Magnum Super Match Interdiction

Superformance ammunition achieves the highest performance of any ammunition on the market today; 100 -200 fps over SAAMI standard, in all calibers, all bullet weights and all bullet types, including monolithic bullets like the Hornady GMX bullet. This performance is achieved by revolutionary new, extremely efficient powders optimized for each load. These powders produce very high performance yet do not produce excessive recoil or compromise accuracy. This performance is achieved because the powder is completely burned prior to the bullet leaving the barrel and imparts as much energy as possible to the bullet. As a result, the muzzle exit pressure is lower and the muzzle gas velocity is dramatically lower than for previous high performance ammunition. This reduces the rocket nozzle effect from the gases leaving the barrel, resulting in lower recoil levels and high levels of accuracy.

 In the past, small arms performance has been limited by the powder’s ability to completely burn by the time the bullet exits the muzzle. To attempt to get higher performance, high charge weights of a slow burning powder were used to attempt to maximize muzzle velocity. Powders were not progressive enough to allow these heavy charges of slow powder to be completely burned by the time the bullet left the muzzle, especially with lighter weight bullets. The end result was very modest increases in velocity with heavy recoil and many times unacceptable accuracy. Superformance powders solve this problem because of their ability to completely burn by bullet muzzle exit. All loads are designed to fill the cartridge case. Yet, because of the efficient burning characteristics, virtually all the powder is burned by bullet muzzle exit.


This results in a much higher percentage of the available powder energy being transferred to the projectile, rather than being blown out the end of the barrel as unburned powder, producing higher velocities with a smaller charge weight. This also results in lower muzzle exit pressure and lower velocity of muzzle gases. A very useful by-product of the highly efficient burning nature of these powders is very small velocity loses with shorter barrel lengths. We tested a 300 Winchester Magnum load by firing it in a barrel that had been shortened to 20 inches. The Superformance ammunition gave up an average of only 18 fps per inch. This is roughly 1/3 to 1/2 the velocity loss per inch of barrel length that would be experienced with conventional powders in a 300 Winchester Magnum.

Superformance propellant design also produces very uniform performance in extreme weather conditions. Most Superformance loads lose very little or no velocity at low temperature and gain very little or no velocity at high temperatures. The performance and point of aim will not change drastically in extreme temperature situations. For a Superformance 30-06 150 gr SST load the performance was as follows; +70 deg F: 3,071 fps @ 56,800 psi; +140 deg F: 3,128 fps @ 61,400 psi; -15 deg F: 3,022 fps @ 58,100 psi. From the African plains to the freezing Arctic, Superformance will deliver consistent performance.

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Armalite AR-30M U.S.A Sniper

This Armalite AR-30M sniper is a smaller-caliber, magazine-fed weapon related to the AR-50 antimateriel rifle. The stock and receiver are built primarily of aircraft-grade aluminum alloy, with the buttstock portion being equipped with a simple adjustable polymer shell for a cheekpiece, and a padded buttplate. The stock may be removed for storage or transport (but cannot be fired without the stock). The free-floating barrel is of chrome-moly steel and is triple-lapped; it is heavy, 26 inches long, and in the case of the .338 Lapua chambering, a huge multi-baffle muzzle brake is standard. (This muzzle brake is an option with the other chamberings.) Most operating parts are also of steel. The receiver contains a V-shaped block in which the action is bedded, which gives the action rock-solid operation to further enhance accuracy and reliability. 

The fore end has a groove which can be used for mounting a bipod, sling swivel, or certain other accessories. The pistol grip is identical to that of an M-16A2. All steel parts are manganese phosphate-coated, and aluminum alloy parts are hard anodized. Currently, the chamberings available for the AR-30M are 7.62mm NATO, .300 Winchester Magnum, and .338 Lapua Magnum. Armalite also produced and marketed a small number of AR-30Ms in .30-06 Springfield and .243 Winchester, but these did not prove to be popular with the public and were quickly withdrawn; they are quite hard to find today. Originally, both 5 and 10-round magazines were produced for the Armalite AR-30M Sniper Rifle, but only 5-round magazines are made today.

The new .338 Lapua Magnum SHADOW sound suppressor from SRT Arms raises the bar on suppressors of large caliber. Remarkably small and light for a large-caliber can, both performance and workmanship are outstanding. Previously, I’ve reported that the SRT’s AZTECH baffle is one of the most important designs in the 100+ year history of sound suppressors. While early variants of the baffle were impressive, I also reported that one of the beauties of the AZTECH baffle was that the design offered a number of promising ways to improve performance even more. The latest variant of the AZTECH baffle fulfills that promise. It’s an impressive improvement upon the basic AZTECH architecture, delivering excellent sound suppression and groups as small as 0.19 MOA (center to center). I evaluated the Shadow’s performance on an ArmaLite AR-30 .338 Lapua Magnum rifle.

The first things about the .338 SHADOW to leap out at you are its small size and light weight. The .338 SHADOW is only 2 inches longer that its .30 caliber sibling, despite the fact that the .338 Lapua Magnum produces nearly twice as much combustion gas as the .308. Since the .338 SHADOW only has about 20 percent more volume than the .308 SHADOW, anyone who has not observed the .338 suppressor in use would have to wonder how such a small can could deliver acceptable, much less good, sound reduction or recoil mitigation.

Even if you factor in that the AZTECH baffle is a pressure-driven design, you wonder how such a small gun muffler could work the gases hard enough to significantly reduce gunshot noise without degrading accuracy. To cope with the extra pressure generated by the .338 and yet keep the weight of the suppressor at a minimum, SRT fits a pressed stainless steel sleeve over the rear of the can for reinforcement. It is placed on the suppressor tube by heating the sleeve to expand its diameter while cooling the tube to shrink its diameter. The sleeve is then quickly pressed onto the tube. Once the temperatures have equilibrated, the sleeve remains securely bound to the suppressor tube. After the whole unit is assembled, 12 plug welds secure the baffles and tubes together into one monolithic structure.

Fabricated from stainless steel alloys, the SHADOW .338 caliber suppressor is 10.25 inches long. The suppressor tube is 1.5 inches in diameter. The sleeve increases the can’s rear diameter to 1.62 inches over the rear-most 5 inches of the suppressor. It weighs 41 ounces. The .338 SHADOW is lighter than expected because the entire tube is not the thickness needed to cope with the high pressure in the rear of the can, and because the can only contains four baffles. The suppressor is available in a non-reflective natural finish or in a flat black KG GunKote as standard. The SRT suppressor only adds 7 inches to the overall length of the AR-30 rifle and 26 ounces to system weight. Safe to say, that’s impressive.

It is also worth noting that the SHADOW .338 suppressor heralds a new level of fit and finish for the company. I’ve owned and used SRT suppressors for more than a decade, and I’ve always been very pleased with their performance and durability, but their cosmetics tended to be a bit short of the very best players in the industry. No longer. The SHADOW’s cosmetics are “world class,” especially considering that the baffles are plug-welded to the tube in 12 places. The welds have been finished, so they are invisible. For those who came in late, Doug Melton is the genius behind the SHADOW’s design. Melton has earned his place in the history books as one of the most innovative thinkers in the industry ever. SRT Arms is a subsidiary of a larger corporation specializing in fluidics and material engineering. This is a small company, yet it has made significant contributions to the state of suppressor art. 

SRT produces a full line of carbine, rifle, submachine, and .22 rimfire silencers, as well as integral and muzzle .22 rimfire suppressors. They even do custom work. SRT sound suppressors are quite unusual in this day and age in that some can be disassembled partially or completely (depending on the design) for cleaning and maintenance. Suppressors based upon the AZTECH baffle, however, are sealed units so that key structures inside always remain properly aligned. They can be cleaned by simply immersing them in a suitable solvent overnight, draining, and blowing them dry. This is only worth doing every 3,000 rounds or so. That said, I will admit under cross-examination that I’ve used one SRT suppressor for 12 years and never cleaned it. Yet it still performs as well as it did on the first day.

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Tactical Rifles Tactical Para Rifle

At Tactical Rifles their slogan is, “It’s not simply work, it’s a life long passion.” Says David B. Rooney, of Tactical Rifles: “From start to finish, all who handle our tactical rifles throughout assembly do so treating them as their own. Whether it’s a law enforcement or military operator, or a private customer, he or she will derive many years of reliable service of the highest order. The rifle will perform first and every time.”

For its custom precision rifles, Tactical Rifles (TR) uses the Remington Model 700 action unless otherwise specified. However, the action is completely gone through to assure precise alignment of bolt, receiver and barrel. Starting with Krieger hand-lapped barrel blanks, Tactical Rifles cuts the threads, match reams the chamber, and then turns a #7 contour as standard. However, other contours and fluting are optional, but TR prefers keeping weight reduction minimal to reduce the possibility of stress. Also standard is the AI stock designed by the late Malcolm Cooper. Consisting of a solid aluminum chassis, the AI stock has almost indestructible side panels that are painted to the customer’s specifications. A 5-round, or the new capacity 10-round, detachable box magazine (DBM) locks into an aluminum block in the stock. This high grade magazine is of the double column type with a single position feed for optimum reliability. The single position feed lips do not release the cartridge until it has partially entered the chamber, making it a controlled feed.


Available in either folding or fixed Tactical Long Range versions, the AI stock uses an integral pistol grip/thumbhole. For those who prefer a more conventional stock, McMillan Fiberglass stocks can be substituted on the model TR. For ease and speed of manipulation, the round bolt knob is removed and a conical knob is screwed on much like that first introduced on a rifle by Steyr 20 years ago. The factory trigger system is also removed and replaced by one of several aftermarket match triggers. The one TR prefers is the Shilen match trigger.

David Rooney reports that the goal of Tactical Rifles is to provide a rifle that can get 1/2 minute of angle (MOA) accuracy with any quality factory match ammunition rather than with tailored handloads. Each TR rifle comes with a certified 1/2 MOA or better test target. However, TR has a strict break-in procedure it recommends for its rifles. This amounts to thoroughly cleaning and removing all copper fouling from the bore after every round for the first ten rounds fired, and then after every five rounds for at least the next 40 rounds. For this, Tactical Rifles recommends Sweet’s 762 Copper Remover.

The caliber that remains most popular with TR is the .308 Winchester, but another model is the M40-223. Also popular is the Tactical LR in .300 WSM that offers a flatter trajectory than the .308 at 1,000 yards using the same bullet. The .300 WSM works flawlessly in the 700 action with TR’s single column DBM. Recently I received a sample Tactical Para Rifle in .308 Win from Tactical Rifles for a test. This Tactical Para (TP) came with the OD green folding stock that, all things considered, may be one of the finest stocks of its kind ever made. Stock features include an adjustable cheekpiece and butt, ambidextrous sling mounts, a rail on the bottom for a hand rest, and a stud for a Parker-Hale bipod. With a positive lock-up this stock has it all almost.

Instead of the 26-inch barrel of  Tactical Rifles Tactical Long Range Rifle, the Para comes with a 20-incher that’s ideal for urban use and suitable on out to 500 yards or so. While the barrel and other metal parts can also be had in an OD green finish, this one was matte black. The barrel’s #7 contour left its muzzle with a diameter of 0.85 of an inch, and it had a recessed target crown.


My sample Tactical Para rifle came with a M1913 Mil-Std extended rail base (often referred to as a “Picatinny” rail) as standard on its receiver, but came without a scope. For optics I mounted a Springfield 6- 20x56mm Government Model using the ARMS #22M 30mm ThrowLever rings. I have used this excellent scope for years on a variety of test rifles, and as good as it is, Springfield has now totally redesigned and improved its entire scope line. Although I was able to examine and test a number of these new Springfield scopes before I wrote this, I was not able to get one in time for the Tactical Para. Springfield’s new scope line will offer a variety of sizes and reticles, and will retain the internal leveler that Springfield made famous.

Where the true M1913 rail is concerned, there are no rings finer than the ARMS ThrowLever rings, in my opinion, but if you want a logical reason, it’s that the rail and mounts were designed together. If your rail is not a true M1913 (or close enough), the ARMS rings probably won’t work, and copies of them may only ruin, or cause excessive wear on your rail. As with anything that has threads, mounts with hex nuts require a threadlocking compound to stay put, and if removed, may or may not return to zero.

Returning to zero is important where a scope must be removed in order to use a night vision device (NVD), and if you’re a military/police operator, you probably know how important this is. Mounting Solutions Plus now offers an M1913 extension rail called the MOAPAL. Made of 4140 steel, the MSP rail uses ARMS ThrowLevers to lock onto a receiver M1913 rail bringing the mounting surface above and beyond the factory rail. This easily accommodates a vast variety of eye relief needs common to NVDs.

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M 40 Lapua Sniper Rifle

Despite its prohibitive anti-gun climate and socialist leanings, there is still a great deal of engineering genius coming out of the European continent. It’s one of thengreat ironies of our day that many of the firearms most sought after by American shooters come from countries where private gun ownership is restrictive at best. One of the hottest cartridges to come from the “old country” is the M40 Lapua Rifle (6.5x47 Lapua). Long known for their innovation and accuracy, the Finnish company has released a round that has grabbed the attention of precision shooters across the pond and has just recently started to catch on here.
 
My first introduction to the cartridge was during a telephone conversation with my friend David Rooney of Tactical Rifles. David mentioned that during a military sniper competition held last year in Europe, the M40 6.5x47 Lapua was the number-one performer, edging out the venerable .308 (7.62x51 NATO). 

This cartridge was developed as a joint venture between Lapua and the Swiss gun maker Grünig & Elmiger. For starters, the 6.5x47 shares very similar dimensions with the .308, so similar in fact that the platform for the 6.5 is essentially the same as the 7.62mm NATO. The projectile is a 6.5mm or 0.264 of an inch. The Lapua factory loads utilize their Scenar projectiles in 100-, 108-, 123-, and 139-grain weights. While factory ammunition is a bit difficult to come by in the United States, unprimed brass can be readily purchased, as can the 6.5mm projectiles.


As for the rifle itself, this long gun is based upon the M40 design. The short action is a Remington 700 with a Tactical Rifles floorplate assembly for detachable magazines. Both 5- and 10-round magazines are offered. The 1-in-8-inch twist stainless steel match grade barrel is 22 inches long and has a recessed match crown. A McMillan A1-3 stock supports the free-floated barrel and action. Atop the rifle I mounted a NightForce optic. This riflescope is 5.5x22 power with a 50mm objective lens. It is mounted to the gun with a NightForce direct mount. The barrel, action and scope were finished in OD green at the Tactical Rifles. As for the  Naturally, the entire rifle was assembled with precision and durability in mind. Each Tactical Rifles creation is custom built and the parts are hand fitted with attention to detail. The bolt action is sure and smooth and the trigger is precision tuned to approximately 3.5 pounds.

As I mentioned earlier, my range testing would include a number of different loads including both factory ammunition and custom hand-loaded rounds. My first chore would be to chronograph each one. As I had not worked with the 6.5x47 previously I was not sure what to expect. It turned out that all rounds averaged in the 2,600 to 2,700 feet per second (fps) range. For a benchmark I would pattern each load at 100 yards. As this is a true longrange weapon, the elevation turret on the NightForce scope was zeroed out for 100 meters. I would soon discover that this rifle was not a MOA gun. It wasn’t even a 0.5-MOA gun. No, when fired from a solid platform with a steady hand, the custom M40 proved to be a sub-0.25-MOA precision instrument.


While not every load grouped into 0.25 of an inch or better, three of them did and all the other loads clustered below a 0.5 of an inch with regularity. While I normally fire four or five rounds on paper and calculate the best three to minimize human error, I found that this was not really necessary with this rifle. Keep in mind that I was not firing from sandbags or some type of vise rest. For stability I used the Harris bipod and the CTK Monopod. A steel and concrete bench was my shooting platform. The best group recorded using this setup was a 0.18-of-an-inch three-shot group with the 123-grain Lapua factory load. The 142- grain MatchKing hand load was hot on its heals with a 0.20-of-an-inch cluster. The next in line was a 0.25 of an inch group from the Lapua 139-grain factory load.


Naturally, such a rifle as this is just getting warmed up at 100 yards. Out at 250 yards my range has a 6x6-inch swinging steel plate. Adding a dozen clicks of elevation I smacked the plate with the first shot. Putting rounds on paper at that distance, I had no trouble posting 0.5 of an inch groups with regularity. The 142-grain MatchKing posted a very respectable 0.44-of-aninch cluster. As mentioned previously, the distance limit on my range was 350 yards. Again, there was a swinging steel plate, this time 8x10 inches. Applying another 12 clicks of elevation, the reactive target was struck time after time. During my first session I was able to dial in the scope and record shot groups in the 1.5- to 2-inch range at 350 yards. This is certainly an honorable achievement for any rifle and ammunition combination. While reviewing this custom M40 Rifle I actually hit the range on several occasions. Before putting pen to paper I went out one more time and was glad I did.


For this last session I would again stretch out the 142-grain MatchKing load. Through my spotting scope I could see the resulting three-shot cluster. I felt pretty good about it, but it was not until I went downrange to pull the target that I truly realized just how well the rifle and the new 6.5x47 load performed. The group measured 0.55 of an inch, center to center. If you consider 3.5 Monopod rest from CTK Precision. inches as MOA, and 1.75 inches as 1/2- MOA, then 0.88 of an inch is 1/4-MOA. When you fire a sub-1/4-MOA group it’s a good time to pack up for the day and that is what I did.

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