"Joseph"
With its namesake adopted from the man that donned the “coat of many colors”, I put this mutt of a gun together to compete in my very first Run & Gun and the goal was to build a rifle capable of any situation that might I might encounter. It would need to have diametrically opposing capabilities such as lightweight and reliable or maneuverable and also capable at range.
Many would say those are called compromises, and while its true a specialist weapon will be better at any particular situation, I feel I have struck a nice balance. While I may have had to make compromises on certain aspects of capabilities, I did not compromise on how the parts worked for me. Parts went on this gun and then came right back off if it didn't work exactly as I wanted. One example was the Geissele Airborne Charging handle that I originally bought for it...turns out it stabs you in the chest if you have to cinch the rifle up tight. It was quickly removed and I purchased the Radian Weapons SL that is short and flat.
Another example is changing from the Ferro Concepts Sling to the Blue Force Gear. I had much more adjustment available in the Blue Force Gear and found the padding superior…so the Ferro Concepts went in the drawer. I also tried the Reptilia grip, but my small hand just doesn't want to sit right on the safety like it does with a no-tang design...so a Magpul K grip was chosen instead. The burn proof cover was a nice addition as the first time I spent significant time with the gun, it was nearly to hot to hold not only from the barrel, but also from baking in the sun. I am sold on how these covers work.
I saved weight everywhere I could as these events typically have runs from 3 to 8 or even 10+ miles. The Noveske Gen 1 upper houses a 13.7" Ballistic Advantage barrel in the Hanson Profile. The less barrel length I could get by with the better, for both weight and length. I wanted a LPVO and the Kahles K16i has a wide FOV, the required capped turrets I would need, and only weighs 16.9 ounces. the 3GR reticle gets me out to a touch over 700 yards. The Nightforce 1.125 high mount, is one of the lightest on the market at 4.8 ounces. The K Magpul K stock was chosen for its size and weight. Finally, the Heathen System bipod legs and full size barricade stop weigh 3.5 ounces total and while I may never need it, 3 ounces is a small sacrifice if I ever should. The ATC AR Gold Trigger is simply one of my favorites. It is currently on nearly every AR I own and does a great job of being a fast trigger when I need it, and a precision trigger when the situations calls for it.
If you notice, my LPVO mount is LOW, just the way I like it when I must go prone or when shooting off of barricades. Given my low cheek weld, it works just fine for me shouldered as well. Because the mount is so low on the Kahles, the Delta Point Pro, piggybacked up top, sits at a perfectly comfortable 2.5" high above the pic rail. There is no hunting for the dot once the rifle is shouldered, its just there and it will also allow me to leave the Kahles capped up for most of the dirty stuff.
I took the gun out to 800 yards a month or so ago and it was very consistent running 73 grain ELDM's. Honestly I was shocked at the ease with which the K16i 1-6x and this gun rang steel at that distance on IPSC sized targets. Last week I confirmed at 600 yards for the competition using a 50% IPSC target and the gun again, outperformed expectations.
I was hoping to have a scoped rifle, with mini red dot AND bipod at 7 lbs 15 ounces but I missed the mark by 3 ounces. Maybe I will find a way to shave that some day. Alas, the gun is "almost" complete anyway. The lower is being borrowed from my Barrett SBR since the 13.7 barrel is not pin and welded yet, but I have a dedicated Noveske lower on the way to finally make this gun its own complete package and I will pin and weld at 16.1" at that time.
The final result is a weapon I just absolutely love and have full confidence in. Its capabilities exceed my own limited abilities by quite a bit, so I guess there is not much more I can ask for. The carbine part of the preparation is complete, its time to work on myself.
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