Range Report...a few LMT monolithic railed ARs

[ALCOAR]

Hi gents, I just can't refrain from sharing my excitement over the first range report with the new MWS .308..and figured the MRP SPR 5.56 might as well tag along. Since this is about .308 and 5.56 ARs, I hope AR GD was the best place for it.

Let me start out saying that besides stretching ARs out at long ranges on steel, I really enjoy shooting precision groupings which I believe is one of the best tools for examining a rifle's accuracy and precision. My normal accuracy evaluations consist of shooting multiple(2-4) groups of 10 rounds a piece, no called flyers, no cherry picking. I shoot from the prone position, supported in the rear, and a bipod up front. Distance is 100yds.


Conditions present over the 3 hrs(30min spent referring a cpl. of new AR owners to M4C) I spent during the range session were as follows:

TEMP: 42-47 degrees F
Wind: N @ 6-8mph
Humidity: 43%
Pressure: 30.36 <---

Some pics of the setup and rifles used during the session:







Atlas V8 VS. Harris HBRMS...will revisit this at the end.



The ARs used:

LMT MWS....Rock 16" CL .308 1/10....NXSc 2.5-10x24....KAC 2stage Match trigger...ATLAS V8 Bipod

LMT MRP SPR....Rock 18" 5R SS 5.56 1/7...NXSc 2.5-10x32...GA SD-E.....Harris HBRMS Bipod

[ALCOAR]

RESULTS....Groups:

MWS:
The MWS's first ever shots fired and initial sight in...



MWS Federal GMM 168gr. SMK groups....


On this one I got to show the original target because it's a straight up bughole...unbelievable



MWS Hornady 168gr. ZMax(Amax) groups....

NOTE: The first group is a "Molon 3rd Special...the subsequent 7rds were fired into the next target"



Barnes 150gr. TTSX group(way to damn expensive for more than 1 group)....




________________________________________________________




MRP SPR:

Note: This set of three groups not only contains a nice example of precision shooting per each individual group, but ultimately you'll see on the third group after slightly adjusting the POI after each successive group, I finally had a group that was both precise and accurate(precision/accuracy are two different things)

Hornady 55gr. ZMax(Vmax)....



FINAL NOTES FROM THE DAY:

I better be brief in the following....This MWS is absolutely mind blowing in the accuracy dept. I honestly can already sy that this is flat out the most accurate rifle I've ever shot a cpl. mags through. It a straight f**king laser beam. I'm riding a natural high from this rifle that won't end for at least a few days

308 ARs make a 5.56 AR look absolutely anemic...don't get me wrong, the 5.56 AR is still the king obviously given it's much more widespread use, overall greater portability, lighter weight, and much greater forgiving nature.

This MWS lets you know for damn sure every single time you pull the trigger....I can shoot my 5.56 ARs all day and not notice a thing, after 60rds through the .308, my shoulder is telling me "enough". To sum it up, the 5.56 ARs of mine simply "kiss" off my shoulder, this MWS straight "thumps" off my shoulder. Oddly, I LOVE IT

Note...the lightest .308 ammo was the 150gr. and it was easily the worst performer accuracy wise. The correlation here is that the MWS barrels are 1/10, essentially the equivalent to the 1/7 in a 5.56 barrel.

Oh yeah...FEDERAL, I'm sorry for talking s**t all these years about your over hyped GMM line, sure your GMM .223 69gr. SMK is the biggest paper tiger ever...but damn, already your GMM .308 lineup is simply amazing.

Lastly, but certainly not least....Thank you Ekbearly(fellow member) who so graciously allowed me to truly see the light today in regards to bipods. I can't express how much the Atlas made a difference for this shooter who loves to shoot precision ARs in the prone position. It's just a damn game changer. Without Ekbearly I might not ever have gotten off the fence given I'm heavily invested in full Harris setups and the Atlas costs $275, however today I realized how stupid I had been for not going ahead and buying once, crying once a year or two ago when I first started lusting after the Atlas. To sum it up, no doubt about it...it's worth every penny and then some(even though I didn't have to buy this one) I will be buying one for sure now as I've seen the dark side and there isn't any coming back from it!

[danish]

Very nice!! I've been looking at the Rock barrels for my current .308 build and this just add another notch to making my decision. One quick question, is the barrel black from a spray-on finish or is it melonited?? I am for certain sending whatever barrel I get to be melonited and didn't know if Rock barrels had any opinion on it...

[ALCOAR]

Thanks brother...Rock Creek most certainly has an opinion on it however I hate to admit but you got me stumped until Monday when I can contact LMT. I know the 16" 5R SST(the actual MoD barrel in the L129A1s) is "blackened". I will most certainly get back to you on this even though LMT is playing the whole Rock barrels very close to the vest at the moment. Ive been scared to death for a year now that LMT is going to go in another direction. They assured me it will be at least as good if not better if they do. That said, it's damn tough to find a better builder than Mike and Rock Creek.

Here is a quote from Rock Creek....

"Guys we have had excellent results with the Melonite process.
The accuracy we have seen on our benchrest barrels is outstanding their is no fouling at all from shot one and throat life is greatly extended. I know that one of the Big name gun company's has over 8000 rounds through a .338 Lapua that Joel Kendrick did for them, and it is still going strong. Joel also has 9000 rounds through his 6X44 600yd benchrest rifle and is still shooting it in competition.

Now here is my disclaimer, I will not use anybody but Joel Kendrick at MMI-Trutec for doing this, he is the only one in my opinion that knows what he is doing with firearms, we used a couple different company's that do the Melonite process, but do not seem to know what they are doing with barrels, we had some terrible results from those places. Also if you have a Melonited barrel that is fouling it can be relapped and it will take care of the issue. The Melonite process is not thicker than chrome and is a case hardening and you don't have to compensate your machining for the thickness where as you would have to for chroming.


Paul Tolvstad
Rock Creek Barrels"

Here is the thread that contains it and it should serve your interest well....
http://www.snipershide.com/forum/ubb...1673958&page=2

Ive owned 7-8 Rock barrels now and I'm effectively ruined

[Dos Cylindros]

Oh snap, you bastard.....How I long for an LMT 308 MWS! I really hope one will soon be mine. Congrats on a bad ass rifle, happy shooting.

[ALCOAR]

Thanks pal, I hope to see you with one of these sooner rather than later

[Positive Displacement]

Hi gents, I just can't refrain from sharing my excitement over the first range report with the new MWS .308..and figured the MRP SPR 5.56 might as well tag along. Since this is about .308 and 5.56 ARs, I hope AR GD was the best place for it.

Let me start out saying that besides stretching ARs out at long ranges on steel, I really enjoy shooting precision groupings which I believe is one of the best tools for examining a rifle's accuracy and precision. My normal accuracy evaluations consist of shooting multiple(2-4) groups of 10 rounds a piece, no called flyers, no cherry picking. I shoot from the prone position, supported in the rear, and a bipod up front. Distance is 100yds.


Conditions present over the 3 hrs(30min spent referring a cpl. of new AR owners to M4C) I spent during the range session were as follows:

TEMP: 42-47 degrees F
Wind: N @ 6-8mph
Humidity: 43%
Pressure: 30.36 <---

Some pics of the setup and rifles used during the session:







Atlas V8 VS. Harris HBRMS...will revisit this at the end.



The ARs used:

LMT MWS....Rock 16" CL .308 1/10....NXSc 2.5-10x24....KAC 2stage Match trigger...ATLAS V8 Bipod

LMT MRP SPR....Rock 18" 5R SS 5.56 1/7...NXSc 2.5-10x32...GA SD-E.....Harris HBRMS Bipod

Trident, you covered everything exceptionally well in your range report, I read everything again and googled the Atlas V8. It's on my list as well as the LMT MWS .308. Very nice setup and I'm sure you're enjoying the hell outta it!

[Pappabear]

Ultra nice rigs Buddy. Always good to see em in action.

[LoneWolfRonin]

Nice write up! I was looking at LMT for my next carbine. Nice pics as well.

[drck1000]

Trident - Checked in with the LGS last week and it appears that my MRP shipped end of last week and should be in middle of this week sometime. It's been about 6 weeks, so not too bad. Looking forward to it.

I also stopped by another LGS this past weekend and they said that they have a shipment of LM8 in 5.56 that is supposed to come in middle of next week as well. They also mentioned that they have the CQB length and the rifle length rail coming in for the LM8. I'll definitely be by to check those out. Just as I'm getting my MRP in and the LM8's are starting to come in, and one in a rifle length rail too! Damn, this could be an expensive month! Haha.