Marc Soulie, owner of Spartan Precision Rifles, recently did a group build for the
Northern California Practical Precision Rifle Club (NCPPRC). There were a total of
10 rifles built, and I was lucky enough to procure #4. There was some latitude in the
specs to allow for individual preferences; I requested the following:
-Surgeon RSR action, 20 MOA base
-Bartlein 26" MTU barrel, chambered in .260 Remington
-McMillan A5 stock, KMW LoggerHead adjustable cheeckpiece, Italian Camo
-Badger Ordnance 34mm rings
-Badger Ordnance M5 bottom metal
-Jewell trigger
-Rifle and bottom metal bedded to stock
Photo by Vu Pham
Upon delivery and initial inspection, it's clear that attention to detail was high
on the priority list. Marc is a severe combination of OCD and anal retentive, which
is exactly what you want in a gunsmith. The chambering, crown work, bedding, and
assembly are all top-notch. Having seen Marc set up and run a lathe, I had no
doubts that everything would be perfect. A nice touch is the bottom metal screws,
which were replaced with allen screws to match the LoggerHead adjustment screw (the
originals were Torx-head) - one less thing to carry around!
Also of note, Todd Powers of Phantom Finishing did all the cerakote work in a desert
tan. This really finished off the look of the rifle, and was a great match for the
McMillan molded-in camo.
All I did to get it ready was mount the scope and rings, sling, and bipod. I could
go on and on about the aesthetics, but the pictures speak for themselves. And while
the appearance of the rifle is wonderful, I really care about how it shoots.
Marc has built and chambered a number of .260 rifles for folks in our club, and
all have been shooters. This one was no exception.
I should point out that I'm relatively new to the world of rifle reloading. Back
when I shot a lot of IPSC, the big questions were: 1) does the ammo feed reliably,
2) does it make power factor, and 3) how much of it can I load in an hour? Typical
distances were so short that accuracy wasn't really a concern, unless the load was
REALLY wonky.
Given this, I default to doing minimal work, unless I see that the results are
being limited by the process. Same goes for barrel cleaning - if it's not affecting
accuracy, it's not getting cleaned. (Hardcore precision reloaders may want to skip
the rest of this paragraph...) That said, the loads I shot were new Remington brass,
CCI BR2 primers, H4831SC powder, and 139gr Lapua Scenars. Process: open bag of
brass, deburr flash holes (when I remember), prime, drop powder, and seat bullet to
magazine length (~2.815" COAL). Notably absent are anything having to do with
weighing brass, uniforming primer pockets, straightening out dinged necks, neck-
or full-length resizing, neck turning, bullet tipping or weighing, case trimming,
etc. Oh, the humanity!
On the first trip to the range, I shot a few rounds to get the scope zeroed at
100 yards. Once that was done, I shot some groups, just to get an idea how
accurate it was; 1/2 MOA was the order of the day. I suspect that's about the limit
of my ability, as that's the best I was able to do with my GAP Crusader and
Federal GMM, at least on average. Others in the club are getting .2's and .3's,
so a better shooter (or more carefully loaded ammo) would likely yield better
results.
Again notably absent is any mention of "breaking in" the barrel, cleaning after
each shot, etc. I ran patches through the bore before the first shot, just to make
sure it was clear of debris, but that was the only time the barrel has had
anything other than Scenars through it.
At this point, I couldn't be happier. The rifle looks great, functions without
a hiccup, and is easily as accurate as I am. I pack up and head home; the next
chance I'll have to shoot is at our monthly match in June at SacValley...
Match weekend arrives, and I can't make Saturday practice to gather dope out to
1000 yards due to scheduling conflicts. I take dope from my wife's .260 (from about
8 months prior), figuring it'll get me close. Her rifle was also built by Spartan
Precision - same action, but 26" medium palma barrel in a McMillan A3. Turns out,
the dope was spot-on - didn't need so much as a tenth mil here or there.
The cold bore shot was at 200 yards. Here's a picture of the result from the
back side of the target:
Couldn't ask for anything more!
We got a little bit of rain, but nothing serious. More importantly, the wind was
very kind to us 1st relay shooters, and didn't pick up until around 600 yards.
It stayed with us through the 800, 900, and 1000 yard lines, and picked up even
more for the 2nd relay folks.
In the end, through some perfect alignment of the stars, I ended up winning the
match with a 456-11x. Little did I know, 2nd place was right there with me at
455-6x...another member with a Spartan Precision club build, also in .260. Bob
had also missed the previous day's practice, and was without solid dope - so he
used the same numbers I did. 5th place, with 407-9x, and top .308, was yet
another Spartan Precision rifle. It was an absolutely awesome showing for Marc's
work, in the first NCPPRC match after delivering his club rifles.
I'm looking forward to putting more rounds downrange with this rig, as it'll be
my primary competition rifle for the foreseeable future. If you're looking to
have a complete rifle built or just have some custom work done, I'd highly
recommend contacting Spartan Precision Rifles before everyone else discovers
Marc, and his backlog gets atrocious!
Spartan Precision Rifles: www.spartanrifles.com
Phantom Finishing: www.phantomfinishing.com
NCPPRC: www.ncpprc.com
Northern California Practical Precision Rifle Club (NCPPRC). There were a total of
10 rifles built, and I was lucky enough to procure #4. There was some latitude in the
specs to allow for individual preferences; I requested the following:
-Surgeon RSR action, 20 MOA base
-Bartlein 26" MTU barrel, chambered in .260 Remington
-McMillan A5 stock, KMW LoggerHead adjustable cheeckpiece, Italian Camo
-Badger Ordnance 34mm rings
-Badger Ordnance M5 bottom metal
-Jewell trigger
-Rifle and bottom metal bedded to stock
Photo by Vu Pham
Upon delivery and initial inspection, it's clear that attention to detail was high
on the priority list. Marc is a severe combination of OCD and anal retentive, which
is exactly what you want in a gunsmith. The chambering, crown work, bedding, and
assembly are all top-notch. Having seen Marc set up and run a lathe, I had no
doubts that everything would be perfect. A nice touch is the bottom metal screws,
which were replaced with allen screws to match the LoggerHead adjustment screw (the
originals were Torx-head) - one less thing to carry around!
Also of note, Todd Powers of Phantom Finishing did all the cerakote work in a desert
tan. This really finished off the look of the rifle, and was a great match for the
McMillan molded-in camo.
All I did to get it ready was mount the scope and rings, sling, and bipod. I could
go on and on about the aesthetics, but the pictures speak for themselves. And while
the appearance of the rifle is wonderful, I really care about how it shoots.
Marc has built and chambered a number of .260 rifles for folks in our club, and
all have been shooters. This one was no exception.
I should point out that I'm relatively new to the world of rifle reloading. Back
when I shot a lot of IPSC, the big questions were: 1) does the ammo feed reliably,
2) does it make power factor, and 3) how much of it can I load in an hour? Typical
distances were so short that accuracy wasn't really a concern, unless the load was
REALLY wonky.
Given this, I default to doing minimal work, unless I see that the results are
being limited by the process. Same goes for barrel cleaning - if it's not affecting
accuracy, it's not getting cleaned. (Hardcore precision reloaders may want to skip
the rest of this paragraph...) That said, the loads I shot were new Remington brass,
CCI BR2 primers, H4831SC powder, and 139gr Lapua Scenars. Process: open bag of
brass, deburr flash holes (when I remember), prime, drop powder, and seat bullet to
magazine length (~2.815" COAL). Notably absent are anything having to do with
weighing brass, uniforming primer pockets, straightening out dinged necks, neck-
or full-length resizing, neck turning, bullet tipping or weighing, case trimming,
etc. Oh, the humanity!
On the first trip to the range, I shot a few rounds to get the scope zeroed at
100 yards. Once that was done, I shot some groups, just to get an idea how
accurate it was; 1/2 MOA was the order of the day. I suspect that's about the limit
of my ability, as that's the best I was able to do with my GAP Crusader and
Federal GMM, at least on average. Others in the club are getting .2's and .3's,
so a better shooter (or more carefully loaded ammo) would likely yield better
results.
Again notably absent is any mention of "breaking in" the barrel, cleaning after
each shot, etc. I ran patches through the bore before the first shot, just to make
sure it was clear of debris, but that was the only time the barrel has had
anything other than Scenars through it.
At this point, I couldn't be happier. The rifle looks great, functions without
a hiccup, and is easily as accurate as I am. I pack up and head home; the next
chance I'll have to shoot is at our monthly match in June at SacValley...
Match weekend arrives, and I can't make Saturday practice to gather dope out to
1000 yards due to scheduling conflicts. I take dope from my wife's .260 (from about
8 months prior), figuring it'll get me close. Her rifle was also built by Spartan
Precision - same action, but 26" medium palma barrel in a McMillan A3. Turns out,
the dope was spot-on - didn't need so much as a tenth mil here or there.
The cold bore shot was at 200 yards. Here's a picture of the result from the
back side of the target:
Couldn't ask for anything more!
We got a little bit of rain, but nothing serious. More importantly, the wind was
very kind to us 1st relay shooters, and didn't pick up until around 600 yards.
It stayed with us through the 800, 900, and 1000 yard lines, and picked up even
more for the 2nd relay folks.
In the end, through some perfect alignment of the stars, I ended up winning the
match with a 456-11x. Little did I know, 2nd place was right there with me at
455-6x...another member with a Spartan Precision club build, also in .260. Bob
had also missed the previous day's practice, and was without solid dope - so he
used the same numbers I did. 5th place, with 407-9x, and top .308, was yet
another Spartan Precision rifle. It was an absolutely awesome showing for Marc's
work, in the first NCPPRC match after delivering his club rifles.
I'm looking forward to putting more rounds downrange with this rig, as it'll be
my primary competition rifle for the foreseeable future. If you're looking to
have a complete rifle built or just have some custom work done, I'd highly
recommend contacting Spartan Precision Rifles before everyone else discovers
Marc, and his backlog gets atrocious!
Spartan Precision Rifles: www.spartanrifles.com
Phantom Finishing: www.phantomfinishing.com
NCPPRC: www.ncpprc.com
