Those of you with a questionable taste in writing may well have read my other reviews and will therefore be aware that I have a weakness for precision bolt-action rifles. In particular, bolt guns which combine precision with a tactical or 'sniper-esque' look will most certainly appeal to me - a fact easily confirmed by my bank manager !
I am fortunate enough to own ( or owned ) a number of very fine precision bolt guns - both factory, semi-custom and custom and, when forming opinions about these various firearms, I have determined that there are some features I really like and some that I am not so keen on. Earlier this year I decided to ask Rick at ATRS to build me a rifle that combined all the features I like into one rifle. I placed the order in May and the rifle arrived two weeks ago.
Normally I wouldn't wait more than a couple of days to shoot a new toy but the Running of the V-Bulls F-Class match last weekend meant I had to delay trying out the new rifle until today and writing a review without a range report is well... well, if you are reading this you know
In keeping with my usual format, I will cover off a few different aspects of the rifle and, where applicable, I will draw comparisons to other rifles I have reviewed.
So without further ado let's review what we have:
Stiller 'Predator' action with 20 MOA rail
Rock Creek 24" 1:10 barrel with M40 contour
McM A5 stock with 3-way butt and integral cheek piece
ATRS bottom metal using (of course) AI mags
Jewel trigger
Anschutz rail
Versapod Bipod + Battle Pack
Blackhawk cheekpiece
All metal Cerakoted matte black
Price
I am not going to disclose exactly what I paid, but you should know that a custom rifle can cost anywhere from the price of a higher-end Remington to an AI AWP and beyond. What I will say is that I had a figure in mind that I was prepared to spend, discussed the build with Rick and said that while money wasn't that important build-quality most certainly was.I'm happy to say that I was pleasantly surprised when, at the time the final bill was tallied, to find that I had spent a few hundred less than I was planning to. No, I did not shop around to source parts and send off to ATRS - I placed my order, gave a deposit and paid the bill when due. Could I have had it built cheaper ? Sure, I guess so. Was the cost important to me ? No, not really but all of our circumstances are different so YMMV. I will say that I have an excellent rifle built by Casey at Tactical Ordnance and have the invoice supplied to the original owner: item for item, where such comparisons are possible, they and ATRS are certainly in the same ballpark.
Fit and Finish
I will be the first to admit that I am very picky when reviewing things and with a rifle that costs some serious money I won't overlook things that I'd let pass with a SPS or 10FP. I literally went over this rifle with a magnifying glass looking for fault, blemish or defect. Other than some cerakote over-spray on the ATRS 20 MOA rail and a small spot of silver colour (paint?) on the trigger guard that was easily remedied with a magic marker, I could find nothing to take issue with. Essentially blemish-free and finished off perfectly, without taking the rifle apart to examine further I'd have to say the rifle shows evidence of excellent workmanship.
Action
This is what adds to cost as, for sure, a custom action cost more than a Remington/Savage. Is it necessary ? Only you can decide. My Tac-Ord is built on a Remy and it is excellent both in operation and the accuracy department. I had originally asked Rick to make this build on a Remy but then I thought "WTF Bob, get what you really want" and so I called Rick to change out the order to a Stiller. Yes, it added to the cost but to me it is worth it. No matter how good the work, a Remy will still feel like a Remy whereas this Stiller feels just like I remember the action felt on my Coyote ( now owned by my good buddy and fellow CGN'er C3pppo..grrrr!! b%$tard ! Why did I sell that rifle LOL !). The Stiller is super-smooth and closes like a vault door - I'm happy
Barrel
I wanted a 1:10 twist ( My F/TR Custom and my Tac-Ord are 1:12 and my TRG's are 1:11 ) as I plan to shoot 175g and above - maybe as heavy as the 208g A-Max - and I wanted something to look like the USMC M40 so the Rock Creek tube fit the bill quite perfectly. At 24" it is shorter and more maneuverable than one of my TRG's and the Tac-Ord but still of sufficient length to handle some serious LR tasks. A final, and very nice touch, is the engraving of caliber and the company that put the rig together for me.
Trigger
I chose Jewel. Others may question this choice but I really like these triggers and this one, like others, is light and crisp - 'breaks like a glass rod' is an overused phrase, but I can't think of a better descriptor.
Bottom Metal and Mags
As far as I am concerned AI make the best aftermarket mags out there bar none ( I still prefer the Sako TRG mags but c'est la vie ) so that's the choice and while I have V-Bull bottom metal on another rifle I think the ATRS product is superior. Certainly, the mags fit easily into the well, don't friggin' rattle around ( a pet irritation of mine - ah, now I remember why I sold the Coyote !) and the feeding was smooth and without flaw.
Stock
The McM stock is one of my favorite types of stock and I chose a green, and black marbled sort of colour as my Tac-Ord is in desert camo ( summer and winter rifles eh ? ). Naturally, I chose the McM A5 but I hate the saddle so many have - I think it looks cheap - and is a fault I found with the Coyote and with my Tac-Ord custom so I wanted the integral cheekpiece. Stupid, I know - the darn thing wears a Blackhawk cheekpiece anyway so you can't even tell but, hey it is what I wanted
Performance
So, a rifle can look as pretty as all hell but if it don't shoot well it is "as much use as an ashtray on a motorbike". Today was this rifle's first day out and I didn't have a load specifically made up for the rifle save for 10 rounds of 190g SMK I quickly put together last night using Sierra's accuracy load from the book. I grabbed a box of AE 150g used in M14's ( to get on paper ), a box Winchester Law Enforcement Match ammo (168g), some 168g A-Max loads ( 43.5 Varget ) left over from the BC Tac Rifle match this past Summer and some of the TRG's favorite diet - 175g SMK's over 44.6 Varget and headed out to Mission Rod and Gun Club.
As for glass I had hoped my S+B Pmii 12-50x56 would have arrived but, alas, no it was not to be ..... Fortunately, a serviceable alternative was available in the form of a Sightron SIII 8-32x56 that I had recently purchased from Mystic Precision ( Thanks Jerry - nice glass; not NF but very, very nice Sorry, inside joke! )
Results
After a couple of rounds of the crappy but cheap AE to get on paper, I shot at 100m, and 200m Shooting from the prone off bipod and with little wind I was happy with the results. I fired 40 odd rounds without cleaning and without a particular break in ( "just shoot it" according to Rock Creek ).
I found the rifle shot both 168g loads well ( under half-minute ) at 100m and I used the 175g loads at 200m where the results were also sub half-minute. The 190's were just either side of 1 MOA at 200m which was disappointing - I feel the Sierra Accuracy Load needs a bit more ooomph so will experiment further with that.
I also took a few shots offhand to see if this relatively heavy (16lbs or so ) rifle could be operated well-enough by me in this position - hitting a 200m gong was easily doable.
As expected with a heavy rifle, recoil was nothing to worry about either offhand or from the prone.
At 100m
At 200m - note the user error !
More user errors ?
Final Comments
This is exactly what I ordered and what I expected. I had never met or spoken with anyone at ATRS before making this order so I was neither an ATRS 'fan-boy' or 'hater' and I will say, quite honestly, that both of Rick and Dustin were fully professional to deal with and were very accommodating over the phone with me and took their time with my questions and ideas and gave advice freely and without pressure.
When in Calgary on business a few weeks ago I stopped by ATRS unannounced and introduced myself. I and my colleague ended up spending a couple of hours at their shop which was both interesting and informative. The rifle, like I say, came in a couple of hundred under budget and was delivered almost two months ahead of expected delivery date.
Thanks for reading - hope you like the review. Keep them in the V-Bulls !
The driver
I am fortunate enough to own ( or owned ) a number of very fine precision bolt guns - both factory, semi-custom and custom and, when forming opinions about these various firearms, I have determined that there are some features I really like and some that I am not so keen on. Earlier this year I decided to ask Rick at ATRS to build me a rifle that combined all the features I like into one rifle. I placed the order in May and the rifle arrived two weeks ago.
Normally I wouldn't wait more than a couple of days to shoot a new toy but the Running of the V-Bulls F-Class match last weekend meant I had to delay trying out the new rifle until today and writing a review without a range report is well... well, if you are reading this you know
In keeping with my usual format, I will cover off a few different aspects of the rifle and, where applicable, I will draw comparisons to other rifles I have reviewed.
So without further ado let's review what we have:
Stiller 'Predator' action with 20 MOA rail
Rock Creek 24" 1:10 barrel with M40 contour
McM A5 stock with 3-way butt and integral cheek piece
ATRS bottom metal using (of course) AI mags
Jewel trigger
Anschutz rail
Versapod Bipod + Battle Pack
Blackhawk cheekpiece
All metal Cerakoted matte black
Price
I am not going to disclose exactly what I paid, but you should know that a custom rifle can cost anywhere from the price of a higher-end Remington to an AI AWP and beyond. What I will say is that I had a figure in mind that I was prepared to spend, discussed the build with Rick and said that while money wasn't that important build-quality most certainly was.I'm happy to say that I was pleasantly surprised when, at the time the final bill was tallied, to find that I had spent a few hundred less than I was planning to. No, I did not shop around to source parts and send off to ATRS - I placed my order, gave a deposit and paid the bill when due. Could I have had it built cheaper ? Sure, I guess so. Was the cost important to me ? No, not really but all of our circumstances are different so YMMV. I will say that I have an excellent rifle built by Casey at Tactical Ordnance and have the invoice supplied to the original owner: item for item, where such comparisons are possible, they and ATRS are certainly in the same ballpark.
Fit and Finish
I will be the first to admit that I am very picky when reviewing things and with a rifle that costs some serious money I won't overlook things that I'd let pass with a SPS or 10FP. I literally went over this rifle with a magnifying glass looking for fault, blemish or defect. Other than some cerakote over-spray on the ATRS 20 MOA rail and a small spot of silver colour (paint?) on the trigger guard that was easily remedied with a magic marker, I could find nothing to take issue with. Essentially blemish-free and finished off perfectly, without taking the rifle apart to examine further I'd have to say the rifle shows evidence of excellent workmanship.
Action
This is what adds to cost as, for sure, a custom action cost more than a Remington/Savage. Is it necessary ? Only you can decide. My Tac-Ord is built on a Remy and it is excellent both in operation and the accuracy department. I had originally asked Rick to make this build on a Remy but then I thought "WTF Bob, get what you really want" and so I called Rick to change out the order to a Stiller. Yes, it added to the cost but to me it is worth it. No matter how good the work, a Remy will still feel like a Remy whereas this Stiller feels just like I remember the action felt on my Coyote ( now owned by my good buddy and fellow CGN'er C3pppo..grrrr!! b%$tard ! Why did I sell that rifle LOL !). The Stiller is super-smooth and closes like a vault door - I'm happy
Barrel
I wanted a 1:10 twist ( My F/TR Custom and my Tac-Ord are 1:12 and my TRG's are 1:11 ) as I plan to shoot 175g and above - maybe as heavy as the 208g A-Max - and I wanted something to look like the USMC M40 so the Rock Creek tube fit the bill quite perfectly. At 24" it is shorter and more maneuverable than one of my TRG's and the Tac-Ord but still of sufficient length to handle some serious LR tasks. A final, and very nice touch, is the engraving of caliber and the company that put the rig together for me.
Trigger
I chose Jewel. Others may question this choice but I really like these triggers and this one, like others, is light and crisp - 'breaks like a glass rod' is an overused phrase, but I can't think of a better descriptor.
Bottom Metal and Mags
As far as I am concerned AI make the best aftermarket mags out there bar none ( I still prefer the Sako TRG mags but c'est la vie ) so that's the choice and while I have V-Bull bottom metal on another rifle I think the ATRS product is superior. Certainly, the mags fit easily into the well, don't friggin' rattle around ( a pet irritation of mine - ah, now I remember why I sold the Coyote !) and the feeding was smooth and without flaw.
Stock
The McM stock is one of my favorite types of stock and I chose a green, and black marbled sort of colour as my Tac-Ord is in desert camo ( summer and winter rifles eh ? ). Naturally, I chose the McM A5 but I hate the saddle so many have - I think it looks cheap - and is a fault I found with the Coyote and with my Tac-Ord custom so I wanted the integral cheekpiece. Stupid, I know - the darn thing wears a Blackhawk cheekpiece anyway so you can't even tell but, hey it is what I wanted
Performance
So, a rifle can look as pretty as all hell but if it don't shoot well it is "as much use as an ashtray on a motorbike". Today was this rifle's first day out and I didn't have a load specifically made up for the rifle save for 10 rounds of 190g SMK I quickly put together last night using Sierra's accuracy load from the book. I grabbed a box of AE 150g used in M14's ( to get on paper ), a box Winchester Law Enforcement Match ammo (168g), some 168g A-Max loads ( 43.5 Varget ) left over from the BC Tac Rifle match this past Summer and some of the TRG's favorite diet - 175g SMK's over 44.6 Varget and headed out to Mission Rod and Gun Club.
As for glass I had hoped my S+B Pmii 12-50x56 would have arrived but, alas, no it was not to be ..... Fortunately, a serviceable alternative was available in the form of a Sightron SIII 8-32x56 that I had recently purchased from Mystic Precision ( Thanks Jerry - nice glass; not NF but very, very nice
Sorry, inside joke! ) Results
After a couple of rounds of the crappy but cheap AE to get on paper, I shot at 100m, and 200m Shooting from the prone off bipod and with little wind I was happy with the results. I fired 40 odd rounds without cleaning and without a particular break in ( "just shoot it" according to Rock Creek ).
I found the rifle shot both 168g loads well ( under half-minute ) at 100m and I used the 175g loads at 200m where the results were also sub half-minute. The 190's were just either side of 1 MOA at 200m which was disappointing - I feel the Sierra Accuracy Load needs a bit more ooomph so will experiment further with that.
I also took a few shots offhand to see if this relatively heavy (16lbs or so ) rifle could be operated well-enough by me in this position - hitting a 200m gong was easily doable.
As expected with a heavy rifle, recoil was nothing to worry about either offhand or from the prone.
At 100m
At 200m - note the user error !
More user errors ?
Final Comments
This is exactly what I ordered and what I expected. I had never met or spoken with anyone at ATRS before making this order so I was neither an ATRS 'fan-boy' or 'hater' and I will say, quite honestly, that both of Rick and Dustin were fully professional to deal with and were very accommodating over the phone with me and took their time with my questions and ideas and gave advice freely and without pressure.
When in Calgary on business a few weeks ago I stopped by ATRS unannounced and introduced myself. I and my colleague ended up spending a couple of hours at their shop which was both interesting and informative. The rifle, like I say, came in a couple of hundred under budget and was delivered almost two months ahead of expected delivery date.
Thanks for reading - hope you like the review. Keep them in the V-Bulls !
The driver
