I bought a new XCR-M keymod upper &light barrel, so Wolverine fixed my entire rifle!

[Astute Observer]

Hey all;

I just got a new goodie in the mail from the guys at Wolverine - I bought both a new barrel and upper for my XCR-M, both 18.5", and now I have two seperate receivers; one standard quad rail, and the new keymod.



One optic is pretty good, the other is so-so. I've got a Millett 1-6 DMR on the heavy barrel (for now), but a Trijicon 1-4x Accupoint on the light.

My intent is to replace the Millett with something a little more suited to longer range shooting, and then use that upper / barrel combo for a target rifle. I'll then use the lighter barrel and keymod upper for either hunting, or maybe perforating pumpkins and soda bottles at closer ranges.

Micheal at Wolverine hooked me up really well with a custom order, and he was very patient with my repeated bugging. Much appreciation to him.

Also, Dave, Wolverine's gunsmith, busted his butt to get me this rifle. I sent it in for a diagnosis (was having some issues) and they were really great about helping me out. I bought the rifle on the Equipment Exchange, but bought the new upper and light barrel from wolverine - but Dave looked at the whole rifle, even though I had bought it second hand. These guys really did me a solid favour, and I can't compliment enough that their customer service was awesome. They even sent it back to me in a new gun case!

I haven't fired them yet to compare the accuracy between the two, but I just wanted to say thanks to Dave and Micheal.

Cheers!

[S1de8urnz]

Is there a noticeable diference in weight? If you had to carry one all day through the woods, which would you take?

[Wilks]

Interested in an accuracy report for sure

[Astute Observer]

Is there a noticeable diference in weight? If you had to carry one all day through the woods, which would you take?

The light barrel and keymod - hands down lighter. The difference is noticeable, especially because it's got more weight at the front. I can shoulder the rifle and hold it for twice as long with the light barrel and keymod upper, before I get the 'shakes'. Add in that the heavy profile barrel and quad rail version has significantly heavier scope, a bipod, and a slightly larger muzzle brake on the heavy version, the effect is pronounced.

Interested in an accuracy report for sure

For sure! I plan on using the same ammo, same rifle, same upper (the Keymod), same optic, same mags, on the same day - to try to minimize the variables.

That all said: Depending on accuracy, if the light barrel is signifincantly worse than the heavy, I'd probably go for the keymod and heavy barrel and try to just do a multi-role rifle. We'll see, time will tell. I'll be shooting it this weekend coming up and will have some data then.

Cheers!

AO

[Astute Observer]

One thing to note as well; If you do decide to get a new upper, you'll want to get a new gas tube too. It's just one less thing you'll have to switch around when you're going from one to another. Now I get the whole point of the XCR was so that you DIDN'T HAVE TO change uppers - you could just change barrels (and bolt face in an XCR-L). So I acknowledge that this was probably an unnecessary step, but I wanted to semi-permanently mount the optics and barrels in their respective uppers, to improve accuracy as much as possible.

[Dr. Hunter]

I too ordered a separate light barrel and keymod upper and it completely changes the feel of the gun. Much better balance and more comfortable to use. The quad rail and heavy barrel I've just left in storage and will probably not use them again.

[Wally]

For sure! I plan on using the same ammo, same rifle, same upper (the Keymod), same optic, same mags, on the same day - to try to minimize the variables.

That all said: Depending on accuracy, if the light barrel is signifincantly worse than the heavy, I'd probably go for the keymod and heavy barrel and try to just do a multi-role rifle. We'll see, time will tell. I'll be shooting it this weekend coming up and will have some data then.

Cheers!

AO

How much worse could it get? My XCR-M shoots minute of barn.

[Astute Observer]

How much worse could it get? My XCR-M shoots minute of barn.

Which barrel do you have? The light, or standard (heavy) profile?

My heavy profile barrel wasn't that accurate initially - about 3-4 MOA using the Norinco ammo. Dave from Wolverine did some work to accurize it (that was why I sent it to them in the first place) and it came back with the new muzzle brake. We'll see if that's the deal.

[Watchout Larry]

How much worse could it get? My XCR-M shoots minute of barn.

I love it...that's funny! I will actually let everyone know that I use 7.62x51 MFS or Barnaul both are the same manufacturer, it is Russian made and very inexpensive. I get very accurate and repeatable results. Approx. 1.28" so just over MOA @ 100 yards.
Minute of barn is awesome.

[Flumser]

Can anyone speak to the weight difference between the keymod and quad rail upper if the barrel profile is the same?
I understand that there's a big weight difference between heavy + quad and light + keymod. But how much of that weight savings is in the barrel change versus the rail change?

I currently have a light barrel with quad rail, and I'm wondering if there's significant weight savings to justify going to a keymod upper, with the same barrel profile (light)