Tactical Rifles: My View from Behind the Stock

Biloxi, Mississippi (Ammoland) 

Believe it or not, I truly do try to stay away from Internet arguments or debates. Not that I’m always successful, but I do try. Opinions offered on various blogs and forums are akin to a rectal orifice, everyone has one and they vary tremendously in olfactory quality. For that reason, when an acquaintance forwarded a video link that slammed a product built by Tactical Rifles of Zephyrhills, Florida I dismissed it and moved on with my life.

The fecal storm surrounding this video, promoted vehemently on a certain gun form, has taken on a life of its own. Therefore, I cannot with good conscience stand at the sidelines without comment.

First Experience

My first experience with Tactical Rifles was approximately ten years ago. At the time, in addition to my work as a police officer, I was writing actively for a number of firearms and LE journals. David Rooney, President/Founder, of Tactical Rifles called me up one day and asked if I had time to chat. David had recently started advertising with one of the many publishing houses for whom I wrote. The publishers had asked Mr. Rooney to send a rifle to one of their writers for a review, but David didn’t want to send it off blindly to a stranger. We spoke for a half-hour or so, David asked me about my background, training, and experience with precision rifles. Essentially, Rooney was concerned with sending a custom built precision rifle to someone that might not be able to appreciate such an item. This was before I had graduated from LE Sniper School, so I related my Marine Corps training and experience and put his fears to rest. A Tactical Rifles custom M40 arrived at my FFL dealer a week later.

The rifle in question was a .308 Winchester built on a Remington 700 action. A twenty-inch barrel was free-floated into a woodland camouflage McMillan stock. Although I don’t have the specs in front of me I can safely say that trigger was tuned somewhere in the 2.5 to 3 pound range. I installed a Leupold Mark IV 10x variable riflescope on the gun and headed to the range with a variety of .308 Winchester ammunition.

My plan was to zero the rifle at 100 yards and that is what I did. The target was a Birchwood Casey “Dirty Bird” bulls eye. I truly appreciate these targets as they provide an easy to view shot hole, even at distance. After perhaps a dozen rounds, I was getting very comfortable with the Tactical Rifles gun. I decided to shoot some groups for record at 100 yard. With a clean target and a 168 grain match load from Black Hills Ammunition I settle in behind the stock. I could see through the Leupold optic that my first shot was in the center ring. I fired the second round and was disappointed that I could not find a new shot hole. Clearing my head and taking several deep breaths, I pressed off the third shot. Peering through the scope it appeared that the first shot hole was a bit larger.

I cleared the rifle and took a stroll down range to get a closer view of my handiwork. When I arrived at the target I was stuck by a sense of awe. The first shot hole was now a ragged cloverleaf. All three rounds had passed through the target within one-quarter of an inch from the others. That was the first time I’d ever fired a 0.25 inch three shot group and I remember it vividly to this day.  Needless to say I was excited about my testing opportunity with the TR M40.

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Source: http://www.ammoland.com/2014/02/tactical-rifles-my-view-from-behind-the-stock/