Most people fail to realize this rifle was never designed to be an "every man's rifle". It may look like a simple AR with enough changed to get it past the RCMP as non restricted but it's not. This is obvious by the problems it has with cheap ammo that an AR-10 would eat without complaint because it's designed to be a battle rifle, it has loose tolerances to make it reliable, the MH is designed a little tighter to increase accuracy potential with the tradeoff being reliability with certain types of ammo.
Yet you don't hear of all these issues with actual accuracy AR308 rifles which have also been used in combat as designated marksman rifles. Canada used them in Afghanistan, as did the UK, Germany etc. I suspect the real issue with the MH and ammo/mag problems is with the mag/feeding geometry. Accuracy issues? Probably pushing the bullet into the brass. If you have to crimp a lot then that will also create accuracy issues. So again comes down to most likely a geometry problem.
My
KAC SR25 ECR 20" came with a
5 round test target that was .913 moa using
Win match ammo. Frankly any "match ammo" by Winchester or Remington hasn't shot well in any rifle I've owned. The rifle also came with a booklet "Weapon record book" which detailed the number of rounds fired before leaving the factory. A total of 78 rounds were fired prior to leaving the factory. Win match 168 for qualify and 150 grain ball ammo for function.
A total of 60 rounds of 150 grain ball ammo is fired through the SR25 ECR before leaving the factory to test for reliability.
Last but not least:
... ALL of the chambers and barrels are made to SAMMI specs, the only tighter tolerances are in the machining of the upper and lower fitment, which has no bearing in any way on the chamber pressures.
This is a hand fitted custom that was designed to run quality ammo.
Sorry but no it's not. It's a bunch of off the shelf parts put together. They seem to make the stripped upper/lower along with charging handle but everything else seems to be off the shelf parts from other manufacturers. That's like calling my DPMS LR308 a "hand fitted custom that was designed to run quality ammo" because I installed a new trigger in it. I could spin on a new barrel, stock, pistol grip as well. Or even buy special billet stripped upper/lowers for it. The only difference is it's restricted. It's still not a hand fitted custom. Semi custom or Frankengun I would agree with.
I don't see it as a hunter either regardless of the name. I've run a couple hundred rounds through three MH's and none of them liked anything soft point even though my AR-10 would eat the same stuff. What it was designed to do was run quality ammo and like any semi it needs to be tested with a few different brands/types/weights of ammo to find what it likes.
If you're considering a MH just to run cheap FMJ surplus because you want a non restricted semi you would be better off buying a used M305 and putting it in a nice stock or an XCR-M or Famme then spend the money you saved on a crate of surplus.
I do generally agree with this assessment.
Funny how everyone wants a high quality non restricted accurate and reliable semi auto but then when a company builds one most people that buy one feed it garbage ammo that the manufacturer recommends against then complain that it's unreliable and not very accurate. If they had built it loose so it was reliable with any ammo everyone would complain that it's not accurate even with quality ammo. ATRS builds a quality product aimed at experienced shooters that understand the difference between premium and surplus ammo and what firearms each works best in.
I'm not seeing a lot of complaining regarding accuracy and reliability with garbage ammo. I'm seeing concerns with decent ammo or reliability variables with ammo that isn't garbage but isn't match. From the reports I've seen, the accuracy of these really doesn't justify $2 a round match ammo being fed through it. Hopefully after the initial accuracy fix, this will change.
Notice how you don't hear complaints like "I just can't get it to cycle handloads" or I just can't seem to get any handloads to make nice groups". Probably because most people handloading for a rifle like this are experienced handloaders and know what is going to work before they start because they know about burn rates and projectile selection to get a semi to function correctly. As has been said before surplus ammo was designed to be run in surplus rifles with military spec hammer springs not custom rifles with 4 pound triggers.
Probably because they go up on the EE to be someone else's problem. Experienced reloaders move on quick once they know it's the gun and not the ammo. They don't keep feeding it and hoping to find a rare magic bullet. Again, I was keeping tabs on the EE and a few of these rifles decked out for precision were put up for sale quick with 100 rounds or less by guys who a quick post check revealed, were reloaders and target shooters. Were these early models that didn't receive the "non recall" ? Who knows. But they were moving them on pretty quick.
The bottom line is, if you're buying a MH right now. You're a Beta tester. Sometimes It's the price of being an early adopter.
I will also add that if the NEA 102 gets the final commercial product non restricted FRT (They already have the initial non restricted on the prototype. Incidentally ATRS was already selling as "non restricted" during that stage). Then the MH is done. Providing of course that the NEA isn't a flaming POS with the best selling feature being "That it has a great warranty". Considering the NEA 25 is similar and been in foreign markets for a while, I would give them credit for already testing it before we get them. If this plays out, well then the MH will be a footnote in Canadian firearms history. Let's be honest, the NEA doesn't even have to be that accurate or reliable to give the MH a run for the money, while also at half or less the price. The only thing not produced by NEA with that rifle is the barrel. So truly Canadian made not just assembled US parts in Canada.