Was able to get out today and test two rifles which are the ultimate in my view for shoulder fired precision and performance. Both are very similar in design, both are my Raptor Long Range Shooting System (LRSS). Both are also single shot and both are chambered in my 7mm Allen Magnum wildcat. This is one of my most popular wildcats for good reason but for those not familiar with it, the 7mm Allen Magnum is a 338 Lapua Mag case, necked down to 7mm, shoulder moved forward and then fire formed to my Improved design providing the ultimate compromise in case capacity and extraction performance with max pressures, even with the cases get a bit long in the tooth.
Being single shot Raptor LRSS, we were not limited by magazine length, which is not overly critical in the 7mm Allen Magnum but using the 195 gr Berger EH seated just to the base of the neck, the OAL of the ammo is 3.910".
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The main advantage of the single shot Raptor receiver is its Brute strength. Even the Raptor repeater is pretty much the strongest receiver in this size class and has as much shear strength on the bolt lugs as most receivers designed for use with the 408 Cheytac cartridges.
Being a single shot, solid bottom receiver, there is no weak link in this receiver like there is in a repeating receiver with very little steel supporting the bottom lug on a repeating receiver. Its just amazing how strong my Raptor receiver is and taking it to the next level as a single shot is even more rigid.
I took several pictures to show the unique features of the Raptor LRSS rifle. The first pic shows the complete right side of the Raptor LRSS. Standard Stocks are the McMillan A5 with integral adjustable cheek piece. This rifle has the adjustable LOP shim system option. Jewell triggers with bottom safety set at 1 to 1.5 lbs are standard. Metal ADL style trigger guard protects the trigger.
The Raptor Match receiver used on the Raptor LRSS has the small match ejection port for added strength. The bolt is 0.750" diameter and fluted with extra wide, extra deep flutes. The firing pin spring is an extra heavy spring to make sure lock time is as short as possible and to insure the firing pin has maximum energy to efficently ignite any primer consistently.
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The full length 20 moa steel rail base is mounted with 6, 8-40 mounting bolts and also pinned to the receiver with three heat treated 1/8" pins which locks the rail to the receiver and prevents any rail slippage that WILL happen as a result of the extreme G-forces generated by my Painkiller muzzle brake.
The recoil lug is also double pinned to the receiver. You can also see that the receiver thread Tennion is MUCH longer then conventional receivers. This is so that there is much more thread engagement so that the Raptor receiver can support heavy, long barrels with no issues with barrel ship of receiver flexing. Finally, the longer receiver length allows for a much longer bedding area mating the receiver to the stock, again to support effortlessly any size or length barrel wanted.
Moving ahead of the receiver we see the unique Raptor LRSS custom contour barrel made for me to my specs by Bartlein. These barrels happen to be 8.7 twist 5R barrels. The Special Raptor LRSS contour is 1.350" diameter and as you can see its a very long full diameter shank, then is contoured and tapers down to roughly a 0.850" muzzle diameter at 30" finish length.
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Now, this contour is not just for looks. I tested many barrel contours when I was designing my Raptor LRSS rifles for barrel stiffness and rigidity and this design offered the most stable design. Most of the stress developed in a barrel when driving very heavy, very long bullets to high velocity is generated in the first several inches of barrel when the bullet is accelerated from 0 to very high velocity in a fast twist barrel. The long, full diameter barrel shank supports this high stress area perfectly.
Once the bullet gets up to speed by the first 6-7" of barrel length, the bullet produces very little torque from this point on so a lighter barrel contour can easily support these lower torque levels. Contouring the barrel down after this point allows total rifle weight to be less and most importantly the center of balance on these rifles is shifted much farther back toward the receiver so they feel ROCK SOLID on a bipod or off the bags. In testing, this barrel design proved just as stiff and rigid as a 1.250" straight cylinder barrel, however it is lighter and also balances MUCH better.
You will notice also the unique dual flute pattern that also sets the Raptor LRSS apart. This is honestly more cosmetic then anything but it does look cool and also helps to shift balance back toward the receiver even more.
At the end of the muzzle you will notice my Standard for the Raptor LRSS Medium 3 Port Painkiller muzzle brake which makes these rifles pretty much recoilless in the 7mm Allen Magnum.
As far as performacne goes, This rifle used RL33 to max out at 3476 fps with the 195 gr Berger EH. As max load I mean that you can get 3-4 firing per case at this level before primer pockets get to loose to use. My recommended loads to customers MUST be able to have 8-10 firings per case. At this level, this rifle averaged 3405 fps!!!
Tested the rifles today at 1000 yards and they EASILY met my accuracy standards. In fact, they both shot close to 1/3 moa. I will admit that 12 degrees is a bit cool to test rifles in but they performed extremely well.
These two customers opted for the Nightforce ATACR 7-35x 56mm F1. Very good optics. Mounted in four NF ultralight tactical rings. Two of these rings are set up to control recoil energy, the other two are set up to support the extreme Negative G-forces generated by my Painkiller muzzle brake. This is the only method along with the pinned rail base I have found to keep heavy scopes solidly in place for the life of the rifle.
Will post pics of the second rifle ASAP. Both are beasts and both offer extreme level of performance and have hardly any recoil at all. In fact I was basically free recoiling the rifle and could easily spot impacts.
Just for example of the ballistic performance these rifles produce. With the 195 gr Berger launched at 3405 fps, at my 3400 ft elevation and with a 100 yard zero. Muzzle energy is over 5000 ft/lbs. Not bad for a 7mm....
at 500 yards it only needs 5 moa dial up and is packing 2855 fps and 3530 ft/lbs of energy. 10 mph wind only pushes her off course by 1.25 moa.
at 1000 yards they only need 15 moa of dial up. Only 2.5 moa of drift and still packing 2370 fps and 2433 ft/lbs of energy.
at 2000 yards, 46.5 moa dial up, 5.25 moa for wind, 1560 fps and 1050 ft/lbs.
This combo will maintain supersonic velocity to 3000 yards!! Not bad for a rifle that has a 14 lb bare rifle weight.
And again, with hardly any recoil to mention, far less then a 243 Win in a varmint weight rifle!!!!
