My dream rifle is finally here

mustang979

mustang979

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After pinning over multi-caliber capable rifle systems for a couple years, after having sold my place, I had some cash kicking around, and I figured if I didn't pull the trigger this go around, I'd never have the means or the excuse to do it. I came home yesterday to a nice little card from Canada post. Wait until tomorrow after 1 PM? Not bloody likely!!! despite the tracking number saying it was not at the post office yet, I decided to try my luck.


I think I see something good! I've always wondered if the people that work at the post office realize what some of these parcels are...
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It was packed very well, once I got to the bottom of it all, this is what I found. One pelican 1750 and a little brown box.
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The pupper can feel the excitement oozing out of me, so she had to come over and investigate. HUZZAH! A Barrett MRAD and some swag from IRG, SWEET!
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It feels very solid. I started to get her put together. It has lots of nice little touches, like the rails having embedded QD cups. It also comes with QD's to put on a sling (not provided)
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Tossed on the Atlas Bipod and spikes, and she barely fits in the case with the stock Foam. I suspect I'm going to have to trim it thing before I'm done
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Here she is all dressed up with nowhere to go
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Per my suspicions, I'm going to need to trim the foam to account for not just the scope length, but also the length of pull, the comb height and the monopod on the stock. It's not really a big deal, just a minor inconvenience. The rifle isn't lite, but I wouldn't expect it to be. It feels very solid with zero play between the upper and lower. There is no doubt in my mind that this was built with the usual military abuse/required robustness in mind. The folding mechanism feels very solid, with no play. I'm hoping to get her out this weekend to break in the 300WM barrel. This forum has a distinct lack of Barrett content so I will update this thread as things go so that if someone down the line is looking at getting one of these bad boys, they can make an informed decision.
 
The quality of those MRAD's are top notch, well done OP! I also noticed the foam clearance issues whilst I briefly had one in my possession. I like the beefy magazines, and the machining of the chassis is excellent. Really nice rig.
 
cr5 said:
Very nice, what was in the smaller cardboard box?
What was the ballpark price of the rifle all said and done to your mailbox?
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Small brown box was the 308 caliber conversion (22 inch fluted barrel). the total cost, She wasn't cheap, I want to say 7K USD for the rifle, spare mags, and 308 conmversion... OUCH.
 
mustang979 said:
Small brown box was the 308 caliber conversion (22 inch fluted barrel). the total cost, She wasn't cheap, I want to say 7K USD for the rifle, spare mags, and 308 conmversion... OUCH.
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Nice rig , I like the idea of the switch barrel. Please give a review as you go . I'm curious how the barrel switch goes
 
Keithjohn said:
Nice rig , I like the idea of the switch barrel. Please give a review as you go . I'm curious how the barrel switch goes
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I haven't swapped them yet. I figured I might as well break in the 300WM, then switch to the 308, break it in, and do some load development in 308. The videos make it look very simple. Effectively 2 torque screws for the barrel. Swapping the bolt face is a little more work, but I've seen videos showing it changed in less then 2 minutes.

 
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Nice rifle.

Let us know the accuracy and how you get a long with it.

Seems to be a few that have come up for sale if people want to consider used.


(I don't know the sellers)
 
NVShooter said:
Ya...and can you imagine if he said it was his first gun? Ha!

Way to go OP! Green with envy.
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lol, Definitely not my first gun. I had a lovely 5r that I had I upgraded with a triggertech trigger and a cadex stock. She was purdy, and shot well, but I kept feeling like I was cheating on her by oogling other rifles. so I did the right and honorable thing, I sold her a week before the MRAD showed up.



So, where to continue? For mags, I have both 300 win and 308. The rifle comes with 2 , I bought some spares, but mags are both, proper double stack mags. because of this, they are noticeably shorter and fatter then the AI mags. Rounds can simply be pushed downwards in to them (just like an AR mag) with no need to push and slide rounds in. the 300 win mag (far right) is slightly taller then the 308 (I didn't bother to measure it)
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you can see here, the 308 mag (in the middle) has a "spacer at the back end to keep the tip of the bullet towards the front of the mag. I guess if I disassembled the mags, I could probably try to file that down a little to buy myself more COAL if the need is there.
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as for how long of a round I can load, it looks like the 308 mag is around 2.970
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While the 300 Win mag is about 3.790
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Of note, the 338 Lap mags are also, 10 round, double stack mags, so that is a plus if I ever go the route of buying the conversion kit.
 
so I got her out this weekend to break in the 300WM barrel. These are my observations

1) the factory trigger is set nice and light. I am not going to venture a guess at the weight, but it is light. The trigger has a tiny bit of takeup before you hit a solid wall with a clean break, and very little over travel. I feel like from the factory, the trigger is lighter then I ever set my triggertech on my 5r to. That tiny bit of takeup, makes it more of a 2 stage trigger. I wasn't expecting it, and I've read multiple reviews praising the trigger, but nothing commenting on the take up so it was a little unexpected

2) recoil, jesus this thing shoots like butter. Yeah, ok, it's only the 300WM and not the 338LM but I feel like in its current configuration, the recoil is lighter then my 308 5r (with no brake). My buddy shot it and his 308 Nemesis Arms Vanquish back to back and agreed the MRAD has less recoil. The tradeoff is obviously weight and noise. I would not want to be a shooter beside me on the line, but with the soft recoil, and the plush recoil pad, I could shoot this rifle all day no problems, with no pain or bruising.

3) the action is SUPER smooth. despite the bolt itself being large and beefy, the plastic sleeves it rides in makes it very smooth. I'm not sure if I should be putting lube on the bolt carrier or not (and if I do, if it will eat or damage the plastic sleeves/inserts) but she is buttery smooth. It sticks a TINY bit when you go to drop the handle and lock it, but it is only minimally, and I suspect this will disappear as I get more rounds down the pipe.

4) bipod/rear bag... OY, where to begin? I picked up an atlas bipod. I am not a huge fan of the rubber feet, so I snagged those spikes. The the legs are straight down, and the legs collapsed, the rifle is still taller then I like. Combine that with how the rail on the bottom of the buttstock is recessed and you have a need for a very tall rear bag. Angling the bipod legs forward lowers the rifle too much. If I extend the bipod legs ~3 notches, the height is good, but now when I go to shoot off the table at the club the legs will extend off the front of the table, or I need to back up noticeably making for a worse shooting experience for those in the lanes to either side of me. I put on a monopod on the rail to "buy" my an inch or 2 of space between the buttstock and the rear bag, but ultimately, I suspect I'll need either a taller rear bag, use the monopod exclusively or potentially get ride of the atlas spikes and return toi the soft rubber feet in hopes of lowering the rifle ~1 inch.

5) Accuracy/consistency. So I wasn't really going for groups. I was shooting some crappy factory 180GR Nosler hunting ammo. I needed something for the break in, and this way I could add the nosler brass to my pile of 300WM nosler brass. That said, I did try a couple groups. If I cherry pick the nicest 3 shot group, she was about 1/2 to 2/3rd MOA. After one of the last cleanings, I stretched it out to 200 yards, the first shot, with some oil in the barrel was off to the side slightly, then it put three rounds within an inch and the 5th one was off, for a 5 group closer to 3 inches or about 1.5 MOA. Considering this was just cheap nosler hunting ammo and adding in a cold bore shot, I'll gladly take it. The group bellow was the top group for the hunting ammo. I am fully confident this thing will shoot, and shoot well.

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Next stop, this upcoming weekend, hopefully breaking in the 308 barrel and the beginning of 308 load development at 300 yards with a ladder test.

.308 loads development components/plan
Brass : unfired Lapua brass
Primer: CCI BR2
Powder: Varget
Projectiles: 175GR SMK

The plan is to try .3 grain steps from 42.9 up to 45 Grains *crosses fingers*
 
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Roddy said:
Nice. Looks like it has a lot of features packed into it. Just curious, do you know how much it weighs unloaded?
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I just weighed it, with the 22 inch, fluted 308 barrel, with optics, atlas bipod, and monopod, a "robust" 17.2 lbs...

Keithjohn said:
Nice rig , I like the idea of the switch barrel. Please give a review as you go . I'm curious how the barrel switch goes
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So the barrel itself was SUPER easy, it was easy to take the bolt apart, a tiny bit trickier to but the bolt back together. I wouldn't put it in the "hard" or challenging category however. It's just one of those things where the paper description of the steps kinda sucks. The video I posted in post #9 is honestly the best guide on how to get it back together.
 
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