Specialized Dynamics
I wanted to take a few min and write up a little review on a Specialized Dynamics (SD) upper in .223 that a friend purchased and allowed me to shoot. First and foremost I have no affiliation with SD and this review is written solely on my impression of one of their complete uppers. I have meet Scott from SD a few times and would say he is an acquaintance but not a close friend.
Short story to start (Shows the dedication SD has for customer service).
Story:
Friend of mine comes to me and starts asking about a longer range rifle. There was a ton of discussion as it needs to be something he can shoot to 600 yards and something his son can handle/shoot as well (not a very big kid) etc etc…. After many hours of talk and discussion a 223/5.56 AR style weapon was the decision. He had decided he wanted to build this AR from pieces if possible to save money and be familiar with it. Well my friend found a complete lower for a good price so he picked that up. He was looking for the upper he wanted for a few weeks as he thought he could get it faster and maybe cheaper than through SD. After finding that the specs he wanted were not in stock anywhere (twist rate, barrel length, etc) and my direction, he decided it was time to contact Scott. Now meanwhile I was getting info and asking questions to Scott at SD about uppers he builds and their specs etc… Normally Scott has lead time of 6-8 weeks after an order is placed. It turns out that Scott had enough parts around to get something together within a week! Scott answered any and all questions my friend had prior to purchase and even after. Then when they met for pickup Scott had stated he scratched the gas block and discounted the upper to make up for this, and this is after staying in my friend’s budget for the build!! The scratch is nothing more then something you would expect on a rifle that is actually shot (as I say I buy them to shoot them not look at them in my safe all shiny). So now to end the story and get to the review.
-----Review:
I will only speak to the upper as SD didn’t provide the lower or stock for this rifle. I do give the lower specs for reference.
Specs:
Barrel- 20” heavy barrel, 1x8, Chambered in 223 Wylde
Upper- A3 Silicone Nickel coated
Bolt- YM Complete Bolt
Free Float Tube- Made for SD I believe so no brand that I am aware of
Gas block- Rifle length with rail on top
Not included with upper but shown in pictures to complete the upper.
Nikon Buckmaster 4.5-14 x40
Weaver extra high rings
Harris 6-9 notched leg bipod (non swivel model)
Fit and Finish:
Once this rifle was together (upper and lower put together and scope mounted) I looked it over pretty thoroughly to see how the fit/finish was (I am not a gunsmith but have been around AR’s for a few years and have some knowledge on them). First thing I noticed was the components used were very well thought out. The fit and finish was very good with little to no “slop” (come on now it is an AR there is always some movement in the parts). The bolt ran very smooth in the upper. The ejection port cover has a nice little flag etched into it which is a very nice touch. The free float tube is a great design (has 2 drilled and tapped holes on the underside for sling/bipod mounting) and has a great feel to it when you are shooting from a sitting position and not off the bipod. The barrel is bead blasted and looks great (not sure if Scott did this or ordered it that way). The gas block had a scratch but let’s face it that means nothing to performance. There was a bipod stud in the float tube but it was too short for the Harris to mount. So a quick swap out with a longer threaded sling stud and we were in business.
Shooting:
So I have been behind the trigger of this rifle 2 times now. (No group pictures, sorry no camera so you are welcome to claim it didn’t happen LOL)
The first time it was mounted to a lower of mine which has a RRA 2 stage and a CCA 6 position stock. It was my lower so that we could get the extra 1-2” of stock length vs his stock. The owner and I were shooting bulk Hornady 55 grain ammo through it on a day with 10mph winds and gusts around 15mph. Distance was 100 yards to sight in and get a feel for the rifle. The scope is a bit low yet so you have to put your cheek into the stock pretty good (he is looking into a mount for the scope). The rifle shot approx 2” groups off a plastic folding table, sitting in a camping style fold out chair, and off the bipod which slid all over on the plastic as there was no way to load the bipod on the table. **Let me state that I make no claims as to being a great shooter but with a bench shooting situation on an average day I can shoot MOA. Now in tactical comps as some have seen I am learning it is a whole other ball game.
** So the results were pretty good for the conditions etc… in our minds. His son was able to shoot the rifle as well with pretty good success. Which means this rifle met the needs of the owner and was a blast to shoot.
The second time it was mounted to owners lower which has a basic lower parts kit and a standard 4 position stock (he is looking to change that out and I am trying to tell him PRS is the way to go). There was a 5mph wind this time. Distance was 100 yards again. I was out with my wife who asked me to take her shooting. She put 3 rounds through this rifle with my reloads at the 12” steel plate. She looks at me and says “I think I only hit it once and I don’t want to shoot this anymore I can’t see through the scope”. I said well lets go down range and take a look. Sure enough she shot a 1” (.9 actually but who’s counting
) group with it. The splatter made it looked like 1 hit to her. We were shooting some reloads that I use in my M4. Now these are mixed brass (different case wall thickness on them all) that was trimmed and loaded with Varget and 55gr cantilever bullets (cheap bullets no BT or Match these are the cheapest bullets I could get from Powder Valley awhile back). So I thought ok time for me to get behind this rifle again and see what it can do with me as I have many more years of trigger time then my wife who has been out ½ a dozen times total. First off the trigger was different for me as I am use to a 2 stage so that felt a bit odd. The scope again is a bit low still as you really have to have a tight cheek on the stock to get the sight picture. To shoot this time I pull it off the plastic table and went to the tailgate of my truck so I can load the bipod and see what it does. Well I put 5 down range on the paper target I was previously shooting with the 22. Through the scope things looked pretty good. When I got down there to check closer it was a .79” group. I was pretty impress for it being reloaded plinking ammo that is not meant to be very tight grouping. So I go back and put 10 in the mag and throw them down range. The group was 1.3” with 2 flyers (with flyers it was 2.9” and 1 flyer was due to a nice fat bee that decided I needed him to comb my hair). So then I decided it was time for a few more 10 round sets on the steel. They average was around 1.2” groups. Again no pics since this time I just kept measuring, shooting another area of the steel, then painting the steel, and shooting it again.
Operation in the field
Well with probably 175 rounds through the rifle it has yet to have an issue. The bolt runs fast, smooth and clean. The rifle had no issue feeding from pmags, GI mags, and some off brand polymer mag that was used with it. There were no heat issues with the float tube as it vented very nicely. The bolt looks like it was riding perfect with no odd wear on it thus far.
Ammo:
Since it has not been feed any high quality ammo I can’t speak to the full ability of the upper as of yet. So far it has had factory 55 grain bulk ammo and 55 grain reloads. We are working to get some heavier bullets and put some precision reloads together and see what this thing will like. I would say this will defiantly shoot under MOA when we find a load for it and with the right shooter (certainly not me) I am sure it would be well under MOA! We also have a place we can shoot that will give us 100 yards to 1700 yards so once we load up some ammo to ladder test we will take it back to 200-300 yards for that. After that the owner wants to stretch it out to 600 but I am telling him he needs to take it to 800
Well I guess this turned out to be a little longer than “short” sorry about that. All I can say is these uppers are top notch and a heck of a shooter!!
I wanted to take a few min and write up a little review on a Specialized Dynamics (SD) upper in .223 that a friend purchased and allowed me to shoot. First and foremost I have no affiliation with SD and this review is written solely on my impression of one of their complete uppers. I have meet Scott from SD a few times and would say he is an acquaintance but not a close friend.
Short story to start (Shows the dedication SD has for customer service).
Story:
Friend of mine comes to me and starts asking about a longer range rifle. There was a ton of discussion as it needs to be something he can shoot to 600 yards and something his son can handle/shoot as well (not a very big kid) etc etc…. After many hours of talk and discussion a 223/5.56 AR style weapon was the decision. He had decided he wanted to build this AR from pieces if possible to save money and be familiar with it. Well my friend found a complete lower for a good price so he picked that up. He was looking for the upper he wanted for a few weeks as he thought he could get it faster and maybe cheaper than through SD. After finding that the specs he wanted were not in stock anywhere (twist rate, barrel length, etc) and my direction, he decided it was time to contact Scott. Now meanwhile I was getting info and asking questions to Scott at SD about uppers he builds and their specs etc… Normally Scott has lead time of 6-8 weeks after an order is placed. It turns out that Scott had enough parts around to get something together within a week! Scott answered any and all questions my friend had prior to purchase and even after. Then when they met for pickup Scott had stated he scratched the gas block and discounted the upper to make up for this, and this is after staying in my friend’s budget for the build!! The scratch is nothing more then something you would expect on a rifle that is actually shot (as I say I buy them to shoot them not look at them in my safe all shiny). So now to end the story and get to the review.
-----Review:
I will only speak to the upper as SD didn’t provide the lower or stock for this rifle. I do give the lower specs for reference.
Specs:
Barrel- 20” heavy barrel, 1x8, Chambered in 223 Wylde
Upper- A3 Silicone Nickel coated
Bolt- YM Complete Bolt
Free Float Tube- Made for SD I believe so no brand that I am aware of
Gas block- Rifle length with rail on top
Not included with upper but shown in pictures to complete the upper.
Nikon Buckmaster 4.5-14 x40
Weaver extra high rings
Harris 6-9 notched leg bipod (non swivel model)
Fit and Finish:
Once this rifle was together (upper and lower put together and scope mounted) I looked it over pretty thoroughly to see how the fit/finish was (I am not a gunsmith but have been around AR’s for a few years and have some knowledge on them). First thing I noticed was the components used were very well thought out. The fit and finish was very good with little to no “slop” (come on now it is an AR there is always some movement in the parts). The bolt ran very smooth in the upper. The ejection port cover has a nice little flag etched into it which is a very nice touch. The free float tube is a great design (has 2 drilled and tapped holes on the underside for sling/bipod mounting) and has a great feel to it when you are shooting from a sitting position and not off the bipod. The barrel is bead blasted and looks great (not sure if Scott did this or ordered it that way). The gas block had a scratch but let’s face it that means nothing to performance. There was a bipod stud in the float tube but it was too short for the Harris to mount. So a quick swap out with a longer threaded sling stud and we were in business.
Shooting:
So I have been behind the trigger of this rifle 2 times now. (No group pictures, sorry no camera so you are welcome to claim it didn’t happen LOL)
The first time it was mounted to a lower of mine which has a RRA 2 stage and a CCA 6 position stock. It was my lower so that we could get the extra 1-2” of stock length vs his stock. The owner and I were shooting bulk Hornady 55 grain ammo through it on a day with 10mph winds and gusts around 15mph. Distance was 100 yards to sight in and get a feel for the rifle. The scope is a bit low yet so you have to put your cheek into the stock pretty good (he is looking into a mount for the scope). The rifle shot approx 2” groups off a plastic folding table, sitting in a camping style fold out chair, and off the bipod which slid all over on the plastic as there was no way to load the bipod on the table. **Let me state that I make no claims as to being a great shooter but with a bench shooting situation on an average day I can shoot MOA. Now in tactical comps as some have seen I am learning it is a whole other ball game.
The second time it was mounted to owners lower which has a basic lower parts kit and a standard 4 position stock (he is looking to change that out and I am trying to tell him PRS is the way to go). There was a 5mph wind this time. Distance was 100 yards again. I was out with my wife who asked me to take her shooting. She put 3 rounds through this rifle with my reloads at the 12” steel plate. She looks at me and says “I think I only hit it once and I don’t want to shoot this anymore I can’t see through the scope”. I said well lets go down range and take a look. Sure enough she shot a 1” (.9 actually but who’s counting
Operation in the field
Well with probably 175 rounds through the rifle it has yet to have an issue. The bolt runs fast, smooth and clean. The rifle had no issue feeding from pmags, GI mags, and some off brand polymer mag that was used with it. There were no heat issues with the float tube as it vented very nicely. The bolt looks like it was riding perfect with no odd wear on it thus far.
Ammo:
Since it has not been feed any high quality ammo I can’t speak to the full ability of the upper as of yet. So far it has had factory 55 grain bulk ammo and 55 grain reloads. We are working to get some heavier bullets and put some precision reloads together and see what this thing will like. I would say this will defiantly shoot under MOA when we find a load for it and with the right shooter (certainly not me) I am sure it would be well under MOA! We also have a place we can shoot that will give us 100 yards to 1700 yards so once we load up some ammo to ladder test we will take it back to 200-300 yards for that. After that the owner wants to stretch it out to 600 but I am telling him he needs to take it to 800
Well I guess this turned out to be a little longer than “short” sorry about that. All I can say is these uppers are top notch and a heck of a shooter!!
