My best friend, a devout AR-15 builder, built me a ‘utility upper’ for my AR-15 “Service Rifle”.
My rifle’s original purpose is to shoot CMP and NRA High-Power Rifle Matches at 200, 300 and 600 yards in very restricted, formatted matches. They have been going on for over 100 years in more or less the same format … though they used to be encouraged and supported by the government and military and are now unsupported and discouraged, but that is a whole nuther story.
Today, my rifle doubled its utility. It is no longer a match-only tool, but a utility rifle as well. This was motivated by the upcoming June Vance Cusic Vietnam Rattle Battle Rifle Match. I am a member of a four man team that has won it two years in a row. I, we, intend to repeat.
However, my competition-designed “service rifle” doesn’t like to do it. The barrel’s primary focus is 600-yard accuracy. Rapid fire is hard on stainless steel barrels and free-float tubes. The “Vietnam Match” is rapid fire. I will quickly wear out a lifetime match barrel doing that stuff. So Don’t!
Bonus: it gives me a utility barrel, actually a complete “upper” that is compatible with the original intention of a battle rifle – not so specialized as a match rifle, or the shooting community’s equivalent of a great set of golf clubs. This is like a real club, but better.
This first target you see here was a sight-in target. A couple of shots, then a sight adjustment. Another couple of shots, then another sight adjustment….
All of the shots were from a bench rest looking through iron sights – no scope, and using Bosnian SS-109 ammo, which is to say, “Not match grade handloads”.
If the sight was centered, they would easily be kept inside the 10-ring. But this was at 100 yards. I really want to center it at 200. So the final sight adjustments will wait for its next outing.
Stay tuned.
