on the range. Three-shot groups are fine for hunting rifles, but not for guns intended for the multiple-shot environments encountered by tactical shooters. Ten-shot groups would be even better, but I can’t afford the premium ammunition to support that level of testing, so I compromise. All shooting was done from the prone position with a bipod and rear bag for support.

40X .308 Win.

The smaller of this duo was housed in one of McMillan’s very comfortable A3 stocks, with a one-piece Picatinny rail bolted to the top of the receiver. The 24-inch barrel had three, 3⁄8-inch wide flutes around the outer circumference that were milled a scant .04-inch deep. The free-floated barrel’s medium-contour taper culminated at .882 inch near the hunter/field-crowned muzzle.

Its action was mounted in an aluminum block embedded in the stock, eliminating the need for traditional glass bedding. While the latter bedding method is a great accuracy enhancer, it tends to be too fragile for the long-term rigors of tactical environments, so the aluminum block is a welcome feature.

Featuring an adjustable trigger set at a crisp 2.5 pounds, the .308 Win. was comfortable to shoot and managed sub-.75-MOA groups with both tested ammunition types.

There are several features I’d change if ordering this rifle for field use. First, the hinged floorplate would be replaced with a detachable-box magazine. The combination of a short action and an internal magazine directly affect a shooter’s ability to reload quickly. The other change I’d make is to the barrel’s twist, measured at 1:11.75-inches. While the 175- and 180-grain loads I tested were stable at 100 yards, my experience is a tighter twist (1:10 inches) would better accommodate heavier projectiles at longer ranges.

Fed from a three-round, detachable box magazine, the Custom Shop 40XS displayed excellent accuracy at 100 and 800 yards.

Suggested retail pricing for a stripped 40X in .308 Win. as tested is $4,399.78. The price goes up with options such as a bipod, sling, optics and a Pelican case.

40XS .338 Lapua Mag.

Packaged in a sharp-looking, forest-green McMillan A5 stock, the .338 Lapua Mag. arrived in the form of a relatively lightweight and well-balanced rifle. Its XS action was glass bedded and held in place by a massive .314-inch thick recoil lug.

A MARS rail mounted atop the action allowed for night vision or thermal optics mounting in front of the day optic, with side rails for ancillary devices. The three-round, external box magazine was a bit on the small side for tactical purposes, but was still better than an internal setup. A user-adjustable X-Mark Pro single-stage trigger came set at 2.75 pounds. The bolt and magazine releases shared space in the trigger guard. I’ve never liked this setup on anything other than a target rifle. The mag release is too small and awkward for reloading in a hurry, and the stock bolt release in this location is also difficult to manipulate. I prefer the trigger guard to be left clean, especially for environments where gloves or numb fingers may be likely.

The 26-inch barrel employed a good-for-caliber 1:9-inch right-hand twist and was fronted by an integral and fairly effective brake. It arrived in the standard Custom Shop heavy-duty hard case, with a very useful dual-compartment soft case inside.

I fired the .338 Lapua Mag. at 100 and 800 yards and saw good accuracy at both ranges. While the extreme-spread group averages will not garner me any bragging rights, Remington’s 250-grain Scenar loads turned in several sub-MOA groups at both distances. I did not compensate for wind during this evaluation. I knew how well .338 Lapua Mag. projectiles would handle crosswind velocities when properly stabilized, as was the case with this rifle, so I held “straight away” for all groups.

Whether chambered in .308 Win. (above) or .338 Lapua Mag. (like this one), Remington Custom Shop rifles have plenty to offer.

It was more important to evaluate the critical vertical dispersion that factors heavily into long-range accuracy. The vertical spread for both ammo types at 800 yards hovered around 1 MOA, indicating both rifle and ammunition were shooting consistently. MSRP for the 40XS system I tested in .338 Lapua Mag. is $7,680.Back to the Future I asked Carlos Martinez, Remington’s product manager for handguns, about future Custom Shop operations. Martinez most recently served as the Custom Shop’s product manager, so he was in a good position to illuminate some of their recent work. He told me Remington added $500,000 of CNC equipment in the last year to enhance its custom capabilities.

While the company still uses some hammer-forged barrels, it is working toward incorporating 40X barrels on all custom rifles. Martinez explained the buttons used to rifle 40X barrels are pushed and not pulled. This process is slower and more meticulous, but it ensures the button stays centered and true throughout the bore.

All centerfire Custom Shop barrels are built in-house. Rimfire barrels come from Shilen, which makes fine barrels in any flavor. A good snapshot of Remington’s attention to detail can be seen in its barrel-lapping process, which includes 500 to 600 passes with a hand lap to smooth bore surfaces for maximum accuracy.

Approximately 800 to 1,200 rifles and shotguns are built by the Remington Custom Shop per year. Since the introduction of the R1 pistol, people are asking about custom 1911s and Martinez said the company is toying with the idea of offering custom R1 options. Remington’s longstanding commitment to quality arms and customer satisfaction should ensure it will be a real crowd pleaser.

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For detailed images of these guns, click here for the rifle and here for the 1911.

Tactical Rifles’ Chimera M40T7 is a precision bolt-action rifle chambered in .308 Win. When the company began building precision rifles several years ago, it used commercial parts for its designs. Relying on outside vendors left it at the mercy of those vendors’ manufacturing tolerances, Tactical Rifles’ owner David Rooney worked with engineers to design components of his own. With regard to the M40T7, only the barrel, magazine box, trigger and scope are provided by outside sources, while the receiver, stock, bottom metal, scope rings and Picatinny base are all produced by or specifically for Tactical Rifles.  

Its action is a proprietary design, combining the proven elements of the Remington Model 700 action with the precision tolerances of a custom receiver. Externally, it is recognized by its large ejection port—which provides increased access to the chamber—as well as the receiver-mounted bolt stop. The spiral-fluted bolt has an extended “tactical” knob that allows cycling the action without breaking cheek weld and potentially losing sight of your target. Built with both accuracy and reliability in mind, Tactical Rifles maximizes the benefits of existing actions, while avoiding their shortcomings. Unlike the thin extractor on the Remington 700 action, the Chimera contains a large steel unit that hinges on a roll pin through the bolt body. Production receivers must be blueprinted to achieve concentricity, while the Chimera is built to tight tolerances without additional hours of labor.

Chambered in .308 Win., overall length of the Chimera M40T7 is 39.5 inches and it has a 20-inch barrel.

The T7 stock is made of a blend of fiberglass and Kevlar and incorporates several features shooters will find useful. A tapered fore-end allows for fast incremental elevation changes, while its textured palm swell provides a comfortable grip. The bottom of the buttstock sweeps forward, enabling the non-firing hand to control the rear of the rifle when the fore-end is resting on a benchrest or bipod. Female sockets for pushbutton QD sling swivels are embedded in the left side of the stock, which, when carried, places the flat surfaces of the rifle comfortably on the shooter’s back without protruding magazines, bolt handles or optics. 

The test rifle featured a No. 7 contour 20-inch stainless steel match barrel, however as a custom rifle company, Tactical Rifles will build a rifle to suit the customer’s desires when it comes to barrel profile and length, cartridge selection, stock “fill” weight and finish. The heavy taper of this rifle’s barrel kept recoil to a minimum; a customer seeking more mobility would likely choose a lighter profile. Using premium-quality barrels is essential for creating the level of accuracy Tactical Rifles guarantees its customers. It pledges all of its precision rifles will shoot less than a half-inch, 3-round group at 100 yards with factory match-grade ammo.

I’ve tested five of the company’s rifles, and have yet to find one that doesn’t exceed that standard by a wide margin—with this rifle being no exception. The best five-round group measured .240 inch, and averaged .602 inch. If you’re interested in three-round groups, this rifle puts them in the .125- to .175-inch range. This was my second experience with Stan Chen’s ASYM Precision Ammunition, which is custom loaded with quality components like Lapua brass and Sierra MatchKing bullets. The rifle and ammo combination produced one-hole groups with predictable and impressive regularity.   

A wide ejection port and flat-bottomed recoil lug are two of the features that comprise Tactical Rifles’ proprietary action.

The M40T7 fed and extracted reliably from the five-round Accuracy International detachable-box magazine. Its magazine seats into Tactical Rifles’ own beefy bottom metal, one of the few parts it sells as an aftermarket item. An oversize paddle-style release enables the shooter to change magazines quickly without fumbling for a button.  

Atop the rifle, a Leupold Mark 4 6.5-20×50 mm LR/T included in the package was secured to the 20-MOA Picatinny rail base using the company’s Chimera titanium-alloy 30 mm rings. These precision-ground rings feature six oversize Torx bolts for maximum strength and purchase. All of the rifle’s metal, excluding the rings, is coated with a titanium-colored, moly-resin finish tested to 6,000 hours of salt spray.

The Coonan Classic is the brainchild of Dan Coonan resulting from an argument among college kids between the superiority of the 1911 semi-automatic versus the .357 Mag. revolver. Production of original Coonan pistols began in 1979 and continued to be refined until the 1990s, when Coonan sold the company. The old Coonan Arms later went bankrupt, but devotees of the pistol eventually hounded Coonan into relaunching the design under the banner of Coonan Inc.

Chambered in .357 Mag., overall length of the Coonan Classic is 8.375 inches.

The Classic is constructed of 17-4 PH stainless steel and maintains the same basic lines as a traditional 1911. According to Coonan, the Classic model has 18 parts in common with the 1911A1. The pistol also features a brushed finish on the flats of the frame and slide and is bead-blasted to a matte surface on the remainder of the firearm. Its slide contains the logos of both Tactical Rifles and Coonan, along with the roll mark “Limited Edition 1/100” to designate the special package.

To accommodate the larger .357 Mag. cartridge, its grip dimensions are slightly larger in height, length and width. The magazine well is elongated to accommodate the large, seven-round magazine, and the engraved aluminum grip panels are oversize when compared to your grandaddy’s old warhorse. The frame contains a full-length dustcover, extended thumb safety and slide stop, along with a semi-beavertail grip safety.

Compared to a 1911, the slide is nearly identical to a standard 5-inch government model, though approximately .25-inch longer. Its Trijicon night sights sport an innovative configuration—a front dot paired with dual horizontal rear bars, which is adjustable for windage and elevation and features a snag-free profile that is reminiscent of Novak’s LoMount model.

An external extractor is tasked with cycling the long, .357 Mag. cases from the pistol’s massive, oversize ejection port—the most striking element to the Coonan, and one of the things that sets it apart at first glance. Not only is the port larger in order to reliably extract and eject .357 Mag. cases, it is milled rearward to accommodate the extended barrel hood, which is .5 inch longer than the one on a .45 ACP and locks the barrel into battery like the rib extension of a side-by-side shotgun.

Internally, the Classic offers a departure from tradition. The designer took note of modern semi-autos when adapting the 1911 platform to accommodate .357 Mag. ammo. The linkless barrel incorporates three points of lockup: a modern oversize bottom lug, a single top lug forward of the chamber, along with the aforementioned extended hood. The trigger is a modern hinged unit, which pushes the trigger bow rearward to release the sear and theoretically this provides some leverage for the trigger finger. Assembly and disassembly procedures are identical to most 1911s, minus the process of aligning the barrel link with the slide stop.

Firing the Coonan was a treat. At nearly 3 pounds, muzzle flip was very reasonable and comparable to most 10 mm pistols. Muzzle blast however, was significant. The only mechanical issue involved rare instances when the slide didn’t lock back on an empty magazine. 

The pistol’s linkless barrel consists of an oversize bottom lug, single top lug and an extended hood forming three lockup points.

I ran a few magazines of .38 Spl. through the Classic to see if they functioned without the appropriate recoil spring. Though they made the gun very pleasant to shoot, the load would not cycle the action at all with its 22-pound recoil spring. However, I’m told .38 Spl. cycles perfectly when a 10-pound spring is installed.  

This package was a lot of fun to shoot. The M40T7’s excellent accuracy and mild recoil, combined with the muzzle blast of the Coonan Classic makes for quite a combination. While each firearm would be great to own individually—the limited-edition set makes things more impressive.

Chimera M40T7
Manufacturer: Tactical Rifles; (877) 811-4867, www.tacticalrifles.net
Action Type: Bolt-action
Caliber: .308 Win.
Capacity: Five rounds (larger magazines available)
Stock: Fiberglass-Kevlar blend
Sights: Leupold Mark 4 LR/T 6.5-20×50 mm riflescope included
Barrel: 20 inches; Premium hand-lapped stainless match-grade steel
Rifling: 4-grooves; 1:10-inch RH twist
Trigger Pull Weight: 2.0 pounds
Length: 39.5 inches
Weight: 12 pounds, 3.2 ounces
Accessories: Hardigg case, Chimera titanium-alloy rings

Coonan Classic
Manufacturer: Coonan Inc.; (763) 786-1720, www.coonaninc.com
Action-type: Recoil-operated, semi-automatic
Caliber: .357 Mag.
Capacity: 7+1
Frame: 17-4 PH stainless steel
Slide: 17-4 PH stainless steel
Barrel: 5-inches, Storm Lake
Rifling: 6 grooves; 1:16-inch RH twist
Sights: Trijicon low-profile adjustable with tritium ampoules; front dot, rear dual bars
Trigger Pull Weight: 5.2 pounds
Length: 8.375 inches
Height: 5.6 inches
Width: 1.3 inches
Weight: 2 pounds, 11.4 ounces
MSRP: $7,889 (entire package)

The MVP sports ground-breaking features, partly due to its innovative magazine compatibility and partly due to its design. Building a bolt-action rifle to work with AR-15 magazines is a bit more complex than you might first imagine. For starters, Mossberg had to figure out how to work around a magazine designed to lock in place via a side catch. Then, the company had to devise a solution to feed cartridges from between the narrow feed lips of the AR-15 magazine. Mossberg’s solution was pioneering in concept, but from an engineering standpoint, it was practical and reasonably simple.

Senior Design Engineer Tim Blazek started with Mossberg’s 4×4 action, which is CNC machined from bar stock, and shrunk it down so the ejection port was only 2.16 inches long. This reduced action length and weight. He then devised a polymer bedding block with an integral magazine well fitted with a lever-like magazine release at the front. The bedding block/mag well fits inside the stock and is held in place by the two steel pillars, through which the front and rear action screws pass.

The lower portion of the bolt face is hinged to reliably interface with AR magazines’ narrow feed lips.

This solved problem number one. The next challenge was to engineer the bolt so it would slip between the narrow feed lips on an AR magazine, reliably push cartridges into the chamber and lock up tight enough to allow the rifle to shoot accurately. This was accomplished by hinging the lower portion of the bolt face so it dropped down slightly and sort of dug the cartridge from either side of the magazine.

Admittedly, this design, which Mossberg calls the Drop-Push Bolt, looks a bit frail. I thought it might not be very rugged and desperately tried to break it during a three-day varmint shoot. But, I failed, and so did several other writers. Cartridges fed slickly out of several different AR-15 magazines. The only hitch in the system was seen with the first two or three rounds from fully loaded 20-round magazines, which required slightly more force to dislodge.

Plain and simple, the MVP works and shoots reasonably well, too. The average for five, five-shot groups, fired with four different loads, was 1.38 inches. Mossberg claims the MVP will deliver MOA accuracy out of the box. The test rifle and I failed to live up to that claim, but came mighty close with DoubleTap’s 62-grain FMJ load. With all the .223 Rem. ammunition to choose from, it is hard to imagine several could not achieve MOA accuracy from the MVP.

Like most ARs, Mossberg chose to chamber the MVP for the 5.56 NATO as opposed to the .223 Rem. The only difference in these chamberings is how the throat is cut. The longer throat of the 5.56 NATO chamber can hinder accuracy when .223 Rem. ammunition is used. A better choice might have been the compromise chambering known as the .223 Wylde. It sort of splits the difference in throat dimensions.

With a flat-bottomed fore-end, the rifle is comfortable to shoot off sandbags. The included bipod mounts to the front sling swivel stud.

Two things that make shooting the MVP fun and almost effortless are the configuration of the varmint/target-style stock and the trigger. The stock is cut from a blank of laminated hardwood and boasts a nearly camouflaged appearance. Its wide and flat fore-end interfaces well with sandbags, and the high comb combined with the near vertical pistol grip is very comfortable.

Mossberg wisely chose its Lightning Bolt Action (LBA) trigger, which has a center lever that blocks the sear from releasing the striker unless the lever is depressed, even at the lowest setting. It is adjustable from 2 to 7 pounds and the only tool you need to do so is a screwdriver. The trigger on the test rifle broke crisply and consistently at 2.25 pounds.

Where does the MVP fit into the commercial sales picture? There’s no doubt it can excel in the field as a varmint rifle. If you are an AR guy, you should have plenty of magazines lying around that will work in the MVP, making it a great companion rifle.

The MVP might have appeal to law enforcement, too. Smaller agencies cannot afford a dedicated, high-end, sniper rifle or sniper team, but designated marksmen are becoming popular assignments on day and night shifts. Here, a shorter-barreled MVP might fit well, and its operator could share magazines with other officers armed with ARs.

For enterprising shooters who might want a bolt rifle to match an AR in a chambering other than .223 Rem., converting the MVP to work with, say, 6.8 Rem. SPC should be an easy task. The bolt uses a plunger-type ejector like on a Remington 700 and a spring-loaded extractor mounted perpendicular to the bolt face. For the 6.8 conversion, slightly opening the bolt face, tweaking the extractor and swapping barrels should be all that’s required. Conversion to a cartridge based on the .223 Rem. case, like the 7.62×40 WT, would only require a new barrel.

Mossberg’s LBA trigger can be adjusted to the shooter’s preferred pull weight using only a screwdriver.

Mossberg is offering two versions of the MVP. The standard model comes with scope bases and the package gun comes with a Barska 4-16×50 mm riflescope and a bipod. Both are reasonably priced considering the new engineering involved, and are without a doubt the best bolt-action companion you’ll find for your AR. I expect the future will show us varied configurations of the MVP.

Finally, we have an American-made, non-custom, .223 Rem. bolt-action rifle. On top of that, the MVP accepts AR magazines. As if that isn’t enough, it’s affordable, too. It is the most innovative bolt-action rifle we’ve seen in a long time.

Manufacturer: O.F. Mossberg & Sons; (203) 230-5300, www.mossberg.com
Action: Bolt-action
Caliber: 5.56 NATO
Capacity: 10+1
Stock: Laminated hardwood
Barrel: 24 inches
Rifling: 6 grooves, 1:9-inch RH twist
Sights: None. Weaver-style scope bases, Barska 4-16×50 mm AO scope and rings
Trigger Pull Weight: 2.25 pounds
Length: 43 inches
Weight: 10 pounds with riflescope and bipod
Accessories: Folding, adjustable bipod
MSRP: $796.50

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One of the most notable examples of this governmental rethink—or “why demilling ‘obsolete’ weapons is not a good idea”—is United States Rifle, Caliber .30-06, Model 1903A3. Unlike the aforementioned Colts, Smith & Wesson and Enfield, the M1903A3 was not a reconditioned version of a pre-existing model, but was in fact newly manufactured, although it did take practically all of its inspiration from that hero of World War I, the M1903 Springfield. Actually, the M1903A3 started out fighting the Germans and Japanese in World War II as the vintage M1903.

Although our primary World War II battle rifle was the M1 Garand, the bombing of Pearl Harbor plunged the U.S. into the war and caught our armed forces entirely off guard. There were simply not enough Garands to go around, even with the Springfield Armory and Winchester working full-time to turn them out. Although Rock Island Armory (RIA) halted production of the M1903 after World War I, the Springfield Armory continued turning them out until 1927. Thus, these military bolt actions, which— fortunately for logistics—used the same .30-’06 Sprg. cartridge as the M1 Garand, were immediately pressed into service.

But with war raging, demand for individual shoulder weapons grew beyond the available supply. Rifles were also needed for military duty on the home front as well. Thus, in September 1941, the facilities of Remington Arms were conscripted to manufacture the M1903 Springfield, using mothballed tooling from RIA. The serial numbers for these rifles, which were stamped with an “R,” began at 3,000,000.

However, as the old RIA tooling began to wear out, a number of changes were gradually made to the basic M1903 configuration being produced on new machinery. Early in the war, the Springfield Armory switched from the original milled-steel parts of the 1903 to stamped parts in the interests of economy and speed of manufacture. Remington adopted this change as its new machinery was brought online. And instead of having blued-steel, a feature of the World War I M1903s, the rifles used in World War II had a more-durable Parkerized finish. In addition, the rear sight of the M1903 was changed to a peep-aperture—adjustable for both windage and elevation—and was relocated to the rear of the receiver, placing it closer to the shooter’s eye, thereby increasing sight radius to provide greater accuracy potential. Finally, around serial number 3,330,000, the military decided enough changes had been made to warrant a new official designation: United States Rifle, Caliber .30-06, Model 1903A3.

Interestingly, the rifle still kept the M1903’s somewhat controversial magazine cutoff lever, a steel tab located on the left side of the receiver. When placed in the middle position, it permitted the bolt to be withdrawn from the receiver, but when in its “off” or downward position, where the tab is nestled into an inlet in the stock, it disengaged the magazine follower. Thus, cartridges would not feed into the chamber from the fixed magazine when the bolt went forward. This effectively transformed the rifle from a bolt-action repeater with a cycling rate of 15 to 20 shots per minute into a single-shot.

During basic training, recruits were instructed to employ the magazine cutoff lever and load each round manually, keeping the cartridges in the internal magazine as a reserve. Needless to say, these instructions were immediately ignored as soon as a G.I. got into his first firefight. The official thinking behind the cutoff lever was to curtail wanton waste of ammunition in the excitement of combat. I find it interesting to compare this battlefield tactic to Vietnam, where our troops were encouraged to fire their M16s in fully automatic mode.

Although the M1903A3 kept the stripper-clip guide milled into the rear of the receiver, the stock was slightly redesigned. This resulted in doing away with the elongated finger grooves on both sides of the forearm. In addition, the M1903A3A1—which first appeared in 1929 as a match rifle—featured a Type-C stock with a semi-pistol grip in an attempt to reduce recoil, a sore point with many G.I.s who were issued the straight-gripped rifle. Unfortunately for them, the majority of M1903A3 stocks retained the straight-gripped design.

By the end of 1942, the Smith Corona Typewriter Company joined Remington in manufacturing the M1903A3. Smith Corona rifles were manufactured at its Syracuse, NY, factory and are usually unmarked as to maker.

By this time, Springfield M1903A3 barrels began to feature their now-famous two-groove rifling to speed up production and reduce cost. Though, accuracy was not affected by this change, M1903A3s with the reduced-rifling barrels were issued with notices to concerned G.I.s assuring them accuracy would not be compromised.

Army snipers had a different story to tell: Using a M1903A3 variant—the M1903A4 with a Unertl 7.8X scope—they made kills as far out as 1,000 yards. The Marines used these same rifles in sniping operations during the Korean War, and in Vietnam the Navy took advantage of the M1903A3 to detonate floating mines.

Indeed, in spite of the fact that the M1 Garand began to appear in greater numbers on the battlefield, many Army Rangers and some Marine units preferred the Springfield M1903A3. For one thing, it did not have the M1’s annoying habit of broadcasting a loud ping as the last round was fired and the clip ejected, informing the enemy the soldier had to reload.

From World War I through Vietnam and beyond, the M1903A3 has served our country for more than a century—not a bad record for a service rifle that mirrored a firearm originally issued to troops the same year the Wright Brothers took their first flight at Kitty Hawk, NC.

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Call it intuition, good guesswork or blind luck, but whatever it is, that notion hit me the first time I removed Barrett’s new Multi-Role Adaptive Design (MRAD) .338 Lapua Mag. sniper rifle from its Pelican hard case. To put it plainly, the sample I tested far outclassed every other .338 Lapua Mag. rifle I’ve fired to date. By rough count, that list equates to thousands of rounds through several samples of nine different rifle models. The fact the MRAD did this in a very handy package made shooting it a sweet experience.

For detailed photos of the MRAD, click here.

Barrett Firearms Manufacturing is well-known for its large-caliber rifles. The company’s timeline states that Ronnie Barrett developed the first shoulder-fired .50 BMG rifle. The company’s M82A1 semi-auto .50 BMG rifles were used extensively by the Army during Operation Desert Storm to deliver heavy payloads at long range. Later adopted as the M107, the updated version of this platform continues to see heavy service in the Middle East as an anti-materiel sniper system.

With its utilitarian profile, neutral finish and modular features from barrel to stock, the MRAD is a rifle adaptable for many missions.

While the company’s bolt-action rifles may be less well-known in tactical circles, they are commonplace in the civilian .50-caliber shooting world. Barrett has not limited its firearms offerings to launching half-inch diameter projectiles at incredible ranges, either. In recent years it has expanded the lineup to include its own .416 Barrett cartridge and with the introduction of the bolt-action 98Bravo in 2009, a .338 Lapua Mag. offering. The latter platform was a complete redesign that signaled a move in the direction of more accurate, easily portable and mission-adaptable rifles for modern combat environments.

Not coincidentally, USSOCOM’s slow-as-molasses Precision Sniper Rifle (PSR) program seeks to provide our Special Operations snipers with a long-range, man-portable sniper rifle capable of extreme precision. The MRAD is based on the 98B, but was built specifically with SOCOM’s PSR in mind. At the time of this writing, the MRAD is a PSR contender. I am not “in the loop” on the PSR effort, but if the MRAD performs in military testing the way it did for me, this rifle may well be a game-changer.

My own experience with Barrett firearms began in the mid-’90s with a variety of M82s, including the M107 variant. I also had the “pleasure” of testing some early XM109 prototypes. Shorter than the M107, these mini-cannons were built around a 25×59 mm cartridge left over from the Army’s scrapped Objective Individual Combat Weapon program. Like all semi-automatic firearms, the XM109 needs the support of a solid object to provide adequate resistance for the action to cycle fully. I quickly learned even my prone mass was not enough of a sandbag to support the weapon. As each fired round pushed me backward several inches, my shoulder convinced me 25 mm rifles should be mounted on vehicles, not people.

Length-of-pull adjustments require pressing a spring-loaded button at the rear of the stock.

Overall, my experience with Barrett prior to testing the MRAD was they’re reliable rifles made to shoot big targets way out yonder. The difference with the MRAD is now little targets are on the table.

Fit & Finish

The MRAD is built with a simple, but very utilitarian profile that feels good in hand. The one-piece, series-7000 aluminum receiver and fore-end unit is functional without being burdened by excessive ornamentation. A 30-MOA canted top rail extends for 21.75 inches, providing ample room for day and night optics. The anodized Multi-Role Brown finish is both attractive and useful as a neutral base color if additional camouflage is needed.

Its stock provides five different length-of-pull adjustments, accessible via a spring-loaded button. A polymer cheek pad is likewise adjustable to further the custom fit and can be flipped 180 degrees to keep the knob off left or right-handed shooters’ faces. Fans of buttstock monopods will appreciate the rail section machined into the aluminum stock toe. The MRAD’s buttstock folds along the receiver’s right side, encasing and protecting the bolt handle. Barrett provides the modularity and comfort of AR pistol grips by providing a standard A2 grip that is interchangeable with any other of similar design. An AR-style safety selector is also present and can be easily swapped from left to right side in a few seconds. The trigger group can likewise be removed without tools to allow easy cleaning and maintenance.

The MRAD’s beefy bolt body contains a removable bolt head with three sets of three locking lugs, a Sako-style extractor and plunger ejector. Forward and rearward movement of the bolt is aided by a self-lubricating polymer sleeve that also shields the action from debris when the bolt handle is down.

The MRAD’s upper receiver can tilt on its forward take-down pin like an AR for easy maintenance in the field.

Its receiver appears to leverage lessons learned from the benchrest-shooting world. Metal is removed only where absolutely necessary, leaving more meat to add critical stiffness to the action. The AR theme continues to the receiver configuration, where a front take-down pin acts as a hinge when the spring-loaded rear take-down button is depressed. Cleaning can be accomplished by simply “shotgunning” the upper receiver, but the top 2⁄3 of the rifle can be completely removed if desired. The bolt handle must be up (open) to detach or reattach the rear take-down detent, which seems like a smart safety feature.

Quick-detach sling receptacles are provided along the rifle, two on each side of the buttstock and one on each of the removable Picatinny rails along the fore-end’s side. The free-floated barrel is lightened with eight longitudinal flutes and fronted by a baffle-style brake. Threads are 3⁄4-20 and allow for mounting of various suppressor adapters.

Surpassing Expectations

The first two ammunition loads I fed the MRAD turned in accuracy that was on par with other .338s I’ve tested at 100 yards. Then, I discovered Lapua’s 300-grain Scenar load is as comfortable in the MRAD as a movie star is in rehab. The Barrett shot this ammunition with phenomenal accuracy and consistency, producing multiple sub-.5 MOA groups all the way out to 800 yards. Averages of .56 MOA at 100 yards and .69 MOA at 800 yards speak well for the combo, but would have been much smaller if not for shooter error at each distance.

The first thing I noticed when firing was the surprisingly pleasant felt recoil. The ultimate user interface of heavier-recoiling guns is the recoil pad. Barrett uses a Sorbothane pad that combines with the rifle’s very ergonomic lines and an effective muzzle brake to reduce felt recoil to .308 Win. levels. I had no trouble seeing impact splash on a catch berm at 800 yards after following through each shot.

Cycling the MRAD’s action was a mixed affair for me. While prone, I found bolt lift to be a little tight. However, cycling the bolt handle was silky smooth once it was lifted. The polymer sleeve housing the bolt body undoubtedly helps the process. No signs of high pressure were evident elsewhere, so I suspect the tight lift may be related to the locking design. It’s important to note no bolt stop is built into the magazines’ followers, so it is possible to close the bolt on an empty chamber.

With the stock folded, the bolt handle is protected by the aluminum stock and cannot be accidently moved. A machined rail section on the stock’s underside allows for mounting a monopod for added stability.

Magazine changes are a cinch thanks to the easily accessed ambidextrous paddle release and the partially cut-away mag well. The latter feature allows the shooter to reload without coming out of position or even needing to tilt the rifle sideways.

Modularity 101

One goal of SOCOM’s PSR effort is to provide military snipers with the capability to change rifle calibers without armorer support. While it would seem a sniper would always use the best long-range precision cartridge, the truth is many training venues and budgets don’t allow full-time use of expensive .338 Lapua Mag. ammunition. Allowing snipers to swap to .300 Win. Mag. or .308 Win. saves precious resources.

If ammunition resupply becomes a problem in a combat theater, snipers can always count on the availability of various 7.62 NATO munitions. A removable barrel also provides the advantage of allowing snipers to carry the system in components, reducing the package size during transport.

A common problem I have seen with switch-barrel rifle systems has been that when a barrel is removed and reinstalled, point of impact (POI) shift is too random or great for precision applications. An unpredictable change in zero of 1 to 2 MOA is unacceptable when lives are on the line.

Like the 98Bravo upon which it is based, the MRAD’s bolt is encased in a polymer sleeve that adds lubricity and makes cycling the action almost effortless.

I performed a simple test with the MRAD to determine shift and found it to be well within acceptable limits. Two T30 Torx bolts pass from right to left through the receiver and dovetail in the barrel, firmly mating the two. The torque specification calls for 100 inch pounds, but since the only T30 I had was in the form of a T-handle driver, I was limited to snugging the screws up tightly by hand. I fired a 100-yard reference group, cleared the rifle, left the bolt open and then counted T-handle wrench revolutions until the bolts were free. After removing the barrel by simply pulling it forward out of the receiver, I reinstalled it and tightened the Torx bolts the same number of turns. The whole process took less than 1 minute. POI shift was .5 inch left of the reference group.

Next, I ignored the number of turns when removing and reinstalling the bolts, simply relying on feel to tighten them equally. POI shift was .5 inch right, back on top of the reference group. I repeated the process for a third time and POI was again on top of the reference group.

I enjoy shooting any rifle that challenges my abilities and exposes the smallest shooting errors on target because it keeps me on my toes and rewards me with excellent performance when I’m in the groove. The MRAD did all of the above and was a real pleasure to test. While this rifle is currently available only in .338 Lapua Mag., many other chamberings are planned. Both .300 Win. Mag. and .308 Win. are currently in the works. Barrett is also considering .260 Rem., 6.5 Creedmoor and 6×47 mm Lapua. Newer sniper chamberings like .300 Norma and .338 Norma are also under scrutiny. Barrett appears intent on offering customers as many options as possible. If it can deliver consistent performance on par with what I experienced in this test rifle, I believe Barrett’s MRAD will merit a close look from anyone interested in placing accurate and hard-hitting rounds on distant targets.

Manufacturer: Barrett Firearms Manufacturing; (615) 896-2938, www.barrett.net
Action Type: Bolt-action
Caliber: .338 Lapua Mag. (other chamberings planned)
Capacity: 10 rounds
Barrel: 24.5 inches; fluted, stainless steel match
Rifling: 6 grooves, 1:10-inch RH twist
Trigger Pull Weight: Single-stage, 1.75 pounds
Sights: None; continuous Picatinny rail with 30-MOA slope
Stock: Skeletonized, adjustable, side-folding buttstock; AR-compatible pistol grip
Length: 46.9 inches (39.9 inches with stock folded)
Weight: 14.8 pounds
Accessories: Two magazines, Pelican hard case, disassembly and maintenance tools, Atlas bipod
MSRP: $6,000

Part of FNH USA’s SPR family, which includes four platforms in a variety of finishes, barrel lengths and chamberings, the A5 M SPR is the most tricked out of the bunch. It has a McMillan matte-black fiberglass stock with an adjustable cheekpiece, an almost vertical grip profile, extreme texturing on the gripping surfaces and a wide, tapered fore-end with a flat underside for easy shooting off a rest. If range bags or benchrests aren’t in your plans, there is a steel bipod-mounting stud that looks like a traditional sling swivel stud—it isn’t. Well, it is, but the stock has four flush-mounted sling attachment points (two on each side of the buttstock and fore-end). This is quite simply the finest precision-style stock I have come across, which is hardly surprising given the source.

The A5 M’s action is based on the pre-1964 Winchester Model 70. If you’re not into hunting rifles, that is the equivalent of a song based on pre-Sammy Hagar Van Halen. In other words, it’s based on what many consider the finest bolt-action ever designed prior to the company’s fateful decision to alter it for the worse by bringing in a guy known primarily for his solo work and singing about speed limits. Perhaps I’m mixing metaphors, but the pre-’64 Model 70 is a fine thing upon which to base a bolt gun. Among the kept pre-’64 features are a claw extractor and controlled-round feeding. Blade ejection allows the shooter to control where his spent brass lands, which is great for reloaders.

Made from forged steel, the receiver has a flat surface on the bottom, which provides added surface area for bedding and increased rigidity. A mil-std 1913 rail with a built-in 20-MOA cant is mounted on top for mounting optics. Since the A5 M is available in .308 Win. and .300 WSM, the receiver and action are short-magnum-length models. A very Model 70-esque three-position safety is located where it would be on…a Model 70. The trigger is a two-stage, adjustable variant—my .308 Win. test rifle had a pull-weight of just more than 5 pounds, so I didn’t see any reason for adjustment.

The rifle’s fire controls are very easy to operate.

The rifle feeds via a detachable, four-, five- or 10-round box magazine in .308 Win. and a hinged-floorplate magazine holding three rounds in .300 WSM. The five- and 10-round variants are known as the Tactical Box Magazine (TBM) and will not fit in the four-round (DBM) model’s bottom metal assembly owing to a different latching mechanism. I found the TBM magazine difficult to load at first, but it got easier after a few tries.

Running the bolt is effortless, thanks to fine craftsmanship and a knurled bolt knob which was easy to grab, even with sweaty hands induced by high temperatures when I tested the SPR. FNH USA is offering the A5 M with either a 20- or 24-inch hammer-forged, fluted, free-floated barrel with a recessed muzzle crown and hard-chromed bore.

You may be noticing a pattern in the features described above. Everything on this rifle was included and designed with one thing in mind: accuracy. The law enforcement sniper may not need to take out an RPG-wielding jihadist from several kilometers, but failing to precisely place a shot could very easily cost innocent lives—perhaps more so than for a military marksman. Therefore, FNH USA’s attention to detail on the SPR is vital for the rifle’s ability to fulfill its mission.

The author found loading the TBM magazine a bit difficult at first, but it became easier with practice.

And the A5 M SPR did not disappoint. I took the rifle to the range with loads from DoubleTap, Hornady and Nosler Custom. The 24-inch barrel seemed to prefer heavier weight bullets, turning in its best averages with 168-grain offerings. Lightweight Hornady TAP bullets shot—for the most part—sub-MOA groups and achieved extremely fast velocities.

No matter the tested load, the rifle performed better than the shooter on a blistering, humid day.

For a role where accuracy is everything, the SPR is supremely able. Matched with a quality scope and a well-trained marksman, it will easily deliver groups beyond what most shooters—myself included—are capable of replicating. Such precision comes at a price, however, with the A5 M running from $2,895 in the DBM configuration, to $3,049 for a 20-inch-barreled TBM model to $3,149 for a TMB with a 24-inch barrel. While that is certainly a chunk of change for a bolt gun, it is actually on the low end for high-quality sniper-style rifles. My one complaint is the $154 price difference between the DBM and TBM models and the $100 difference between the two TBM offerings. That seems like a lot of money for one to six rounds and four inches of barrel, respectively. My advice would be to splurge on the DBM model and recognize that you won’t need a 10-round mag because your target will fall on the first shot from this hyper-accurate rifle.

Manufacturer: FNH USA; (703) 288-1292
Action Type: Bolt-action
Caliber: .308 Win. (tested), .300 WSM
Capacity: Four, five (tested) or 10 rounds
Barrel: 20 or 24 inches (tested); fluted, free-floating; hard-chromed bore
Rifling: 4 grooves; 1:12-inch RH twist
Finish: Matte black
Stock: McMillan A5 with adjustable cheekpiece, and vertical pistol grip
Trigger Pull Weight: 5 pounds, 3 ounces
Length: 40 inches (20-inch barrel); 43.5 to 45 inches (24-inch barrel)
Weight: 11 pounds, 5 ounces (20-inch barrel); 11 pounds, 13 ounces (24-inch barrel)
Accessories: One magazine, manual, safety lock, record book
MSRP: $2,895 (DBM), $3,049 (TBM and 20-inch barrel), $3,149 (TBM and 24-inch barrel; tested)

“It came out of an international sales request,” says David Grimshaw, SIG Sauer Special Weapons Systems Product Manager. “We did not have an anti-materiel-type rifle in our International Sales product line.”

Considering the storied role .50-caliber rifles have played in the War on Terror, it makes good sense for a firearms company with global contracts to get in on the action. The way SIG Sauer is going about it is smart, too. There are already a handful of proven .50-caliber platforms, so why reinvent the wheel?

“Bud Fini, Vice President of Marketing, has known Kelly McMillan for some time. Bud and I made a trip to the McMillan facility and discussed the project,” Grimshaw explains. “Kelly sent me a TAC-50 to modify, and then modeled the receiver and stock for us from our input. McMillan builds the entire rifle for us.”

As you would expect, numerous similarities exist between the new SIG50 and the McMillan TAC-50. They have the same robust action and 29-inch, match-grade, stainless steel barrel, which is fluted for strength and weight reduction. Both utilize a fiberglass stock for which McMillan is famous. The buttstock on both rifles is detachable for transportation and has removable spacers for length-of-pull adjustment, as well as an adjustable cheek piece. Both are covered in a light tan DuraCoat finish.

But that’s not to say the SIG50 is a carbon copy of the TAC-50. Notably, the SIG50 receiver departs from that of its TAC-50 cousin, a change that Grimshaw requested to reduce weight. The SIG50 weighs 23.5 pounds without its magazine, about 2.5 pounds less than the empty weight of a TAC-50, and its receiver design plays a part in that reduction. Grimshaw drew on the SSG 3000, which SIG Sauer has imported from J.P. Sauer & Sohn since 2000, for inspiration. The left sidewall of the SIG50 receiver has an angled flat running nearly its entire length—a telltale characteristic of the SSG 3000 that shaves weight. In addition, the receiver design allows for single-round loading of the magazine while it’s in the rifle.

Grimshaw also did some work on the TAC-50 stock to make it more ergonomic. The steps he took may come as a surprise.

“The TAC-50 grip was just not the feel I wanted for the SIG50. I started carving on the grip but just could not get it to the feel I wanted,” he remembers. “Sitting on the bench in my shop was a P250 with the full-size grip module. I cut the grip off of it and fixed it to the stock. It was exactly what I wanted in grip feel.”

Grimshaw made some cosmetic changes to the stock as well. The SIG50 stock has areas of inletting near the receiver and magazine well. It resembles those found on the Blaser Tactical 2, another precision rifle imported to the United States under the SIG Sauer umbrella.

“We wanted the rifle to have that SIG appearance,” he notes.

Obviously, the company wanted the rifle to have that SIG (and McMillan) accuracy, too. Does it measure up?

“With quality ammunition, we see sub-MOA groups,” says Grimshaw, noting plans to test it at 2,000 yards in the near future. At that range, the SIG50 could theoretically turn in groups of 18 inches—about the width of most silhouette targets. SIG Sauer appears to be hastening the transition of the .50-caliber rifle and its capabilities from anti-materiel to anti-personnel, extending the reach of law enforcement and military snipers.

The SIG50 ships with an M1913 rail and an adjustable steel bipod. An additional night-vision rail is available as an option. The heavy-hitting rifle carries an equally heavy-hitting price tag of $9,325, but it should prove to be money well spent for shooters, agencies and units who need to reach way, way out with authority.

Back then, Remington designers Oliver H. Loomis and A.L. Lowe had developed a new bolt action, the Model 720, based on the Pattern 14 Enfield action that proved itself in World War I. The Remington 720—initially positioned as a sporting rifle—was launched in 1941, just in time to see the United States enter World War II. The initial run was purchased by the Navy, after which production was put on hold. Nonetheless, the Model 720 set the stage for a new generation of bolt actions that ultimately led to the Model 700.

The M40’s dulled wooden stock and Parkerized finish help distinguish it from the many variations the Model 700 has undergone since first being marketed in 1962.

After the war, the short-lived Model 720 was replaced with two improved, yet almost identical bolt-action sporters—the Models 721 and 722, with the only differences being receiver length. The model 721 had a longer action, and was initially chambered for .270 Win., .30-06 Sprg. and .300 H&H Mag. cartridges. Its sister rifle, the Model 722, had a short action and was chambered for the .257 Roberts and the .300 Sav. Subsequent chamberings were added to each rifle over the years. Both guns enjoyed moderate success during their production run, which lasted from 1948 until 1962, when they were replaced with what would become, to many, the best bolt-action sporter ever produced—the Remington 700.

Remington engineers Merle “Mike” Walker and Homer W. Young and their team created the Models 721 and 722, yet they always wanted to do more with that basic rifle. This was especially true of Walker, an avid competitive benchrest shooter, who saw in the 700 series the potential for a mass-produced rifle that would combine strength with superb out-of-the-box accuracy. In 1962 that goal was achieved with the Model 700.

“Remington—America’s Oldest Gunmaker,” an excellent book written by Roy Marcot says, “Considerable debate has occurred over the years on the reason for the Model 700’s accuracy reputation. It appears there is not one factor, but a combination of several: the greater stiffness of the Model 700 cylindrical receiver; the unique bedding system of a free-floated barrel except for twin, V-shaped contact points at the front of the fore-end; fast lock time (3.2 milliseconds) from the rifle’s bolt and trigger design; sharp, crisp-breaking action of the single-stage trigger; a snug barrel chamber with relatively short lead; tight barrel-manufacturing tolerances for bore and groove diameters; straightness and uniformity of crown; and consistent, uniform cartridge positioning  by the recessed bolt face.”

In addition to its physical design and shootability, another factor leading to the Remington 700’s immediate success was that it was offered in both long and short actions, and was consequently available in a wide variety of chamberings. In addition, as Marcot points out in his book, the new Model 700 was also chambered for 7 mm Rem. Mag., which became one of the hottest big-game cartridges in America.

While it was a departure from typical Model 700 variants, the M40 barrel was not free-floated in an attempt to improve accuracy by reducing the rifle’s barrel vibration.

Two versions of the 700 were offered initially: a 700 ADL (A Deluxe Grade) with checkered Monte Carlo stock, hooded-ramp front sight and without a hinged floor plate; and a 700 BDL (B Deluxe Grade), which featured fleur-de-lis checkering, black composite pistol-grip cap and fore-end tip, hinged floorplate, detachable swivels and sling and a brighter blued finish. In 1969 the rifle went through a series of internal and external changes, including a revamped bolt that prompted Remington to tout it as the world’s strongest.

Since then, the Model 700 has been produced in a multiplicity of chamberings and a bewildering plethora of models. Some of the more-notable variations were the 1965 introduction of the Model 700 C Custom Shop, a special-order rifle with upgraded wood and metal finish, a left-handed model brought out in 1973, the 6.75-pound Mountain Rifle introduced in 1986, a fiberglass-stock ADL in 1987, the synthetic-stocked Model 700 Sendero Special in 1993 and detachable magazines were offered on select models in 1994.

Similar to a stock Model 700, the M40 featured a vertical, two-position safety located in a receiver recess that was found just behind the bolt handle.

In addition, launching a variant that took the Model 700 into the tactical arena, as early as 1966 Remington developed the M40 Marine Corps sniper rifle. In 1986 a Model 700 SWS (Sniper Weapons System) Rifle was introduced in 7.62 NATO and 2008 saw the debut of the XCR Tactical Long Range Model 700, with black stainless barrel, externally adjustable trigger and Bell & Carlson synthetic stock. Model 700 Police Rifles in .223 Rem. featured Kevlar stocks with aircraft-grade aluminum bedding, while the Designated Marksman version of this model was chambered in .308 Win. and had a detachable-box magazine. All are currently available with a Tactical Weapon System (TWS) package.

Although other specialty rifles are now entering the scene, the Marine Corps M40 and the Army’s thick-barreled, synthetically stocked M24 SWS remain the mainstay of our snipers in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Special Forces soldiers I visited at Fort Bragg had nothing but praise for their M24A2 rifles. These rifles can fire more than 10,000 rounds without requiring major repairs and easily punch 1.3-inch groups—or smaller—at 200 yards.

The Remington 700 remains the quintessential hunting rifle, but in its military and law enforcement guises it is definitely a whole lot more. It will be interesting to see what Remington does to celebrate the 50th anniversary of this classic rifle in 2012.

When I received my test sample, I had the advantage of viewing it through a clean lens—my lack of experience with Ruger’s bolt-action rifles allowed me to evaluate it without prejudice based on past M77 performance. What I found was largely positive.

The Hawkeye Tactical balanced very well when shouldered, which I attributed to the 20-inch, free-floated barrel’s relatively heavy contour. Since the entire stock surface was rubber, grip retention was excellent. The pistol grip had a flared palm-swell, which I found very comfortable. While the buttstock was provisioned with one sling stud, the fore-end carried two for bipod and sling attachment. A robust and very soft recoil pad turned out to be another good feature on the range.

Ruger’s famed M77 action is robust and reliable. It includes integral bases for the included Ruger rings.

I was unpleasantly surprised to find a hinged floorplate instead of a detachable magazine. Hopefully Ruger will change this in the future, as few things suck worse than loading cartridges through the ejection port with cold fingers or at night when in a hurry. Long ago Ruger proved it makes good removable magazines, so I don’t see why the Hawkeye Tactical shouldn’t include one, too.

The trigger was a sort of two-stage design, with the pull weight measuring 1 .25 pounds in the first stage and 1.75 pounds in the second. I normally like my two-stage triggers to run a little lighter in the second stage than in the first, but this one felt very smooth with a crisp second stage. Ruger advertises the trigger as adjustable, but there were no instructions for doing so in the generic M77 manual that accompanied the rifle. I inspected the trigger when the action was out of the stock and did not see any obvious adjustments. Since the pull was already acceptable, I left it alone.

The action was pillar-bedded into the full-length synthetic stock frame, but no glass or aluminum bedding system was present. An inexplicable oversight on my test sample was the use of slotted action screws. Precision-rifle shooters whose jobs and/or lives rely on zero retention normally prefer to torque their actions in place, usually in the neighborhood of 65 inch-pounds. Doing this with slotted drivers once or twice is possible if you’re very careful and use the correct bits, but before long the slots will strip out. Hex or Torx screws seem more appropriate for this type of rifle.

The rifle ships with Ruger’s proprietary 1-inch scope rings. They work well, but the author prefers the option of a more versatile system.

A strong Mauser influence was easy to see when examining the action. The extractor was a Mauser-style, positive-feed design with a fixed ejector. Although the stainless steel bolt handle was set at an appropriate angle for easy manipulation, working it proved somewhat sticky. The three-position safety allowed bolt manipulation in the middle position while blocking sear release, which is great for checking a rifle’s status when in a long-term position. The robust, spring-loaded bolt stop/release on the left side of the receiver was another good feature. Pulling out on the lever released the bolt for removal and also permitted reinsertion.

My biggest complaint with the action was the requirement to use Ruger’s proprietary scope rings. I know they are a money-maker for the company, but 21st century military and law enforcement snipers use mounts designed to interface with Picatinny-style rails. The Hawkeye Tactical comes with a pair of Ruger 1-inch rings, which are undersized for modern tactical scopes. Fortunately, the company also offers 30 mm rings.

This handy rifle made me look good at the 100- and 300-yard lines. The .308 Win.-chambered Ruger recoiled forcefully, but not to a degree that caused any trouble with grouping. The heavy barrel helped hold the business end down, and the recoil pad did its job well.

Bolt manipulation, however, wasn’t as smooth as I’m used to with rifles in this class. Additional movement required to cycle a bolt creates two problems in the sniper/designated marksman world: It increases shooter signature and the amount of effort required to keep one’s cheek welded to the stock while bringing the optic back on target. The Hawkeye Tactical’s bolt was slightly gritty, which become most apparent when chambering the third and fourth rounds from each magazine. I had no trouble loading the magazine to its full, four-round capacity.

The internal magazine and hinged floorplate were easy to load, but a removable box magazine would better suit a tactical rifle.

At 100 and 300 yards accuracy was good, and more load testing would likely yield even better results. The Hawkeye Tactical produced sub-MOA groups at both distances, with a handful being very impressive for an out-of-the-box rifle. I’d like to see how much tighter the rifle would group with a proper bedding job. Interestingly, both match loads printed better 300-yard groups—in terms of MOA measurements—than at 100 yards. I shot all groups with Federal Premium Gold Medal 168-grain Sierra MatchKing load at both distances before changing over to the Black Hills 168-grain Match hollow-point load, which ruled out the chance of my settling into the gun between the 100- and 300-yard lines.

The other irregularity during testing was the abnormally slow velocities for both loads. We can expect performance differences between any two barrels, even when they’re the exact same type. However, I did not anticipate velocities from the Hawkeye Tactical’s 20-inch barrel would be nearly 300 fps slower than what I normally get with other 20- and 18-inch barreled .308s when shooting these same loads. Ruger uses cold-hammer-forged barrels with inner surfaces that differ from button- and cut-rifled barrels, but not so much I’d expect such a difference. I fired rounds from the same lot of Federal Premium ammunition through another rifle that day and velocity was right where it should be.

Driving home from the range with Ruger’s Hawkeye Tactical found me entirely confident of my results. With a few functional changes to aid tactical needs, Ruger will have a firm entry into the precision rifle market.

Manufacturer: Ruger
Action Type: Bolt-action
Caliber: .223 Rem., .243 Win., .308 Win. (tested)
Capacity: 5 rounds (.223 Rem.); 4 rounds (.243 Win. and .308 Win.)
Stock: Full-length Hogue OverMolded
Sights: None; receiver accepts Ruger rings
Barrel: 20 inches, hammer-forged, heavy-contour bull
Rifling: 6 grooves, 1:9-inch RH Twist (.223 Rem. and .243 Win.); 1:10-inch RH twist (.308 Win.)
Trigger Pull Weight: Two-stage; 1 1⁄4 pounds first stage; 1 3⁄4 pounds second stage
Overall Length: 40 inches
Weight: 8 pounds, 12 ounces
Accessories: Ruger 1-inch scope rings, owner’s manual
MSRP: $1,172