One look at this rifle and I knew I wanted it. Rainier Arms posted this custom factory rifle on their site (thanks Jeep!) after the original buyer backed out at Noveske. There were a couple of alterations needed to make it NY complaint and John at Rainier was extremely helpful in working with me before we sealed the deal. Today, this beauty was finally ready to come home.
The barrel is a 16" SPR 6.8mm stainless with a 1 in 12" twist and MOD 1 Chamber - reputed to be among the best in 6.8SPC. The upper sports a 10" Vltor VIS monolithic rail with Noveske marked Troy folding BUIS. The barrel and VIS were two of the main reasons I bought the rifle...they're a match made in AR heaven. Seeing a perfectly staked BCG was no surprise at all.
The lower bears an "E" serial number and looks pristine. With "blems" being sold in the market, I really wasn't sure what to expect when this rifle finally arrived. One thing I did expect to see, but didn't, was the caliber marking for 6.8. A quick call to Sherry at Noveske eased my concern as she indicated that some of the lowers will bear the cailber marking and some won't. She also helped me to order some of the Pri 10 round mags (stupid NY AWB
).
The EMOD buttstock is a great addition and really balances out the rifle well. My local FFL pinned it for me and John from Rainier provided me with the FSC30 to replace the AAC SPR flash hider that was on the original build. My FFL outsourced the muzzle pin job and herein lies the one thorn in this beauty: the guy who pinned the FSC30 did a terrible job (photo below). My local guy was good enough not to charge me for this abortion, though I'm eager to hear from anyone here with suggestions on how to fix it (otherwise I'll just buy a new FSC30 and have a professional do it right).
For optics, a NF 1-4x or 2.5-10 x 32mm are on my short list. Any other suggestions are appreciated. The expected usage would run from 100-300 yards mostly, so I'm going with a magnified optic.
Weather permitting, I'll get to the range tomorrow and see how she shoots. Once I get the optic mounted and order some quality ammo from SSA, we'll see what this rifle is really capable of...stay tuned.