THE SOUTHERN GUN Co SSR-15 in 6.8mm REM SPC
by Laurie Holland
I’ve long had a soft spot for the ‘Black Rifle’, aka the AR15. Just before semi-autos were banned in the UK, I read about Robert Bucknell’s custom-built .223 flat-top AR15 with a heavy fast-twist barrel that was described as the ‘ultimate fox rifle’, but also won Practical Rifle matches. That’s what I want, I thought. Thanks to Michael Ryan and Hungerford, I assumed this was a never to be fulfilled ambition, but a few years after the ban, I started hearing about straight-pull ARs. I didn’t reckon much on operation through Gene Stoner’s T-shape charging handle at the back of the action, though. Then Southern Gun Co. (SGC) started making them with an integral left-hand side handle, and not too long afterwards produced its Mk3 receiver that provided a second,
The heart of the rifle is a seven-lug bolt that requires little rotation and locks directly onto the barrel
Above - The SGC SSR-15 straight-pull is a direct descendant of Stoner’s original 1956 AR (ArmaLite Rifle) design. This eight year old example has been rebuilt in 6.8mm Rem SPC
sturdier and more ergonomic bolt-on handle on the right side. My time had come! – I eventually bought a new SGC SSR-15 ‘Speedmaster’ in .223 Rem in 2002.
Single-Shot Since I never run, don’t shoot offhand, and slowly keel over and fall down when shooting kneeling, this was never going to be a Practical Rifle tool. 90% + of rounds have gone through it as a single- shot rifle with a ‘sled’ replacing the magazine for easy loading one at a time. With such use, the specification was a 26” fluted Lilja match barrel, Wylde match chamber, 1-8” rifling twist, and set up with minimum headspace. A Giesselle match trigger was set for 1lb pull and with a big 8-32X56 scope up top, I shot it at every range from 100 to 1,000yd. And, shoot it did – give it the right 80gn bullet handload and the SSR would put five shots into a quarter-MOA at short ranges. It was even
Target Shooter 23
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