Years ago I had a 20" Bushmaster Predator. It shot great, but I sold it here in the classifieds with the intent to build something 'better' myself.

It took a while to decide what I wanted to build, and had green in mind. Lots of other projects intervened. It finally came together when I spied this Aero Precision hydro-dipped builder set. The barrel is a Rainier Arms Ultramatch SDM .223 Wylde 20" Fluted.

First step Cerakoting the barrel.


Step two, baking the Cerakote. This is what you can do when you're single and not busy cleaning your oven.


Lower is build, upper is pre-assembled (barrel is curing in the oven).


Upper assembly time with the cured 'koted barrel.


Fully assembled and bore-sighted in the garage. Scope is a Vortex Viper PST Gen II 2.5-10x32 first focal. Gunsmithing bench is a little busy but definitely my happy place.


Close-up of OD Green Cerakote barrel, hydro-dipped handguard, and Magpul green bits.


Aero BCG, Vortex mount


And now for the range report....

I zeroed at 100yds at my local club with Black Hills 5.56 77gr SMK, and in June took the rifle to my other club's High Power match, held in Moyock, NC. They have the normal Service Rifle and Match Rifle divisions, but as a club and to encourage people to participate, we also offer a modern military and unlimited division. Unlimited allows you to shoot prone for all positions, instead of standing and sitting at 200yds if you want.

200yd line


I shot prone for the 200yd slow fire stage to get a hard zero.


Screen shot of the electronic target scoring system.


Prone again for 200yd rapid fire


Shot group from electronic scoring


300yd rapid fire prone - this is where I figure wind would start to affect me and I'd drop some points, but no.


Group from electronic scoring.


600yd slow fire prone - this was the real surprise. We had a 10-15 tailwind at the firing point and 5-10 right to left mid and downrange, and it was gusting. Downrange wind was a 1.5-2.0MOA drift. I figured I'd drop several points but surprised myself. Last shot I overestimated the wind and held the full value but downwind died. ONE FRIGGIN NINE! 31 bullseyes. 499 out of 500 points...my best time out ever.


600yd group


Sexy beast!


View at 600yd line.

Nice work!

I've heard amazing things about the Rainier ultra match barrels, it looks like you got another gem!

Super sweet that you followed through with a thoughtful build and your results are stellar!

Thanks for sharing

VERY Nice Shooting, with a Damn Nice Rifle Build....And, a SERIOUSLY Nice Rifle Range! Wow, All of it!

always a fantastic feeling when something you build goes bang, to shoot it that well must be immensely gratifying.

great work and very inspirational post, thanks!

what fire control group did you employ?

Trigger group is a Giessele SSA.

I had accumulated some of the parts over time, when things were on sale. You can catch these on sale at Brownells occasionally.

Outstanding! No doubt you and that rifle are shooters.

Very nice shooting!

Nice shooting there!!!!

What kind of can do you put on the end....looks similar to my sig762qd....?

Looks like it wears a Silencerco Trifecta ASR Flash Hider....

Standing ovation! Well done sir!

That rifle looks kick ass. Love the color. Great job.

I've been super interested in these Rainier barrels and a build just like that. I see you got the tin whatever barrel ext. Spared no expense. I have their mountain barrel and it shoots phenominal too for what it is.

Your's seems to like Black Hills. Who doesn't.

Bravo. That's how it's done.

Correct on the SilencerCo mount - I have a Saker 556 K in ATF limbo.

Nice build. I really like the Rainier Ultramatch on my AR10. Good performance for the money!

A very nice rifle. It's a shooter too. What am I seeing that looks like gold tin at the barrels chamber end?

quote:

Originally posted by David Lee:
What am I seeing that looks like gold tin at the barrels chamber end?

Titanium nitride coating of the barrel extension. TiN is generally used to harden the steel's surface, reduce corrosion, and reduce friction. None of this is necessary with outer portion of a barrel extension, as the barrel extension's major goal is a tight fit to the upper receiver.

TiN will reduce wear on the barrel's lugs from the bolt, however the barrel will be shot out long before barrel extension lug wear is an issue.

Nice shoting!

FYI. I never shot with my bipod legs on a mat, more stable with the legs on the ground.

quote:

Originally posted by offgrid:
FYI. I never shot with my bipod legs on a mat, more stable with the legs on the ground.

Yeah... My Midway mat has a narrow flap on the end that allows you to hook the bipod legs and preload it. I find it works OK when I'm on the dirt, but in the soft grassy lanes the results are inconsistent. I'm still working on the best approach for that, going to try preloading against a heavy sandbag next time I get one of those lanes.

quote:

Originally posted by motorheadjohn:

quote:

Originally posted by offgrid:
FYI. I never shot with my bipod legs on a mat, more stable with the legs on the ground.

Yeah... My Midway mat has a narrow flap on the end that allows you to hook the bipod legs and preload it. I find it works OK when I'm on the dirt, but in the soft grassy lanes the results are inconsistent. I'm still working on the best approach for that, going to try preloading against a heavy sandbag next time I get one of those lanes.

Atlas bipods don't need all that much preloading. But if loading them against sandbags works for you, go for it. I agree with offgrid that placing feet on a mat on a grassy surface probably won't provide the best stability. Other options include:
- Buy some type of spiked feet for the Atlas. IMO the really big spikes don't work that well. You want a spike design that has a limiting ring or disc, so the feet won't keep augering into the ground with each additional shot.
- Using something like a hammer, pound a small-ish dent in the ground, exactly where your bipod feet will go. Done correctly with the right kind of grassy ground, the bipod's feet won't move forward. You will need to extend the legs a notch or two.

There are a few instances where placing bipod feet on a mat makes sense, and last weekend's match was it. On the match's second day, our shooting positions were from a old river flat, and we shot to the hills on the opposite side of the flats. Shooting positions often sloped downwards, dirt was soft and loose, lots of bipod elevation was required to get targets in scope. Placing bipod feet on the mat gave most of our squad enough height to go prone with a normal sized rear bag. Our rifles weren't as stable as they would be with bipod feet in firm ground. However, our bipods/rifles were generally more stable on the mat-over-soft-dirt option than the feet-directly-in-soft-dirt option.

BTW, good shooting.