Ragnar Benson - Ragnar's Urban Survival

My personal conviction is that true long-range, superaccurate sniper rifles are the next wave. This is principally because these weapons can inflict incredible material damage on enemy equipment without actually physically engaging enemy personnel. For those who can really acclimate themselves to coldly shooting another human, sniper rifles can also be a real deterrent to invaders. Shoot the pilot or ruin his helicopter on the ground; the results are similar.

There is .always the danger of fighting this war with last war’s technology. Sniper rifles may fall into that category, but for the foreseeable future they seem to have secured their role as destroyers of valuable, often irreplaceable property from great distance and as a deterrent to infantry. It also seems that after a veritable explosion of recent sniper rifle technology, things have stabilized to some extent. It’s a good time to put a sniper rifle together.

Assembling a tactical rifle takes at least 18 months and about $2,000. City survivors who might need this type of equipment are well advised to get cracking. Not only does assembling all the components take time, it only takes one nut to bring the wrath of the government down on these weapons. Absolutely everyone with any qualifications who makes these weapons is currently booked ahead about 6 to 8 months. If new regulations are proposed, prices will zoom skyward and waiting lines will become hopeless.

There are, of course, many ways to proceed. First and easiest, but not usually best, is to purchase a completely assembled, heavy-barreled Winchester or Remington sniper rifle. Because these stock packages are not usually ¼-minute-of-angle grade without further tuning by a competent sniper rifle gunsmith, this is not usually considered to be the best course of action.

Bill Hicks and Co., Ltd., 15155 23rd Avenue North, Minneapolis, MN 55447, often seems to have the best inventory of these types of rifles. Hicks is a wholesaler, so one would have to ask a local dealer to order for them.

Most basic actions used in tactical rifles require extensive hand turning on the part of skilled gunsmiths who have worked on many rifles of this type. One dramatic exception includes rifles and actions manufactured by Sako in Finland. Sakos are usually very accurate right out of the box. Alas, bare Sako actions are not imported in large numbers. When one is found for sale, the price will be high to very high. Bill Hicks and Co., Ltd., is often a good place to inquire about Sako actions. If not, contact Stoeger Industries, 5 Mandsard Court, Wayne, NJ 07470, to find out which wholesale distributors recently took delivery on a number of actions. Probably it will be a Sako Model L691 Mag action unless you intend to try and make a much smaller .308 or .223 into a tactical rifle. Sako’s small actions are Model S49s.

The price when an action is finally located will be about $375. That’s what the last one cost me.

Several excellent gunsmiths in the United States have experience making tactical rifle barrels and fitting them to actions. No matter who does this work, be double sure to ask how many tacti cal rifles he has done in the past. Experience at this business is not only handy, it is vital.

Brian Sipe, of the Montana Rifleman, 1765 Montana Highway #35, Kalispel, MT 59901, has done most of the tactical rifle barrels on guns I have put together. However, Sipe is often booked solid 7 to 10 months ahead. Mel Doyles, RR 2, Box 196M, St. Maries, ID 83861, is another good hand at this business.

Most of the tactical rifles I have assembled have been in .300 Winchester Magnum. Equipped with 26-inch barrels, they shoot out about 3,200 feet per second using 168-grain Hornaday boattail National Match bullets. Off-the-shelf ammo is not available. Start with 68 grains of 4831 powder in handloads.

Tactical rifles have been built in .308, .30-06, and even .223, but these cartridges present too many additional trajectory problems, especially for initially unpracticed users. On the other end of the spectrum, we are currently working on a .30/.378 tactical rifle. It is made to use .378 Weatherby Magnum cases necked to .30 caliber. This may be overkill rather than underkill, as is true with the smaller family of cartridges.

The cost to barrel and cut a chamber is about $400, depending on whether it is fluted, has a removable muzzle brake, or deviates from the standard 1:10 twist. Our fluted, barreled rifles have not shot better than plain barrels, even when shot very hot, which should never happen in real life with tactical rifles. Even if the rounds are delivered over a matter of hours, the maximum rounds from one position—even in a combat situation—is always three! After that your position will be dangerously exposed.

Longer, heavier 26-inch barrels, measuring .90 inches at the muzzle tapered back to 1 25 inches at the breech, with a tactical rifle recessed crown cut in them, are very important to the success of the project. These larger, heavier barreled action sets absorb heat and recoil to great advantage.

The next task is bluing. Mel Doyles usually does this work for me. His dull-black ranch finish is especially practical for tactical rifles. These finishes don’t glare or shine. The cost for a polished “in the white” action and barrel is about $50.

Securing a proper military/tactical stock correctly fitted to a Sako barreled action is not particularly quick, easy, cheap, or convenient. Figure on another 6 to 10 months’ wait. Off-the-shelf stocks either fit poorly, are too difficult to finish-fit, are too wimpy, or lack necessary features characteristic of genuine tactical stocks.

Only two places I know of currently manufacture and fit genuine military-style/grade stocks to Sako barreled actions. Both claim to supply the U.S. Army and the Marines, but be prepared for sticker shock. Both are named McMillan and are both are located in Phoenix, Arizona. (Probably the result of a family disagreement or something.)

But not to worry. They both do excellent work, in my experience. Prices are so similar they may someday face anti-trust action from the government.

McMillan Fiberglass Stocks, Inc., 21421 N. 14th Avenue, Suite B, Phoenix, AZ 85027 and McMillan Gunworks, Inc., 302 W Melinda Lane, Phoenix, AZ 85027, both have extremely nice, fullcolor brochures listing their various styles of stocks and options available with each model. In my opinion, builders are not in the ballpark unless they order an adjustable buttplate, cheekpiece, and custom laser bedding. This will cost around $500.

It is by now close to 2 years since we embarked on this project. Expenses are up around $950 to $1,300, depending on options, and not including dozens of long-distance calls. Purchasing a suitable scope and mount is the next and last big hit. Mounting the scope has traditionally been tougher and more expensive than it should be. On my last tactical rifle completed 3 or 4 months ago, I had to go back and spend an extra $250 for more suitable, workable mounts. Even after acquiring great amounts of experience, opportunities to do it wrong are still great.