Winter 2012

The author gave the Colt AR Coyote a paint job with Brownells Camo paint. This is not as tough a fi nish as Cerakote but it’s a lot cheaper and provides better protection than one would expect.

was replaced with an alloy composite unit from Superior Shooting Systems. The recoil lug is by David Tubb. For a trigger, a Timney was chosen. Since no fl oor plate was planned for this project, a Six Enterprises aluminum trigger guard was procured. Scope mounts are the Melvin Forbes-designed Talley Lightweight model. When all this stuff was gathered

up it was sent to Marc Soulie of Spartan Precision Rifl es in Concord, California. I fi rst met Marc when he came east to shoot The Allegheny Sniper Challenge, in 2009 as I recall. Shortly thereafter Marc set up shop and started building super accurate tactical (sniper) rifl es. When I asked him about undertaking this lightweight varmint rifl e project, he jumped right on it. I had the fi nished rifl e in my hands in just a bit over a month after shipping all the parts to California. MAY 2011

We are getting ready for our an-

nual western varmint sojourn as this is written and both the Colt Coyote and the Spartan-built light varmint rifle, henceforth referred to as the Spartan Walkabout, are both up and running. The Colt Coyote has been bench

tested with a variety of factory ammu- nition and my standard 223 handload (assorted cases, 50-grain Ballistic Tip/V- Max/BlitzKing, 26 grains Winchester 748, Winchester small rifl e primers) and seems like it will perform well on live varmints. (See test chart at right.) The Spartan Walkabout has been scoped

Page 120 Winter 2012

with a Leupold VX-III 2.5-8x (the same scope that’s on my NULA rifl e), has the same Brownells Latigo leather sling with Talon Swivels, and weighs a respect- able 7.79 pounds on the digital scale at the local general store. Although not as light as the NULA rifl e, this is a more than comfortable weight for a walking varminter based on a Remington action (which is almost twice the weight of the NULA Model 20 action). We are more than pleased with the fi nal product. The Spartan Walkabout has been thoroughly tested with the same ammunition as the Colt Coyote. It shoots beautifully, func- tions perfectly, and is a joy to tote around the dog towns. Factory ammunition from Nosler,

Hornady, Remington, and Cor-Bon was used in testing both the Coyote and the Walkabout. Velocities were recorded on a CED M2 chronograph. Ten-shot groups were fi red for accuracy testing as this is, I believe, most like shooting in the western varmint fi elds. Obvious called fl yers were discounted when measuring group size; there were a few in the fi ring of the 160+ test shots. It is interesting to note the differ-

ences in the velocities between the gas and bolt gun as well as the group sizes. The gas gun velocities were slower with all ammo and the groups were larger. The Spartan walkabout had a much bet- ter trigger than the AR Coyote which, I believe, contributed much to the smaller groups shot with it. The greater scope magnifi cation of the 4.5-14x Leupold compensated some for the AR Coyote’s

223 Ammunition Hornady

40-gr. V-Max 55-gr. V-Max

Nosler Custom 40-gr. Ballistic Tip

Cor-Bon

36-gr. Varmint Grenade 55-gr. BlitzKing 62-gr. DPX

Remington 55-gr. PSP Handload

55-gr. BT/26-gr. 748

3,581 / 2.12" 3,168 / 1.55" 2,880 / 2.22"

3,146 / 1.41" 2,810 / 1.31"

3,651 / 0.81" 3,190 / 1.23" 2,935 / 1.47"

3,172 / 1.12" 2,870 / 1.12"

3,656 / 1.61" 3,062 / 2.00"

3,668 / 1.55"

3,696 / 0.80" 3,128 / 1.28"

3,726 / 0.71"

trigger pull, and the gas impingement system obviously robs some velocity. Both the Colt Coyote and the

Spartan Walkabout have had their zeros fi nalized and they each have been given camoufl age paint jobs to cover their heat absorbing black stocks in preparation for time out on the prairie. Rust-Oleum primer topped with Brownells Military Vehicle and Recreation Camo Paint col- ors make for a pretty tough and weather resistant matte fi nish. The Colt Coyote will be fi red throughout the summer with my pet 223 load, as mentioned above. The Spartan Walkabout rifl e will be launching mostly 40-grain Ballistic Tip bullets from Nosler’s 223 Custom Varmint ammunition. A case of this stuff will be in Zortman, Montana, when I arrive there. It’s going to be fun and interesting

going afi eld with two new rifl es. Shoot- ing the Colt AR Coyote should give new meaning to the phrase “making empties,” especially if we get into “a nest of ’em” as a buddy of mine likes to say. The Spartan Walkabout, although it did not “make weight,” will be a joy to pack around the dog towns and will have a special place to ride in the new gun rack I installed on the hood of my Mule. And, just to add some fuel to this fi re, on my way west I’m stopping at the V.H.A. headquarters to pick up John Anderson’s T/C Contender carbine in 17 VHA for some ground squirrel and prairie dog testing! We’ll have a “time” for sure! And a fi eld report will follow.

Colt Coyote Velocity fps/ 10-shot group

Spartan Walkabout Velocity fps/ 10-shot group

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