The Modern Varmint rifle

Well the prototype of the Modern Varmint which is the baby brother to the Modern Hunter rifle is done and the rifles are going into production. For those who have been living under a rock for the last 4 years, we are speaking of a new NON Restricted semi auto made in Canada. The Modern Hunter is similar in many aspects to an AR10, the Modern Varmint is closer in size to an AR15.

Unlike the Hunter, the Varmint will be only offered in 223 at least for the foreseeable future. We are thinking of offering 18.6 and 20" barrel length options only as really a longer barrel on a gas gun does very little, but will have several options for contours.

Given that the varmint is the identical operating system and is identical in every way to the Hunter with the exception of it being a smaller platform, we expect to encounter very little resistance from the SFSS/RCMP as far as legal classification goes.

In order to stave off a ton of questions here is the basic lowdown.

Those who were in on the first production run of Modern Hunters will be offered the opportunity to have the same serial number affixed to a Varmint should they elect to purchase 1. IF your name is not in our records of having a custom serial number on a first run MH, you are not eligible. Don't ask, I can tell you the answer now. not gonna happen.
For 1st run MH owners we are leaving you an open window, so should you want a Varmint at a later time we can accommodate you in an upcoming production run. Our way of saying Thank You for the initial leap of faith and to keep the value of your investment as high and desirable as is possible.

We do NOT have firm pricing established yet, but can say they will be less expensive than the MH's are. They will still be significantly more $$ than a Norc, but also far higher quality. Same as what our MHs are in fit, finish and quality.

Well known and proven Match grade barrels ONLY are being employed. no chrome lined or off shore stuff.
We will be using Lilja, Proof Research and Jury barrels. An 8 twist barrel is the plan.

Trigger again will be a single stage but in a 3 lb trigger pull that is non changeable rather than the 4lb found in the MH.

Same side charge type system as the MH uses. Same time proven direct gas impingement system as AR15's employ.

There will NOT be any pictures shown on the web until the SFSS has had their fun. So don't bother to ask. Just look at MH photos and think same but smaller.

We have absolutely no clue as to when these may be available for sale due to the SFSS inspection process. We are certainly hoping that this 1 will be quicker than the 2 plus years the MH took.

We are still looking at assorted furniture for compatibility, more to follow once we have more on that.

I bought a Modern Hunter, i'm in for the Varminter and i will be for the Magnum version too.

This news makes my day honestly!

Ill be in too. Love my MH.

Id like to know when for the down payment and rough price point. Of course the available options too.

I still say it would be better off with a standard ar charging handle to open up options all over. Its the only thing i dont like on my MH.

A little less then a MH rifle would be about right, so depending on the barrel/furniture... I'm guessing 3.5Kg w/o mag. or optics.

Gatehouse said:

Any idea on weight of the rifle?

Click to expand...

Btw ATRS great to here this is becoming available, should prove a very popular rifle.

Cheers D

Awesome & thank you so much for doing this! I can't wait to get matched serial numbers! My whole 2015 firearms budget went to my MH & glass. I guess I know where my 2016 budget is going!

I also hope you will offer other calibers!

Patt08 said:

Just curious, if this rifle was just the modern hunter, but in .223 rem would it instantly be able to be produced without having to get an entire new model accepted by the lab rats? Or are there too many differences ( size, weight, dimensions etc.) that it needs to be its own model entirely? Just curious how this works.

Click to expand...

Because it is a scaled down dimensionally, and not just chambered differently, the RCMP require doing a quick once over. As such, ATRS will have to submit a sample to be reviewed and given a child FRT.

Mark-II said:

Costing more than the cheapest AR on the market doesn't give me any useful info. Can you be a bit more precise

Click to expand...

Obviously he can't right now, which is sort of the point. They posted all they know in the OP and specifically requested we don't ask them a bunch of questions they can't answer right now.

We know it will be a quality rifle. Just look at the MH. I'm sure you can guess that it'll be on the higher end of the price scale, but it'll also be worth it.

Just think... an NR 'AR'! (I'm as giddy as a kid on xmas morning).

Just keep looking at Mk 12 SPRs and look up the prices of premium ARs...

Brian46 said:

that is like asking why an AR15 is usually cheaper than a AR10. one is more costly to produce.

Click to expand...

Why is a ar15 more costly to produce than a ar10....they both have pretty much the same parts except for a slight differences in size of those parts. The amount of machining is pretty much the same.

It's pretty simple why it's cheaper. All initial R&D was done on the modern hunter and only had to be scaled down. As well less material needed and a larger market for AR15 type rifles.

They will need less money per rifle with larger orders to make up the costs.

onetwentyish said:

Because it is a scaled down dimensionally, and not just chambered differently, the RCMP require doing a quick once over. As such, ATRS will have to submit a sample to be reviewed and given a child FRT.

Click to expand...

No. It requires a new parent frt number. Child frt numbers would apply to barrel length and caliber differences to its own model variations.

It is a new gun model. Not just a tweak to a hunter receiver.

Intesting we can't hear those MH nay sayers much this time!!! Also, thanks to ATRS for thinking those that ordered first, same serial number is a great idea...

Correct me if i am wrong, but did they not say...no pre orders and deposits until the FRT is approved by the RCMP. Think they also said, no custom serial numbers for this rifle...unless you were one of the custom serial numbers on the MH.

From my perspective, it seems that the turn around time tooling up and producing these rifles is going to be quicker than with the MH. Mostly as some have said, the R$D is done, vendors for parts are known, and the rifle is effectively a smaller scale version of the MH to speed the approval through the RCMP.

So my question is .....when will we see a Modern magnum? Still thinking of a switch barrel double gun for that. The 2.5" magnum family would be interesting, perhaps a bit fuddy to be called "Modern". I would be happy with a modern rifle creating the "modern" in the moniker, not necessarily the caliber....but the 308 is not entirely new either. But if a switch barrel option could be done....how about WSM or Rum calibers. Not sure i would want a 7lb 375 Rum, but if one went with the 2.5" family....think of two barrels switchable in minutes on one rifle....264WM, 7RM, 308 NM, 338WM, 358 NM, 416 Taylor, 458 WM. A 7RM and 416 Taylor would be cool, probably would need some heavier mechanism.

Guess already having been there and done that, the 338LM would not appeal to me in a MM. What i was really getting at was the ability to have a light and medium "magnum" with the only cost being the extra barrel, since sharing the same case and bolt face....one would think that the gas system would be identical. The frugal and fudd coming out in me, trying to justify a $5K rifle by spending even more money.

Dont get me wrong, i liked my 338LM, seems i read a article about the engineering and materials involved in developing a 338LM semi(not Alexander Arms IIRC). Pretty niche market, for a very expensive caliber...brass....projectiles....not really sure that it would pay ATRS to do this. Probably it is going to be the 300WM, but since there are no commercially adopted other bores based on the 300WM case....well i would not be able to double dip, like i am sure some of the MH buyers did with the 308 case builds.

I'm very interested in this. I'm not familiar with the MH internals. Will this model take AR15 trigger groups and BCG?

Also, will this take AR15 PMAGs, or will there be an issue with mag geometry?

Triggers and bcg are proprietary/modiefied to avoid being reclassified,at least this was the case with the mh

NaviDave said:

Is .223 Wylde 1:8 twist an option?

Click to expand...

This is the chambering that has been discussed, and most of our AR's are chambered in, so it's a fairly safe bet. Rick has stated that 1:8 is the planned twist rate.

Donster 125 said:

I'm very interested in this. I'm not familiar with the MH internals. Will this model take AR15 trigger groups and BCG?

Also, will this take AR15 PMAGs, or will there be an issue with mag geometry?

Click to expand...

The Modern Hunter runs a modified AR10 bolt carrier group, but the components in the bolt carrier such as the bolt and firing pin are standard, readily available parts.
The hunter utilizes a Timney AR10 drop in trigger pack, with a proprietary trigger retention system and is only compatible with drop in Timney trigger packs.

We plan to have the Modern Varminter be compatible with standard AR15 style magazines. For the time being, just envision a Modern Hunter scaled down.
Once we have the classification from the RCMP we will have more details for you.

nowarningshot said:

So my question is .....when will we see a Modern magnum? Still thinking of a switch barrel double gun for that. The 2.5" magnum family would be interesting, perhaps a bit fuddy to be called "Modern". I would be happy with a modern rifle creating the "modern" in the moniker, not necessarily the caliber....but the 308 is not entirely new either.

Click to expand...

From my understanding of all the threads/posts I've read here on CGN regarding the Modern Hunter rifle, ATRS went with the name Modern Hunter due to the semi.-auto. rifle platform becoming more popular in recent decades for hunting small and large game in North America and not so much with respect to calibers as most/all available calibers (so far) are not so modern.

While large calibre semi.-auto. rifles may not be as popular as large calibre bolt action rifles for big game hunting in Canada yet (just my guesstimate), but I'm sure the Modetn Hunter will help to change that as the trend to switch to semi.-auto. for small and large game hunting is gaining in popularity more and more in Canada as new and innovative Non-Restricted semi.-auto. rifles become available. (The Modern Hunter would not have been a necessary project for ATRS if it were not for the fact that we as law abiding Canadian hunters and firearm enthusiasts were stripped of our rights to use the AR15/AR10 rifle platforms in a hunting or Non-Restricted scenario respectively.)

One need only look south of the border where it is legal to hunt with an AR15/AR10 semi.-auto. rifle platform to recognize that the hunting of all size game with a semi.-auto. rifle is in seriously popular.

No dis-respect intended to your post Nowarningshot, just stating what I think to be the reason for the choice of this particular rifles model description: i.e.. Modern Hunter. Albeit I could be completely incorrect in my assumption(s) as I can't actually recall the reason(s) ATRS gave us for their choice of the Modern Hunter name at this time (it's very late).

Cheers D

If the Modern Varminter ends up being close to $3500 there will be a a lot of Tavors, ACR,s and XCR's for sale.
Match grade barrel with a 223 Wylde chamber? Just awesome.
Hopefully ATRS can keep the overall weight reasonable.

close range said:

If the Modern Varminter ends up being close to $3500 there will be a a lot of Tavors, ACR,s and XCR's for sale.
Match grade barrel with a 223 Wylde chamber? Just awesome.
Hopefully ATRS can keep the overall weight reasonable.

Click to expand...

Im into my MH for only slightly more than that (with most options upgraded) so i think it is very viable that the price will be in competition with those other rifles.

I also think the weight will be right in the mix with standard ar15 platforms depending on the options you go with.

ShawnC6 said:

Is it going to work with any mags?

Click to expand...

AR15 mags as it shares the identical magwell and upper/lower dimensions as our AT15 does, and they accept Magpul, IMI, CAA as well as most metal mags and our own pistol mags.