Best way to start the day……… and finish the article?
I had decided to shoot the guns with two ‘lots’ of ammunition. First, I shot each with factory- loaded Winchester (150gr Nosler ballistic tips - a standard stalking round). I then ran each gun with its ‘favourite’ neck-resized hand-load (the SRS was shooting 155gr Scenars over 46gr of Varget in Lapua cases).
My first impression of the SRS was that it’s a very ‘dense’ rifle. There is no wasted space here – the match barrel and monobloc receiver ‘fill up’ the gun all the way to the end of the buttstock. The result is a gun that has a very different feel to a normal rifle. If you look at the picture of the three rifles side-by-side, the first impression is the difference in length. But now look at the placement of the barrels in relation to the bipod. It is apparent that the weight of the traditional rifles is more balanced over the fulcrum. This results in relatively little ‘felt’ weight in the shoulder, and over the trigger-hand.
By contrast the SRS’s weight sits behind the bipod and so feels heavy in the shoulder – the rearward balance ‘pushes’ the buttstock down. I shoot with my clenched fist supporting the stock – the SRS really needed it. Frankly it was a bit of an odd feeling having to really support the back end of the rifle. On the other hand it’s not surprising it felt odd – this rifle design is unfamiliar to me and consequently my years of ‘muscle memory’ are not tuned into it. I’m not actually moaning about the rifle – just making the observation that it needs a bit of getting used to. Of course there is a simple
solution to this – move the bipod back. Truth is though, I am not sure you could comfortably move it back far enough to get the same balance as a standard rifle.
The nicest surprise of all was the SRS’s trigger – it was not a match for the Jewel trigger in the Remy but it’s very respectable. Seriously – a single-stage trigger with a near ‘glass’ break - in a bullpup! Pinch me. DTA have done wonders here and the SRS’s trigger is leagues better than the AIAW’s (which itself isn’t bad for a military trigger).
Firing the same ammo. in all three guns revealed the felt recoil in the SRS to be greater than the other two. Although the AI and the Remmy both had brakes on, the SRS had a Third-Eye Tactical moderator, which has a muzzle-brake incorporated into it. I guess the extra thump is another consequence of having the receiver sitting further back in the buttstock. Just to put this in perspective - it doesn’t kick like a cheap 12 guage, just marginally (but noticeably) heavier than the other .308’s. It’s also worth pointing out that DTA make a substantial-looking brake which I bet goes a long way to taming that recoil.
As for accuracy, there was nothing to separate the rifles in terms of hole-printing – all three shot sub MOA with factory ammo. on a less- than-ideal shooting day. When I moved over to each gun’s favourite hand-load the story was much the same – nothing to separate them on
Target Shooter 15
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