by Scott Smith
Contributing Editor
Over the last four years the AR-15 series of rifles has become so popular that parts and accessories for it have grown into a cottage industry. The rifle is used by sport shooters, hunters, law enforcement and military units worldwide.
I was first issued an M-16 A1 back in the early ’80s. The rifle my reserve unit issued was so old it had an open birdcage flash suppressor, and triangular hand guard. To say that this M-16 had seen better days would be an understatement. Needless to say my initial impression of the M-16 was far from favorable, but I have learned to play the hand dealt me.
After several days of training and using the rifle, it started to grow on me. The rifle was lightweight, easy to handle, and had virtually no recoil. These are all good things in a rifle.
The one area in the M-16 I found to be wanting was its accuracy. Compared to the rifles I grew up shooting, the M-16 was a dog. It was capable of hitting a man-sized target at ranges out to four hundred meters, but one-hole groups were more a matter of luck than of course. I had to remind myself this is an assault rifle not a precision shooting tool.
Over the years I served in the reserves and on active duty, the M-16 grew on me. As new production M-16s arrived at line units, the accuracy of the rifles went up; new barrels, new twist rates, and heavier bullets made this happen. With these changes the M-16 won me over.
Another thing I didn’t like about the M-16 was you had to mount a telescopic sight on top of the carry handle. This location was bad at very best because the shooter had a very pure cheek/stock weld. But if you wanted to add optics to the M-16/AR-15 this was your only option 20+ years ago.
Fast forward to today, and AR-15s and M-16s have improved in leaps and bounds. Not only are the rifles accurate enough to drive tacks, even with iron sights; but there are many variations of the M-16/AR-15 series of rifles available in a flat top (no carry handle) to facilitate the mounting of optics.
One of the leading manufacturers of AR-15s is DPMS (3312 12th St. SE, Dept. GWK, St. Cloud, MN 56304; phone: 320-258-4448; on-line www.dpmsinc.com). The DPMS catalog shows AR style rifles with bull barrels, standard contour barrels, long barrels, if you are an agency or hold a NFA tax stamp ARs with 10.5-inch barrels to meet your needs. If barrel offerings are not enough for you, DPMS offers rifles chambered in the M16/AR15 standard rifle and carbine caliber—.223 Remington—as well as .204 Ruger, .243 Winchester, .260 Remington and several others. Pretty much, you can build an AR to suit your wants, needs or desires.
What really caught my eye was that DPMS also offers an AR-style rifle chambered in .308 Winchester; actually they offer five models in this caliber. I chose the LRT-SASS, because this rifle comes with flip-up front and rear sights, flat-top receiver, and four-position railed hand guards. This means the rifle can serve as a long range rifle or function as a carbine.
My LRT arrived fall last year and I was thrilled to see it. I had talked extensively with DPMS about this rifle and had formed this image of the rifle that I hoped would be fulfilled when I opened the box.
Steroid Enhanced
First off, the box was heavy. This wasn’t your typical M-4 carbine; at least it sure felt heavier. When I opened the gun case, inside was what appeared to be an M-4 carbine that has taken serious quantities of steroids and grown!
Granted the LRT SASS looked like my M-4, but it was bigger, lots bigger actually. All the controls and their location on the LRT scream AR-15, just more substantial and heavier.
Not being an engineer I know the cartridge’s size alone means the firearm must be larger. The fact the cartridge generates more muzzle energy also means that the LRT is going to be proportionally heavier to allow the rifle to function properly. Not being a firearms designer or engineer, I am interested in all the technical details and size proportions required to make an AR-15 grow into a rifle chambered for a larger caliber. From what I can see, the engineering team at DPMS did a bang up job making an AR-15 that chambers the more potent .308 Winchester cartridge.
Having a rifle based on the AR-15 means I don’t have to “learn” how to shoot this rifle. All the controls are where I am used to finding them on my M-4. Although the LRT is heavier; it “feels” like its smaller sibling M-4. More importantly, not only is the feel of the LRT right, but it can be outfitted identically to an M-4. This allows this precision rifle to have more applications than long range shooting.
All that said, I was thrilled with what I saw when I opened the case in which that the LRT SASS arrived. The LRT comes with it owner’s manual (I suggest reading it), Vltor adjustable stock, as previously mentioned four-position forearm, two magazines, Harris bi-pod, and Mangonel flip-up front and rear sights. This is a truly ready to use firearm.
First Range Session
In my humble opinion all the LRT SASS needed to be truly functional was a set of optics. Granted it arrives with flip-up Mangonel sights; however I prefer optics of some sort, be it a red dot for fast action shooting, or a telescopic sight for precision work. Since the LRT comes with a flat top receiver, attaching your choice of optics is a snap; we will deal with this shortly.
After a brief perusal of the operator’s manual and obligatory fondling of the new LRT, I needed to get the rifle out to the range. I rounded up a number of .308 rounds to give the rifle a quick test shooting at the range. To see how the LRT functioned and felt, I grabbed a bunch of loose ammunition. The mix included military surplus, reloads, and various factory loads. I wasn’t all that concerned about the exact loads I had since I had limited range time.
I set up a few IDPA targets at the 50-yard backstop to see how well the sights were regulated. Since this was a mixed bag of ammo, keeping the bullets in the “0” ring of the target would be considered good enough. I was surprised that not only did the LRT feed all the rounds but the first 19 rounds snuck into a sub 2-inch group. Seemed like the sights were fairly well set from the factory and the LRT was ready to roll.
Next I set up a 10-inch Shoot-N-C target from Birchwood Casey (7900 Fuller Rd, Dept. GWK, Eden Prairie, MN 55344; phone: 952-937-7933; on-line: www.birchwoodcasey.com) at the 100-yard backstop. Again this was not a test of what the LRT SASS was, but how well it functioned. The LRT—again with iron sights—was keeping 19 rounds in fairly tight groups, about 5 inches. For a mid-40s guy with aging eyes using iron sights; this was good enough. The important thing was it just kept shooting.
Optics
Since the LRT had proven itself to be a fine shooting rifle with iron sights, I was curious to see what it would do with optics. Since this rifle had a flat top and a four position forearm, optics options ranged from red dots, to ACOG-type sights, to telescopic sights; depending on what the user’s needs.
For optics on this LRT, I chose to use a Trijicon ACOG (49385 Shafer Ave., Dept. GWK, Wixom, MI 48393; phone: 248-960-7700; on-line: www.trijicon.com), a Burris (331 East 8th St., Dept. GWK, Greeley, CO 800631; phone: 970-356-1670; on-line: www.burrisoptics.com) Tactical Speed Dot, and for a telescopic sight TruGlo’s (710 Presidential Dr., Dept. GWK, Richardson, TX 75801; phone: 972-774-0300; on-line: www.truglo.com) Infinity 6-24X44 with fine crosshairs. This cross-section of scopes is a good representation of close quarter optics to long range precision optics.
To start, I wanted to see just how well the LRT SASS shot. For this I mounted the TruGlo Infinity scope. Now some may grouse about this choice, but I have found TruGlo’s optics to be durable and clear; they hold zero, work well and are affordably priced.
Because the rifle is more substantial than its smaller AR-15 sibling, standard high rings won’t work and that was all I could find locally. Fortunately for the shooting world, Brownell’s (200 S. Front St., Dept. GWK, Montezuma, IA 50171; phone: 641-623-5401; on-line: www.brownells.com) exists and their catalog has solutions for these problems. A quick phone call and a pair of Warne Maxima Ultra High Quick Detach rings were on the way. This ring and scope combination fit the LRT like they were designed to give the shooter a perfect stock to cheek weld.
Ammunition
I bore sighted the rifle, rounded up a supply of premium ammunition from: Black Hills (PO Box 3090, Dept. GWK, Rapid City, SD 57709; phone: 605-348-5150; on-line: www.black-hills.com); Hornady (3625 Old Potash Hwy., Dept. GWK, Grand Island, NE 68803; phone: 308-385-1390; on-line: www.hornady.com), Remington (870 Remington Dr., Dept. GWK, Madison, NC 27025; phone: 800-243-9700; on-line: www.remington.com); Federal (900 Ehlen Dr. Dept. GWK, Anoka, MN, 55303; phone: 763-323-2300; on-line: www.federalpremium.com), and Winchester (427 N. Shamrock St., Dept. GWK, East Alton, IL 62024; phone: 618-258-2365; on-line www.winchester.com). This is a good mix of premium ammunition and represents most off-the-shelf ammo. Bullet weights were 168-grain and 175-grain boattail hollowpoints which are known for their match grade accuracy.
The LRT/TruGlo combination delivered consistent half minute of angle accuracy at 100 yards. The shooting was done using the Harris bi-pod from a bench and prone. I prefer not to use a bag rest to test a rifle’s accuracy because I am not aware of anyone who carries sand bags on a call-out. Therefore I try to use the rifle as it would be in the field, while training or on a call-out.
After giving the LRT/TruGlo a thorough shooting at 100 yards, I wanted to shoot it at a longer range. The longest range I have to shoot at my local club is 200 yards, so that would have to suffice. I know in the world of true long-range shooting this is still short range. However in the real world, 200 yards in a police tactical situation is a very long shot. The LRT continued to perform superbly and was consistently shooting three-quarter to one MOA groups. This is about as good as I can make a rifle function. I am sure there are many out there who will be able to shoot one-hole groups at 200 yards.
Multiple Targets
To see how the LRT SASS handles I set up a number of clay pigeons on the back stop at 100 yards. The rifle quickly disposed of the dozen or so clay pigeons with one shot each; as quickly as the rifle recovered from recoil and was set on target. The rifle had little muzzle rise and tracked quickly from clay pigeon to clay pigeon.
When shooting the LRT, it handled remarkably well. Thanks to its weight, follow-up shots were fast and accurate. There was little or no muzzle flash thanks to the proprietary Panther Arms muzzle brake/flash suppressor. The LRT is a fine shooting firearm.
The LRT proved itself more than capable of performing as a full fledged tactical or hunting rifle. Because of its size, I wanted to see if the LRT was capable of performing as a close-quarter battle (CQB) carbine; albeit one on steroids. I know there will be those who feel an 11-pound rifle is not the ideal CQB or 3-gun match weapon; but then again with all the stuff that gets strapped on an AR-15, it can weigh that much.
To keep the weight down on the LRT, I avoided hanging a “ton” of gear on it. I opted not to use a vertical forearm on the LRT. The vertical forearm just didn’t feel right on this rifle and it added extra weight. If I were going to add a vertical forearm it would be a Grip Pod available through various vendors. This forearm gives you a grip and with the flip of a button a bi-pod for stability when shooting prone or from various solid objects.
Sling Mounting
One item the LRT requires to be a serious tool is a sling. The LRT has a single quick release sling point on the Vltor stock, but lacks one on the forearm sling attachment. Again it was Brownell’s to the rescue. The same phone number used to order the scope rings produced a Midwest sling mount with quick release sling stud. This sling mount attaches to the rail of the forearm with a clamp just like a scope mount. This system is very tough and secure. I have yet to see the one I have on my M4 work loose in over a year of use.
To aid in carry and employment of the LRT, I attached a Spec Ops Brand (1601 W. 15th St. Dept. GWK, Monahans, TX 79756; phone: 432-943-4888, on-line: www.specopsbrand.com) Universal Mamba. This is three point sling and it fit the quick release studs on the LRT like a dream. This sling keeps the rifle slung directly on your chest and allows the user to quickly mount the rifle or transition to a sidearm as needed.
If you use the LRT SASS in a CQB role, a weapons mounted light is a good addition. Insight Technologies (9 Akira Way, Londonderry, Dept. GWK, NH 03053; phone: 603-626-4800; on-line: www.in-sighttechnology.com) makes a number of high intensity lights for handguns and long guns and I chose to use the new SSL1. The SSL1 puts out 80 lumens and works very well at CQB distances out to 30 or so yards. The SSL, like its predecessors, is a fine light for duty use.
To use the LRT in a CQB/3-Gun role, I installed a Trijicon ACOG TA11E because of the features it offers. The first and foremost reason for this sight is that it is a 3.5 power unit. This power works well at close ranges and allows the operator to make solid hits at distances out to several hundred yards. Next the TA11E uses both a fiber optic light source and, in low light, it is tritium powered so this is a very versatile sight.
If you prefer a dot sight, I mounted a Burris Tactical Speed Dot sight. The Tactical Speed Dot is solid and it has numerous intensity settings. The sight allows the operator quick, accurate target acquisition.
CQB/3-Gun
To see how this rifle worked for CQB/Three Gun, I set up IDPA targets out to fifty yards. These were engaged on the move, kneeling, and standing with double and triple taps. The ACOG or Speed Dot was mounted on the rifle, and the LRT performed well. Granted an M4 would have allowed for faster shots, but the LRT SASS performed admirably and in a real world tactical use will defeat heavier cover. Thanks to the weight, the rifle recovers very quickly between shots. Both the ACOG and Tactical Speed Dot sight aided in making the LRT an up close and personal CQB rifle.
After shooting the LRT for accuracy, up close and fast; well as fast as I shoot, and testing the reliability of the rifle it was time to clean it. Since this is essentially an AR-15 it was fast and easy. Drop the magazine, lock the bolt to the rear ensuring the firearm is empty and clear, release the bolt, push out the rear take down pin, pivot the upper receiver off the lower, retract the charging handle and bolt and you are ready to clean the LRT. If you like punch out the front pivot pin to make the cleaning process a little bit easier. After you clean and lube the LRT with your preferred products simply reverse the take down process to reassemble the rifle.
Overall I found the LRT SASS to be an outstanding rifle. I have fired many fine rifles over the years and the LRT SASS ranks among the finest I have had the pleasure to shoulder. The rifle handles well, is amazingly accurate, can double as a CQB/Three Gun carbine if need be; what’s not to like?
If you are a looking for a rifle that can be used for long range shooting, hunting, or Three Gun competition check out the LRT SASS. If you are in law enforcement and your agency or you as an individual are looking for a new tactical rifle the LRT SASS should be among those considered. The rifle is designed to meet a wide variety of applications and to accommodate a wide variety of accessories; lights, IR designators and various types of optics and various bi-pods. Because of this versatility it is my humble opinion that it will meet and exceed your wants and needs. Give DPMS/Panther Arms a call for pricing.
Multi-Purpose Parka
Mother Nature made trips to the range this spring, yucky to say the least. One piece of gear I found to be useful while shooting the DPMS LRT was the Recce (pronounced wreck ee) Smock from the Canadian Drop Zone firm (8003 Argyll Rd., Dept. GWK, Edmonton, AB, Canada T6C-4A9; phone: 877-461-5700; on-line: www.dropzonetactical.com).
The Recce Smock is made from a cotton synthetic blend. This blend is durable and breathable; features that appeal to hunters and those who wear a uniform to protect our freedoms. The Recce Smock breaks from the pack in that it is not a waterproof parka, but the material can be readily treated with any commercial waterproofing treatment.
It seems the troopers of Canada, England and other Soldiers of the Crown prefer to wear rain gear under their Smock. This has many benefits; for hunters and tactical operators; doing this is quieter. The Recce will reduce the sounds nylon, Sympatex®, Gore-tex®, etc. make. You also don’t get overheated when hiking in and out of the woods or an area of operations; there were times when I was a GI it was hard to tell what made you wet; the rain or getting wet from the sweat generated by rain gear.
The Recce Smock from the Drop Zone offers outdoorsman something many other pieces of outwear don’t: many functional pockets. This way you can carry all the small stuff you need in the field; munchies, band aids, your wallet, writing instruments, note pads, etc. and have easy access to each pocket. For military and law enforcement types sleeve and chest Velcro® tabs are provided to apply name tapes, flags, rank, badges etc.
Fit-wise the Recce Smock gives you plenty of room to wear a down liner, heavy fleece, etc. All of the pockets use button closures which are covered and the buttons are attached with nylon bands instead of being sewn on with thread. The bands are bar-tack sewn and are much more durable than just sewing the button on to the jacket. The zippers are all heavy duty YKK and are double sewn so they don’t pull out of the pockets. This jacket is built to take whatever you dish out.
The Drop Zone offers the Recce Smock in several colors; olive drab, black, tan as well as military camouflage; woodland, CadPat TW, CadPat Arid, and Multicam®. I chose Multicam® because it is a very flexible pattern for hunters, cops and it is still being explored by the military. Keep an eye peeled for more on Multicam® in the near future.
The Drop Zone Recce Smock isn’t cheap, but it is built to last. If you are looking for a multiuse piece of outwear, check out the Drop Zone for the Recce Smock. You will be impressed.
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