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Olympic Arms 10mm upper Range Report
Josey1
Member Posts: 9,598 ✭✭
Well I finally got my pistol caliber AR-15 style carbine together and wow am I impressed. I went with the 10mm,thanks to some peoples' help on here and the power afforded by the 10mm round. The following is a range report on my first shakedown with the 10mm rifle at the range.
The equipment:Essential Arms PreBan lower with 3 position collapsable stock, mated with a Olympic arms 10mm, A3 flat top preban upper. For optics I used a Bushmaster detachable A2 style carry handle with standard peep sights, on top of which was mounted an ARMS Delta tactical see though handle mount which gave a good base for mounting an Aimpoint ML2 Red Dot sight. Feeding this puppy, I used only new manufactured rounds from Federal (180gr high antimony lead), Blazer (200gr fmj) and Winchester (175gr silvertip hollowpoints).The rifle is fed by a modified Uzi .41 Action Express mag with which Olympic supplies one 10 rounder with each upper. While I do like this better than the Colt's 9mm, mag. well block version, replacement mags are expensive. If you can find them, Olympic will convert them for $25/each.
I would be shooting at an indoor range, both silouehtte and bullseye at ranges up to 50 yards using both standard peep sight and the red dot. .Repeatable accuracy was achieved by use of a Hart rifle Rest as well as varying sandbags.
Visually it is a beautiful rifle, while some will only accept the "Evil BLack Rifle" look, the contrast of the gray lower and jet black upper was pleasing to the eye. Handling is slggish, the larger heavy barrel of the 10mm throws the balance off a good deal when offhand shooting. This rifle would do well with some kind of counterbalance in the buttstock but (unlike the A2 buttstock)I am not sure if there is one available for the collapsable stock version. Visually, the standard peep sights comes to view with ease, even tough it is being viewed through the Aimpoint ARMS mount. I did not like the hieght of the Aimpoint when mounted on top of the carry handle, it pulls your head up too much but and is uncomfortable at best. A remedy for this could be a Delta style cheek rest but upon returning from the range I decided to order the hi-rise mount from Brownels.
Sighting the new optics was a pleasure, everything was on target without much adjustment. The Bushmaster detachable handle was on the money, didn't have to do a thing to it. The Aimpoint was low and right, about 1" in both directions but this could be due to the 3 mounts being used to connect it to the rifle. In case you are wondering the three mounts are, 1. the detachable A2 handle,2.the ARMS delta handle mount weaver rail and 3. the single large ring on the Aimpoint.
Recoil was a little heavier than I expected but tolerable enough to allow quick, accurate followup shots. The pistol caliber upper works on a blowback action, there is no familiar gas tube or key in the bolt. The hole for the gas port is blocked in the barrel and the action operates through Olympics' custom muzzlebrake/flashhider(which restricts gas pressure) and your stock buffer tube. Spent cases ejected fully and reliably, there were no short stroking, failures to feed or ejection problems through 400 rounds of aimed and rapid fire shooting.
No range report should be complete with giving the rifle a run through a chrono., but as luck (or bad luck) would have it the shops' chrono. was down and out for repairs. I will be able to give a chronograph report next week in anyone is interested. Accuracy was better than average and while there is no match for the accuracy of the high velocty, high powered .223 round this was not to be a comparison between the two chamberings.
At 50 yards using the Hart rifle rest and slow repeatable aimed fire, both the peep sights and Aimpoint were spot on. The best group size was achieved using the Winchester 175gr silvertip hollowpoints with which I was rewarded with a 1/2" cloverleaf (measured center to center). The worst group was by (no surprise the cheapest ammo) the Blaser 200 gr FMJ's which opened up the groups to 1 1/2". Both the best group as well as the worst were achieved through the Aim point.
Oh and about the aimpoint, all I can say is WOW!!! I have never used a red dot of which I could truly state, just put the dot on what you want to hit. This was no clearer than during the rapid fire segment of my shakedown. At varying distances I setup man sized silouette targets,staggering them with the closest being center at 7-10 yards,farthest at my right at 20-25 yards and midrange to my left at 12-15 yards. I started the drill by slowly placing two rounds, center of mass into each target begining with the nearest and working to the farthest(Center-Right-Left). MY first few "sets" were undeniably dead-on center of mass but I would hardly call it rapid fire. It took me some time to get into the motion of swinging from target to target but before long I was swiftly punching paper. Oh and remember what I said about the rifle feeling sluggish? Turns out the heavier front end aided greatly in keeping me on target through recoil. While I did not use any timing device, I know that I could never achieve this kind of accuracy/speed with a pistol and damn-it it was FUN!! By the time I was done I was working in a couple of "Two to the body, one to the head" drills.
I finished off the live fire segment of the shakedown to see exaclty how accurate the 10mm could be at full speed, trigger finger cramping rapid fire. I set up a silouette target out at 15 yards, dead on. I loadead up the magazine with 10 rounds of the Winchester 175gr silvertip hp's,aimed center of mass and let her go! Remember I said "trigger finger cramping?" well it was, but aside from the rounds steadily climbing the target from center of mass to neck area every pull of the trigger resulted in lead flying downrange.
Overall I am extremely pleased with this product, the only flaw I feel is the prohibitive cost of replacement mags and the lack of cheap plinking 10mm ammo offered by manufacturers (which has nothing to do with Olympic arms). I think I am going to work up a bunch of my own loads and get out into the mountains where I can take out some frustration on some water jugs, cans of hairspray and maybe a varmint or two Josey.
"If cowardly and dishonorable men sometimes shoot unarmed men with army pistols or guns, the evil must be prevented by the penitentiary and gallows, and not by a general deprivation of a constitutional privilege." - Arkansas Supreme Court, 1878
Edited by - josey1 on 09/18/2002 11:30:21
The equipment:Essential Arms PreBan lower with 3 position collapsable stock, mated with a Olympic arms 10mm, A3 flat top preban upper. For optics I used a Bushmaster detachable A2 style carry handle with standard peep sights, on top of which was mounted an ARMS Delta tactical see though handle mount which gave a good base for mounting an Aimpoint ML2 Red Dot sight. Feeding this puppy, I used only new manufactured rounds from Federal (180gr high antimony lead), Blazer (200gr fmj) and Winchester (175gr silvertip hollowpoints).The rifle is fed by a modified Uzi .41 Action Express mag with which Olympic supplies one 10 rounder with each upper. While I do like this better than the Colt's 9mm, mag. well block version, replacement mags are expensive. If you can find them, Olympic will convert them for $25/each.
I would be shooting at an indoor range, both silouehtte and bullseye at ranges up to 50 yards using both standard peep sight and the red dot. .Repeatable accuracy was achieved by use of a Hart rifle Rest as well as varying sandbags.
Visually it is a beautiful rifle, while some will only accept the "Evil BLack Rifle" look, the contrast of the gray lower and jet black upper was pleasing to the eye. Handling is slggish, the larger heavy barrel of the 10mm throws the balance off a good deal when offhand shooting. This rifle would do well with some kind of counterbalance in the buttstock but (unlike the A2 buttstock)I am not sure if there is one available for the collapsable stock version. Visually, the standard peep sights comes to view with ease, even tough it is being viewed through the Aimpoint ARMS mount. I did not like the hieght of the Aimpoint when mounted on top of the carry handle, it pulls your head up too much but and is uncomfortable at best. A remedy for this could be a Delta style cheek rest but upon returning from the range I decided to order the hi-rise mount from Brownels.
Sighting the new optics was a pleasure, everything was on target without much adjustment. The Bushmaster detachable handle was on the money, didn't have to do a thing to it. The Aimpoint was low and right, about 1" in both directions but this could be due to the 3 mounts being used to connect it to the rifle. In case you are wondering the three mounts are, 1. the detachable A2 handle,2.the ARMS delta handle mount weaver rail and 3. the single large ring on the Aimpoint.
Recoil was a little heavier than I expected but tolerable enough to allow quick, accurate followup shots. The pistol caliber upper works on a blowback action, there is no familiar gas tube or key in the bolt. The hole for the gas port is blocked in the barrel and the action operates through Olympics' custom muzzlebrake/flashhider(which restricts gas pressure) and your stock buffer tube. Spent cases ejected fully and reliably, there were no short stroking, failures to feed or ejection problems through 400 rounds of aimed and rapid fire shooting.
No range report should be complete with giving the rifle a run through a chrono., but as luck (or bad luck) would have it the shops' chrono. was down and out for repairs. I will be able to give a chronograph report next week in anyone is interested. Accuracy was better than average and while there is no match for the accuracy of the high velocty, high powered .223 round this was not to be a comparison between the two chamberings.
At 50 yards using the Hart rifle rest and slow repeatable aimed fire, both the peep sights and Aimpoint were spot on. The best group size was achieved using the Winchester 175gr silvertip hollowpoints with which I was rewarded with a 1/2" cloverleaf (measured center to center). The worst group was by (no surprise the cheapest ammo) the Blaser 200 gr FMJ's which opened up the groups to 1 1/2". Both the best group as well as the worst were achieved through the Aim point.
Oh and about the aimpoint, all I can say is WOW!!! I have never used a red dot of which I could truly state, just put the dot on what you want to hit. This was no clearer than during the rapid fire segment of my shakedown. At varying distances I setup man sized silouette targets,staggering them with the closest being center at 7-10 yards,farthest at my right at 20-25 yards and midrange to my left at 12-15 yards. I started the drill by slowly placing two rounds, center of mass into each target begining with the nearest and working to the farthest(Center-Right-Left). MY first few "sets" were undeniably dead-on center of mass but I would hardly call it rapid fire. It took me some time to get into the motion of swinging from target to target but before long I was swiftly punching paper. Oh and remember what I said about the rifle feeling sluggish? Turns out the heavier front end aided greatly in keeping me on target through recoil. While I did not use any timing device, I know that I could never achieve this kind of accuracy/speed with a pistol and damn-it it was FUN!! By the time I was done I was working in a couple of "Two to the body, one to the head" drills.
I finished off the live fire segment of the shakedown to see exaclty how accurate the 10mm could be at full speed, trigger finger cramping rapid fire. I set up a silouette target out at 15 yards, dead on. I loadead up the magazine with 10 rounds of the Winchester 175gr silvertip hp's,aimed center of mass and let her go! Remember I said "trigger finger cramping?" well it was, but aside from the rounds steadily climbing the target from center of mass to neck area every pull of the trigger resulted in lead flying downrange.
Overall I am extremely pleased with this product, the only flaw I feel is the prohibitive cost of replacement mags and the lack of cheap plinking 10mm ammo offered by manufacturers (which has nothing to do with Olympic arms). I think I am going to work up a bunch of my own loads and get out into the mountains where I can take out some frustration on some water jugs, cans of hairspray and maybe a varmint or two Josey.
"If cowardly and dishonorable men sometimes shoot unarmed men with army pistols or guns, the evil must be prevented by the penitentiary and gallows, and not by a general deprivation of a constitutional privilege." - Arkansas Supreme Court, 1878
Edited by - josey1 on 09/18/2002 11:30:21