TacticalTeacher
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Georgian Bay, ON
The kind folks at Wolverine Supplies have lent me a Barrett MRAD for the summer (both my 5 week Western Tour and the coming fall clinics) and fall. So it's time I zeroe'd this baby and see if she's a shooter.
Construction of the Rifle:
This rifle is not the hunting rifle model (Rem, Win, Sav, Tikka, Sako) that most of use are used to. Neither is it the 'beefed' up versions like Surgeon, Timberwolf, Coyote, Pearce, Panda and all the other brands my memory has forgotten. It's a whole new paradigm (I'm using big words on you CGNutters) for precision and Barrett has 30 years of experience in this game.
I'm loving how the rifle pulls apart like a C6 GPMG (FN Mag58), and that's a quote from a CF member here on CGNutz, but handles like an AR15 with the take down pins to separate the upper and lower receiver. Even the pistol grip is an AR grip or Magpul MOE to be exact. The safety is a short 30 or 40 degree throw and it's not ambidextrous. The trigger is a single stage trigger and breaks (SWAG- scientific wild ass guess) like about 2 lbs or so.
The bolt is carried and a Delrin bolt carrier sleeve, and the Barrett folks say one does not need a dust cover because the Delrin sleeve is so snug with it's tolerances inside the upper receiver. The entire bolt assembly is buttery smooth... more so after Buzzballer lubed it!
Initially I was amazed at how large the .338 LM cartridges are, holy granola They are big compared to the .308's I've competed with at ORA and DCRA Sniper matches over the years.
I had to wear our Canadian Undead Neutralizing Team gear for this evaluation because I felt this MRAD is a perfect tool for the TEAM's resources and mandate: to neutralize all zombies found in the four corners of the Georgian Triangle.
Here's the other evaluator and shooter: Buzzballer....
Now we just could not stop admiring the resin magazines and how they fit the cartridges (all ten of them) in a double stack fashion.
Have a look at this bolt assembly: it's like an AR bolt using a Delrin bolt carrier for alignment and then the AR style (captured) bolt inside, but this MRAD bolt has 9 NINE lugs. Yeah, go and count them..
You can also see the .338 LM cartridge by Sellier & Bellot loading into the chamber. It's loaded with the 250 grain Sierra MK booolit, a proven performer. I was expecting good results from the beginning. Especially since I've been hauling it around all summer across Canada in my gender confused Tacoma truck. My Alberta and SK buds commented on the Tacoma being GIRLY, but I reminded them in Fort MakeMoney, the F150 IS the Girly truck while the F250 or 2500 Super Duty series are the manly truck, hence the "Gender Confused" moniker for the Tacoma. After leaving SK and AB for BC, I was surrounded by soooo many Tacoma trucks in Whistler because that's the center for all them "Gender Confused" pot smoking, granola eating, Birkenstock crowd. People in Tacomas wave at each other, and I had to get used to that. Okay, I digress..... 
I really loved how the folding stock works and feels like a vault door, it closes without any squeaks or grinding. Super smooooth...
This picture shows how easy the hardware was to manipulate and raise or lower the cheekpiece, rock solid, predictably smooth and the buttstock has indexed numbers to be recorded in yer sniper notebook. You do keep a sniper notebook/record book with all your rigs don't you?
We also loved how smooth and easy and soldier proof the detent button was for the buttstock LOP adjustment:
Our rifle came with the GG&G bipod.... Very cool looking, no squeaky or noisy surprises. No pinch points!
And the bipod's swivel mechanism was super easy to lock. I like this unit, but I still am anal about my Harris BR Swivel models for competition. I really like the barrel / rifle much lower so that when I fire in the prone position, my chest is another base of support. Right down low. Yeah, I would consider buying one of these GG&G units for the cool mechanism, design, and then the LCV (looks cool value)
Shooting the boomstick:
Once we had the rifle adjusted to Buzzballer, it was time for some dry firing and getting used to the position of the gun on the bench and body geometry and all that useful BR fun.
I got behind him because I knew that brake up front was gonna blow gases all over the firing point.
We did not like the bench fun, so we relocated to the more familiar prone position:
Now we were ready to shoot. Here's our first group... The aiming point is my handy-dandy Dollar Store Bingo Dabber in "Street Walker Red"
And this is our first group... 4 shots, three of them on the left and Buzzballer pulled that last one. He is an inexperienced PR shooter and I deliberately selected him for this evaluation.
This rifle is a "bughole" shooter as you can see by the first group. Don't ask me to throw numbers out for you F Class intelligent people. I'm deliberately ignorant of that stuff and I need to stay that way.
And here is our second group: 5 shots with Buzzballer pulling the last one... hey, I warned you that he was not an F Classer and neither am I.
Verdict:
It's a keeper (now I need to quit drinking, smoking, and fornicat... no, I'll stop there) and time to save some money up.
Time to hear from what Buzzballer has to say, because he did all the shooting. I just pointed the "finger of authority". You M14 Clinic lovers know what I mean.
Now at one point, someone in the crowd is going to remark about how we don't have the POI directly hitting the POA... well you try doing this adjusting a Schmidt and Bender Milradian scope when each shot is $4.00 a pull (plus taxes) and I did not buy that many from Wolverine Supplies. I wanted to group this rifle and there ya go! It's grouped. I don't have much ammo leftover. And that's why I shoot a .308 and .260 Rem at the sniper matches.
Construction of the Rifle:
This rifle is not the hunting rifle model (Rem, Win, Sav, Tikka, Sako) that most of use are used to. Neither is it the 'beefed' up versions like Surgeon, Timberwolf, Coyote, Pearce, Panda and all the other brands my memory has forgotten. It's a whole new paradigm (I'm using big words on you CGNutters) for precision and Barrett has 30 years of experience in this game.
I'm loving how the rifle pulls apart like a C6 GPMG (FN Mag58), and that's a quote from a CF member here on CGNutz, but handles like an AR15 with the take down pins to separate the upper and lower receiver. Even the pistol grip is an AR grip or Magpul MOE to be exact. The safety is a short 30 or 40 degree throw and it's not ambidextrous. The trigger is a single stage trigger and breaks (SWAG- scientific wild ass guess) like about 2 lbs or so.
The bolt is carried and a Delrin bolt carrier sleeve, and the Barrett folks say one does not need a dust cover because the Delrin sleeve is so snug with it's tolerances inside the upper receiver. The entire bolt assembly is buttery smooth... more so after Buzzballer lubed it!
Initially I was amazed at how large the .338 LM cartridges are, holy granola
They are big compared to the .308's I've competed with at ORA and DCRA Sniper matches over the years.
I had to wear our Canadian Undead Neutralizing Team gear for this evaluation because I felt this MRAD is a perfect tool for the TEAM's resources and mandate: to neutralize all zombies found in the four corners of the Georgian Triangle.
Here's the other evaluator and shooter: Buzzballer....
Now we just could not stop admiring the resin magazines and how they fit the cartridges (all ten of them) in a double stack fashion.
Have a look at this bolt assembly: it's like an AR bolt using a Delrin bolt carrier for alignment and then the AR style (captured) bolt inside, but this MRAD bolt has 9 NINE lugs. Yeah, go and count them..
You can also see the .338 LM cartridge by Sellier & Bellot loading into the chamber. It's loaded with the 250 grain Sierra MK booolit, a proven performer. I was expecting good results from the beginning. Especially since I've been hauling it around all summer across Canada in my gender confused Tacoma truck.
My Alberta and SK buds commented on the Tacoma being GIRLY, but I reminded them in Fort MakeMoney, the F150 IS the Girly truck while the F250 or 2500 Super Duty series are the manly truck, hence the "Gender Confused" moniker for the Tacoma. After leaving SK and AB for BC, I was surrounded by soooo many Tacoma trucks in Whistler because that's the center for all them "Gender Confused" pot smoking, granola eating, Birkenstock crowd. People in Tacomas wave at each other, and I had to get used to that. Okay, I digress..... I really loved how the folding stock works and feels like a vault door, it closes without any squeaks or grinding. Super smooooth...
This picture shows how easy the hardware was to manipulate and raise or lower the cheekpiece, rock solid, predictably smooth and the buttstock has indexed numbers to be recorded in yer sniper notebook. You do keep a sniper notebook/record book with all your rigs don't you?
We also loved how smooth and easy and soldier proof the detent button was for the buttstock LOP adjustment:
Our rifle came with the GG&G bipod.... Very cool looking, no squeaky or noisy surprises. No pinch points!
And the bipod's swivel mechanism was super easy to lock. I like this unit, but I still am anal about my Harris BR Swivel models for competition. I really like the barrel / rifle much lower so that when I fire in the prone position, my chest is another base of support. Right down low. Yeah, I would consider buying one of these GG&G units for the cool mechanism, design, and then the LCV (looks cool value)
Shooting the boomstick:
Once we had the rifle adjusted to Buzzballer, it was time for some dry firing and getting used to the position of the gun on the bench and body geometry and all that useful BR fun.
I got behind him because I knew that brake up front was gonna blow gases all over the firing point.
We did not like the bench fun, so we relocated to the more familiar prone position:
Now we were ready to shoot. Here's our first group... The aiming point is my handy-dandy Dollar Store Bingo Dabber in "Street Walker Red"
And this is our first group... 4 shots, three of them on the left and Buzzballer pulled that last one. He is an inexperienced PR shooter and I deliberately selected him for this evaluation.
This rifle is a "bughole" shooter as you can see by the first group. Don't ask me to throw numbers out for you F Class intelligent people. I'm deliberately ignorant of that stuff and I need to stay that way.
And here is our second group: 5 shots with Buzzballer pulling the last one... hey, I warned you that he was not an F Classer and neither am I.
Verdict:
It's a keeper (now I need to quit drinking, smoking, and fornicat... no, I'll stop there) and time to save some money up.
Time to hear from what Buzzballer has to say, because he did all the shooting. I just pointed the "finger of authority". You M14 Clinic lovers know what I mean.
Now at one point, someone in the crowd is going to remark about how we don't have the POI directly hitting the POA... well you try doing this adjusting a Schmidt and Bender Milradian scope when each shot is $4.00 a pull (plus taxes) and I did not buy that many from Wolverine Supplies.
I wanted to group this rifle and there ya go! It's grouped. I don't have much ammo leftover. And that's why I shoot a .308 and .260 Rem at the sniper matches.
Last edited:
, I almost forgot it was a bolt-action !....
