THE BOLT CARRIER IS A PROPRIETARY ONE FOR OUR COMPETITION UPPERS, DONE EXCLUSIVELY FOR M.S.T.N. BY YOUNG MANUFACTURING.

THE SCOPE IS THE 1-4X TRIJICON, MOUNTED IN THE LARUE 1" SPR SCOPE MOUNT.

WES GRANT
M.S.T.N.

I SHOULD LET PAUL ELABORATE IN DETAIL REGARDING THE ADVANTAGES OF THE ULTRA-LOW MOUNTING OF THE TA11. IN SHORT, WITH BOTH EYES OPEN, YOU LOOK JUST OVER IT AT CLOSE RANGE TARGETS TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE BINDON AIMING CONCEPT. FOR THE LONGER RANGE TARGETS, YOU GET A LOWER CHEEK WELD AND USE IT LIKE A CONVENTIONAL SCOPE. TARAN HAS NOT LOST A LIMITED 3-GUN MATCH THIS YEAR. HE COACHES SOME VERY HIGH SPEED, TIER ONE GUYS IN HOW HE DOES THIS. OBVIOUSLY, IT WORKS WELL FOR HIM.

ON TARAN'S UPPER/S:

MSTN RECEIVER WITH M4 FEED RAMPS AND TRIJICON ACOG CHANNEL.

PRI CARBON FIBER FOREND WITH PRI ALLOY BARREL NUT. LIGHTER EVEN THAN THE J-P ALLOY FOREND. NO RAILS, JUST A COUPLE OF UNCLE MIKE'S SLING SWIVEL STUDS. THE FOREND HAS PROVISIONS FOR MOUNTING RAILS, BUT TARAN IS JUST A TINY LITTLE GUY AND LIKES HIS UPPERS TO BE AS LIGHT AS POSSIBLE.

OUR 17 OR 18 INCH "COMPETITION" BARREL, PREMIUM MATCH GRADE STAINLESS, WITH TIGHT CHAMBER, TWIST TYPICALLY 1X9" FOR A WIDE RANGE OF BULLET WEIGHTS. IT IS BASICALLY AN SPR-TYPE BARREL ON THE SLIM-FAST PLAN. FULL LENGTH GAS SYSTEM.

PRI GAS BLOCK WITH GAS ADJUSTMENT SCREW. AN MSTN EXCLUSIVE.

MSTN QC BRAKE.

OPTICS: EITHER TRIJICON 1-4X OR TA11F, DEPENDING ON THE MATCH.

PRI GAS BUSTER CHARGING HANDLE.

MSTN BOLT CARRIER BY YOUNG ENGINEERING.

TARAN TYPCIALLY USES A LOWER WITH A VLTOR A1 CLUBFOOT STOCK.

PAUL WILL RETURN WITH SOME WORDS OF WISDOM IN JUST A COUPLE OF DAYS.

WES GRANT
M.S.T.N.

ZAK-

THANKS FOR THE PIX.

REMEMBER, THIS IS A COMPETITION UPPER, NOT NECESSARILY A FIGHTING GUN. BUT, IT WOULD BE SIMPLE TO PLUG ALL OF THE UNUSED HOLES. REGARDLESS, THE UNUSED HOLES OFFER A MUCH SMALLER ENTRANCE TO THE RECEIVER THAN DOES THE EJECTION PORT WITH THE COVER OPEN.

THE RIFLE IN THE SECOND PIC IS ONE OF OUR 6.8 SPC GUNS.

WES GRANT
M.S.T.N.

Zak,

I did not know the carrier would not work in a JP billet receiver.  I will check one I have access to here.  Seems like something may be amiss though.

Wes answered most of the questions I think, but I am happy to clarifly if needed. (15 hours driving yesterday so I may be a little rummy).

I would not recommend the blade-mounted ACOG on a fighting gun unless a back-up sight set-up was mounted. The JP backup iron setup, mounted at 1:30 o'clock on the forend, would work fine for that. In fact, we are not building these for fighting guns, but for action rifle match shooting. I would not be concerned with the scope coming loose if installed properly though. Caveat, I have not done any drop tests (other than a big-time fall on Stage 4 at RM3G, no DQ and still a decent time for an old guy).  I can't recommend it for severe duty under life-or-death situations until we have a chance to test that and see if we can induce any malfs as a result.  I plan to build a dummy ACOG and do some serious whacking on it when I get a chance. Until then, I will stick to it as a competition mount.

As to its use for sport, the ACOG bladed into the receiver is the heat.  You have to get on the stock hard to get the full field of view with magnification. Perfect, as this is exactly what happens naturally when you try to shoot a stage with long shots requiring reasonable precision.  Conversely, when on a short rifle stage and need to be blowin' and goin', you typically want to shoot heads up and not get down hard. Here, since you will naturally NOT get low enough to see completely through the sight, the ACOG works exactly like an occluded gunsight. You see the lit-up reticle in your right eye and the target in your left. That handy brain housing group puts it all together and you have a fast sighting system for quickly engaging targets from contact to 50 yards or so.

Taran has both 17" and 18" uppers that we have built for him, in 1/8, 1/8, and 1/12 twists.  He can actually tell the difference in how they shoot (I didn't believe until I saw it, I can tell if one is heavier, but can't tell the twist based on how the gun feels when I shoot it, he can).  THe 1/9 seems to be the most popular twist for 55 - 69gr shooters, but the 1/8 gets you to 77 gr if that is your preference.  

The scoped gun in the 1st pic has a Trijicon TR21R scope on it. With the correct mounting, this scope is equal to the TA11 for this style of shooting, other than the superior glass on the ACOG.  Really no need to use any setting other than 4x, and it does the occluded sighting trick just dandy.  Mount must be forward as this scope has long eye relief. But considering it has an MSRP that is half the TA11, it's a bargain for a game gun. Great for a hunting scope too.

The receiver has holes spaced for mounting any ACOG, even the compacts. I have abused my test upper to see if dirt has any effect and have seen no issues to date. Taran has many thousands of rounds through his and I have that upper in hand currently to do a full eval of what a full season of competition did to it.  It ran flawlessly from January until now though, so I don't expect to see much.

I also did a specific test to see if any gas escaped through the holes with nothing on the rail but a BUIS.  (Customer request from an iron-sight competitor planning ahead for when his eyes finally return to mere mortal status).  He placed a strong top ten at the RM3G, where irons shoot head-to-head with scopes. He is going to kick some serious booty when he goes to glass.  Anyway, no gas escape noticed and no gas/carbon residue, so the GasBuster seems to keep it in the receiver. A standard charging handle should do as well for that, but the GasBuster is a must-have for this sort of shooting. Sold them to a bunch of the top, sponsored, shooters, who paid their own money for them.

The competition uppers we are building have a strong heritage from the ones we build for our social worker customers.  Reliability first, always accurate, then mission-configured to best suit the job at hand. In this case, the job is to be the fastest on target from 0-400 yards,  typical  of most 3-Gun scenarios.  To get there, we have new barrel contours that can net a complete gun that is well under 7 lbs. Adjustable gas blocks that can help control primary and secondary recoil impulses, muzzle brakes that are as close to neutral as possible, configurable forends that remove the weight without losing function or strength, and other tweaks that make, collectively, a big difference. In turn, some of these new ideas will find their way back into our more serious offerings, as appropriate.

We owe a lot to the relationship we have forged with Taran Butler.  He has won every major 3-Gun match in the US this year, all shooting our uppers. It certainly helps that he is one of the fastest shooters on the planet, and he would win a lot of matches shooting any rifle, but he has chosen ours and given us a lot of good feedback on these systems.  

Taran is a true gentleman and a pleasure to work with.  A couple anecdotes will illustrate. Firsthand, I watched his squad at the Nationals.  He was always there, pasting targets, resetting steel, etc. Even when he had an ammo problem, which could have cost him the match, he worked hard to keep everything moving along.  At the RM3G, he checked with the MD prior to determine if an 11-round shotgun config would be approved. Answer- yes. Taran arrived and shot his first stage, all shotgun targets, with an 11-round gun. Best time of the match. However, due to some potential confusion, the match organizers made a late change and put a 9-round ceiling on tactical shotguns. Taran immediately offered to reshoot the stage with a reconfigured gun. He did, losing 11-12 seconds and 8 match points (I think) in the process. The director offered to let the 11-round run stand, but Taran refused, saying he wanted to shoot it the same as everyone else.  This was a difficult match, with 8 long, complicated stages. Mistakes are hard to make up with so few stages. Taran won by only 6 points, (congrats to Tony Holmes on a great performance), so that gracious show of sportsmanship could have easily made the difference.

I was not in the pavilion when Zak took the pics. I would gladly have mugged for him. (Why anyone would want to see me with all those "purty guns" is a mystery though.)  The RM3g is a terrific match. Very physical considering the 6700-7000 foot altitude, but running the stages with the resident population of mule deer and Rocky Mt. elk is awfully cool.  Lack of oxygen shut me down a few times, as it did most folks, but seeing what you can do under stress, both mental and physical, is good for the soul.  

Paul

Zak, Stage 4 was a fun one. I did a full face plant between positions 3 and 4 and still had a decent time. I missed my first target at P4 3 times (getting the mud out of my teeth and eyes), but cleaned the rest.  Only position that I had trouble with was on Stage 1, shooting the 320 yd target from P3.  I got set up too far back and could not get the gun up high enough to see the target adequately. Took me nearly a full minute to get that one. (Dumb, should have given up and gone on...)

Stage 5 was where the blade-mount ACOG really showed its versatility.  I got through it in mid-40's with ease, just took the targets in stride with no real rush. I had good sight pictures on every target, short and long.  Not many sights will let you do that and still have 3.5x for the really long stuff.

As to the brakes, we have gotten rave reviews from everyone who is using them.  They are very neutral, reducing recoil 50-60% and minimizing sight picture shift without the typical over-comping we see often.  They work well both for semi and full-auto applications. The 6.8 version makes that caliber a hoot to shoot f/a.  Ammo goes fast though...