Accuracy International - Arctic Warfare - 7.62x51 (Pictures)

ghostie

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Back in May and June Wolverine had a used AW on their website. I stared at that thing long enough that I convinced myself I had to have it. The round count was 1,650, which apparantly is barely a break in on this barrel. Later when I recieved the rifle I learned that this rifle was a demo which had been sent to various police agencies and evaluated. I was cool with that though. It is an interesting history. The log book (round count book) shows that it spent some time with the OPP TRU, and others. It has a few scuff marks on it, but very minor, and mechanically it has very low miles on it. The only thing that was really scuffed up was the OD green aluminum transit case, which I am in the process of cleaning up and getting all the courier stickers off.

Wolverine sold it for $4,999. The one-piece AI mount (not included) was $199. The S&B 4-16x50 PMII scope I had from a previous project, and is worth/costs about $3,000 - so with taxes and shipping I have about $8,900 into this set-up. Ouch! If it doesn`t shoot well.... Ouch!

I don`t know what it would cost to buy everything new... but it did include a few extras like the aluminum transit case, the bi-pod, the night vision rail, the butt spike, the Harris bi-pod adapter, etc.

By the way, this is the 20 inch fluted barrel. Wolverine quoted me prices for all the other barrels that are available. They are all like $1,000-$1,200. I like the barrel that is on there though. It is very thick, and seems to be thicker than the 24 and 26 inch barrels which are available. Unlike with the larger calibres, there are no longer fluted barrels available from AI in .308. The only fluted barrel is the 20 inch. The only one you can get a muzzle break for is the 26 inch (unless you go aftermarket).

These things are pricey at the best of times, so even being used I put it on layaway for 90 days, and paid it out by the end of September. It showed up last week, and I shot it for the first time last Saturday. Let me just say... I was very impressed. It seems you do get what you pay for with these. Using the one-piece AI mount I didn't have to sight it in for windage at all. The whole thing just lined up right out of the box. I adjusted for elevation at 100m and sighted-in in about 3 shots! That was the quickest sight-in I've ever been through. I brought up a bunch of that American Eagle "El Cheapo" 155gr. stuff, because I thought I was going to use more than a few rounds sighting in.

One of my buddies, who is a range officer at my range, stops by... "So how's it shooting?" And I say, I'm just using the American Eagle, but it is looking really good so far. "How's it group with American Eagle?" I think it is going to be about dime size at 100. "With American Eagle?" Yep.

I know, talk is cheap, but I`ll post some group stuff soon. I had some 165gr. Nosler ammo with me too, and it was shooting even better with that. At 200m it was shooting ragged holes, and I was having no trouble dropping the rounds into the centre of 1 inch circles traced on paper at 200m. I love my Steyrs but, honestly, this rifle is much easier to get the results with (it also damn near twice as heavy, and three times as expensive, and I suppose that is why there is a market for everything). I know these rifles are meant to shoot at much longer distances, but we only have a 200m range at my regular range, so I`ll have to go somewhere else to try any further. I reload as well, but I rarely have much time to work on that. I`m usually going to the gun store on Saturday morning to buy ammo because I haven`t had a minute to do it all week. I might get some time to reload this winter if work lets up a bit.

The thing is a total tank. Very, very heavy. But that seems to be part of what makes them accurate. In my research, what really sold me on this design vs. some of the other ones I was looking at was the fact that - rather than bedded - the action is actually permanently bolted and bonded to an aluminum block which runs the length of the rifle. This photo is from the AI website, but shows what they look like under the hood:
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That system made a ton of sense to me, based on my experience with other rifles. One-piece mount - onto a factory set-up pic rail on the reciever - reciever is permanently bonded to the aluminim block - and the bi-pod is mounted to the aluminum block. Solid. Solid. Solid.

Anyway here are some pics:

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Video:

I`m still learning how to shoot this thing. I`ve already learned that I need the scope mount moved back about one notch, or the length of pull decreased. I think the friction lock is something I`m going to be interested in as well for the bi-pod (as I am more used to Harris bi-pods tighted up).
 
Very, very nice. Looks like you were shooting up at PoCo - if so, I'm sure I will get a chance to see it in person. Again, sweet rifle and congratulations.
 
The AI platform is truly in a class of it's own. Only problem I see is that you don't have an excuse to buy more rifles, because you have one that will do anything you want it to. Congrats and thanks for sharing.
 
I don't have a really accurate way of weighing the rifle at home, but just putting it on the bathroom scale (with the Harris bi-pod) it seems to be right on 15 lbs. The AI/Parker Hale-type bi-pod is somewhat heavier. That is without a mag and unloaded. I wouldn't want to have to carry this anywhere for any signifigant length of time, but the extra weight is a plus - if anything - when at the range.

Here are some pics from today. I tried it out with the Harris bi-pod. It was pouring rain and foggy out there today. More to come later.
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Few rifles impress me. The AI does. I sued one in England to shoot sniper matches with military ball ammo. Shot very well.

My wife had one on loan from Wolverine. very accurate. Stock was adjustable to her size (short) and it had a brake that worked. No recoil. A lot of pouting and stamping of tiny feet when i sent it back. I wish i had bought it.
 
I thought I'd give you guys a bit of an update on how I'm progressing in learning to shooting this rifle since I got it in October.

I had been having a bit of a problem with my shots drifting east or west when just using the AI bi-pod and the but spike. This was probably more my shooting than anything to do with the rifle, butt... I was getting groups like this...

At 100m: I'd be under 1/2 an inch if I didn't drift one to the right.
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Same sort of thing at 200m. Great results overall, but usually one shot finds its way to the right:
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... or to the left:
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So, I've been trying the rear bag from Badger Ordnance, which has been helping:
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Shot these at 100m the first time I used the bag set-up:
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Second time trying the set-up with the bag was today. I tried shooting five 5-shot groups, like in the thread with all the hubbub in this section of CGN. I'm getting pretty close to meeting the 5 groups of 1/2" or less, although I am shooting at an honest 100m here, not yards. I'm also shooting with a factory rifle and factory ammo - albeit a very expensive factory rifle:
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I'm going to try next week with just a front bag and rear bag, and some stuff at 200m. It was pouring rain today and trips out to the 200m line were somewhat daunting. The AI/Parker Hale type bi-pod has some signifigant movement in it, as it is designed to allow the shooter to "track" their target. I think for this static target shooting stuff, I haven't really tapped the potential of the rifle. What I do know is that, the rifle is very easy to achieve results with. Even when you "miss" or take a "flyer" you are right there on the paper, maybe an inch away. The rifle inspires a ton of confidence. Set-up a little different, like on a rest, it could probably punch holes one on top of another, as it does pretty well just with a combat-type bi-pod and a little sand bag (or even without the bag).
 
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Nice rifle, and good shooting.

When I'm shooting a scoped good rifle+ammo at short range from a bench and occasionally lose shots sideways, it's usually a sign that my flinch is coming out or I am otherwise making a trigger break error at the last moment. Sometimes I can mentally bear down and get over it, sometimes it's harder than that.

You've got a good-shooting piece of kit there, I hope you do a lot of good shooting with it this year.
 
Thats pretty decent shooting from a bipod particulary because it can be hard to load them consistently the same way off a bench.
Ditch the useless rear spigot(butt spike) as these cause more consistency issues than the help. Invest in a quality leather bunny ear rear bag and I guarantee your groups will tighten up.
 
Thats pretty decent shooting from a bipod particulary because it can be hard to load them consistently the same way off a bench.
Ditch the useless rear spigot(butt spike) as these cause more consistency issues than the help. Invest in a quality leather bunny ear rear bag and I guarantee your groups will tighten up.

Yah, I think that is good advice. The buttspike is actually an amazingly cool feature - but not for target shooting. Same with the AI/Parker Hale-style bi-pod. It's a total military-style thing. I know I can set this rifle up in about 3 seconds (with the bi-pod and buttspike), anywhere, and make very accurate shots. But for real, hit-your-own-bullet-holes type accuracy, I think a front and rear bag set-up is the way to go (or a rest). As I say, this rifle is just about making the 1/2 MOA challenge, even with me at the controls, and with factory ammo! That is a real testament to the quality of these rifles I think. They are a very, very forgiving set-up in that, the hits are good, and even the "misses" are pretty damn close to what you wanted.

The only downside to these rifles that I can think of is the obvious one... they are super heavy. The way mine is set up in these pics, it is around 16lbs., twice as much as some accurate rifles.

Having said that, I really love shooting this rifle. I need to get my Steyrs back out at the range too. Speaking of which, I think I might be able to get an SSG69 to meet that 1/2 MOA challenge. I'm going to be trying it some time soon. I think you will be giving us a range report with your green Steyr too!
 
Do you know how much it weighs as is ? In the neigborhood of 16 + pounds - I would guess. Very heavy for a "field" rifle chambered in 7.62x51mm but like Shabazz wrote : "In a class of its own".

It would be probably be in the 17 lbs range..............I had a Rem 700 action with a 26.5" heavy match barrel and S&B 5 - 25 X 56mm scope mounted in an AICS with the AI bipod and it was just over the 17 lbs mark IIRC...........
 
Makes me proud to be British. And any of my boys on tour that carried the AI AWSM rifles; for sure made me feel safer on patrols.

Just wish I could find/ afford one in .223 :(
 
Curious how long it is with the stock folded? Got to be close to 30" with a 20" barrel!

I'll get some pics of the rifle with the stock folded, and some measurements. It folds up to something quite small with that 20" barrel, but it is also thick and heavy. Still, it would make it a lot easier to sit with it in your lap in a vehicle that way and... although I have no personal experience with this :) ... I would assume it would be safer to jump out of an airplane with it on your back folded up like that.

In the meantime here is the results of shooting one box of Nosler Custom Competition ammo this weekend... or at least 18 of the 20 round in the box.

My girlfriend want to try shooting this rifle. She's tried it a few times (literally, about 5 rounds) since I got it. Usually she doesn't like shooting .308 rifles, and she thinks they are hard on the shoulder, but she has now learned that this rifle has very little to no felt recoil since it is so heavy. Here is a video of her shooting one round. Strangely, the rifle seems to recoil a fair bit in this pic. Maybe that is why she finds .30cal and larger painful. She's not pressing it into her shoulder enough! I believe this video is shooting one round of American Eagle, not the Noslers from the targets below.

She actually has a ton of natural shooting ability, particularly compared to most of the "wives and girlfriends" I see at the range. She has had her RPAL for about 7 years now, owns several guns and shoots about twice a month these days. But anyway... I think this says something about the Arctic Warfare rifle: she has almost no experience with it, can pick it up, shoot one group... and it is almost 1/2 MOA at 100m. I think you can see why these rifles have a lot of users. Anybody can be trained to shoot it well. Hell, off a bench anyway, anybody can shoot it pretty damn well right off the bat!
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I can't do much better... and I put a lot of time and effort into trying to do better!! I shot these two five-shot groups at 100m within about 20min of the above group being shot.
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I used one round to "sight in" the rifle for this ammo at 100m (it was only one click down from Federal Gold Medal Match 168gr.) and one round to get my bearings at 200m (again very similar to GMM). With the last 5 rounds I shot this group at 200m/218 yards. Not bad. The rifle is holding just around, or just above, 1/2 MOA, even with factory ammo and "non-pro" shooters like Erica and I. Truely the AI Arctic Warfare (and the Sako TRG, PGW Coyote, etc.) make even us mortals look good!
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hows it shoot at 500+ yards?

I hope to find out some day, but I'll probably have to come up to your area of the province to do it. Our range is about 45min. away on a good day, and is only 200m/218yards maximum. There is a 300 yard range about twice that distance from us in Mission, and there are others, but I struggle to find the time to go shooting once a week for 2-3hrs. as it is. Maybe this summer if I can take some time off.
 
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