Fiftydriver
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Been a while since I posted here on LRH. Been a zoo in the shop for the past 18 months as it has been in the entire firearm industry.
I did want to post and let the members here on LRH know about a new model of my Raptor rifle that I have been working on and now is fully ready to offer to the public. I call this rifle my Raptor HUNTER which comes in two models, standard and thumbhole.
Previously, my Raptor Stalker was my lightest weight option for my line of Raptor rifles and the Stalker came in at 10 to 11 lbs bare rifle weight. Not extremely heavy but also not a lightweight rifle either. Kind of a middle of a road warrior which is what it was designed to be. Somewhat portable yet offering legit 1K reach in the hands of a quality marksmen.
The Raptor Hunter uses the same Raptor receiver as the Stalker with its large ejection port window for weight reduction but it uses a custom contour SS barrel that can be ordered from 24 to 27" in finish length depending on chambering selected. The first one I want to post pics of is the standard Raptor Hunter using a McMillan BDL sporter stock made with their carbon fiber shell for lightest weight possible. All Raptor Hunter rifles, like their other Raptor siblings will use Jewell triggers and either HS Precision or Accurate Mag DM systems and fitted with my small Painkiller muzzle brakes for absolute felt recoil control and elimination of all muzzle jump.
The design goal is to offer bare rifle weight in the 8 to 9 lb. range which would put the Raptor Hunter only heavier then many commercial factory sporter rifles.
This specific Raptor Hunter is chambered in the potent 7mm Allen Magnum with a 27" barrel length and tips the scales at 7.7 pounds bare rifle weight. Barely heavier then a standard Rem 700 BDL factory rifle.
That while driving the 190 gr Matrix VLD bullet to a legit 3300 fps. Felt recoil is less then a 243 Win in a sporter weight rifle. This rifle platform is designed to be used from zero to 1/2 mile ranges. That is not to say it can not reach past that but making consistent hits at ranges past 1/2 mile will depend much more on the shooter then the rifle!! The rifle was accuracy tested at 800 yards and it easily met all my standards for accuracy and very comfortable to shoot. This rifle could EASILY be packed all day even in pretty serious terrain by a healthy, in shape male hunter with no problem at all, yet any ones wife, girlfriend or even younger shooter could easily shoot this rifle and master it with ease because of the VERY light felt recoil levels.
The second version of the Raptor Hunter is the Raptor THunter, T standing for Thumbhole as this rifle uses the new McMillan thumbhole sporter stock which I really like. Similar to their Lazzeroni TH stock but much more refined and in my opinion, just a much better all around stock as far as appearance and also in feel.
I recently rebarreled and sold my old personal rifle, ol' green!! So I had to replace it and wanted to replace it with one of my Raptor THunter rifles. My old rifle was based on a Rem 700 receiver with HS Precision Pro series sporter stock and HS Precison DM system chambered in 7mm Allen Magnum. The rifle with a 26" #3 SS Lilja had a bare rifle weight of 8.4 lbs.
The Raptor THunter is identical to its standard Raptor Hunter sibling other then the different stock.
Here is my personal rifle, also chambered in 7mm Allen Magnum. I decided I wanted to go with the gel coat finish instead of the carbon fiber as I just prefer that look. The bare rifle weight came in a 8.4 lbs and the Edge carbon fiber shelled stock would have easily dropped that weight to under 8 lbs.
I was able to finally get this rifle out this morning while testing a batch of customer rifles to see just what the first Raptor THunter would do. Most would not believe this but I did complete load development and drop chart testing with only 20 rounds down the barrel. I have long commented on my load test procedure so will not go into that in detail here but I will say this rifle came in VERY quickly which is not unusual. I do not look for the VERY tightest grouping load a rifle will produce. I look for a good load with the velocity I want, that has consistent velocity and groups well enough to allow me to put that first shot through the vitals of a big game animal at any range I feel the rifle should be capable of handling. In this rifle, I quickly learned that it is capable of much more then 1/2 mile reach!!! And, surprisingly easy to shoot at those ranges.
I decided to stick with the Berger 180 gr Hybrid Target bullet. Many will wonder why I do not use the Elite Hunter and my reasoning is simple. If I were using this rifle at nothing but ranges outside 500 yards, I would likely use the Elite Hunter but as this is a rifle that will be used for any range, I like the thicker jacket of the Hybrid Target bullet as it stands up to the velocity potential of the 7mm Allen Magnum a bit better. To that end......
I developed loads using RL33 for this rifle. Top working loads produced 3420 fps with the 180 gr berger!!!! Those loads produced slight but noticeable ejector rings on the case head, primer pockets were new condition tight after all testing. Still, this is ALOT of velocity for this bullet, or any conventional cup jacketed bullet that may be needed used at ranges inside 300 yards.
Decided to step the load back a bit to 3340 fps which produced VERY comfortable pressures yet still produced consistent velocity and still had a relatively clean powder burn. Something that can be an issue with RL33 if your pressures are low.
Also has to seat the bergers about 20 thou off the lands to fit in the HS Precision magazine length. Again, this is generally not the best for RL33 as I have found that this powder prefers bullets seated very close to the lands for best extreme velocity spreads. Still, muzzle velocities were consistently under 25 fps for ES, which is plenty tight for a chambering with this level of performance as far as velocity and BC.
Today was the first outing I had with the rifle. Using my reverse engineering process to test the drop chart, I set the rifle up at a given range, in this case 750 yards. The drop chart said that with this load, the 2.5 mil hash on the Leupold TMR reticle would be dead on. So basically I zero the rifle at 750 yards using that 2.5 mil reference line. Took three shots to dial in the rifle and that third shot dusted a 2" diameter target rock.
Let the rifle cool and then I set up on a 375 yard target rock of roughly 3" diameter. Hold at that range is 0.4 mil so I held the .5 hash line on the bottom edge of the target rock and let the big 180 sail. The shot impacted the top edge of the small rock. Perfect.
Let the barrel cool completely again and then found a target rock, again roughly 3-4" diameter at a measured 590 yards. Predicted hold was 1.5 mil. Took that same hold and shot again clipped the top edge of the rock, Perfect!!!
Let the barrel cool and found a target rock at 850 yards. Predicted hold was 3.2 mils so I bracketed the 1/2 moa sized target rock between the 3 mil line and the smaller 3.5 mil line and smacked the top edge of the rock again.
Now, I wanted to see what this rifle would do so I lined up on a 1/3 moa sized rock at a measured 1047 yards. The predicted hold over was 4.8 mil. The Leupold Mk4 with TMR reticle has 1/5 mil lines between the 4th mil line and bottom post which makes this a very precise hold. The shot landed about 2" high about the rock but well within 1/2 moa of my point of aim and I was surprised to see how easy this rifle was to shoot at this range. I took several more shots with the rifle at ranges between 900 and 1100 yards and all easily landed within 1/2 moa of my point of aim and most within 1/4 moa of my point of aim.
Truly do love the feel of the new Raptor THunter. Nothing magical, nothing cutting edge, just a good designed stock, hell for stout receiver and no recoil at all. I tested a customers 25-06 today before I shot my Raptor THunter and the recoil from the THunter was easily 1/2 that of the 25-06......
I have yet to post the details of the Raptor Hunter and THunter on my web page, need to do that but pricing will be the same as the Raptor Stalker but without the option for adjustable Cheek Piece so keep in mind that you will want to keep scopes low as possible. The Leupold Mk4 6.5-20x 50mm FFP TMR was extremely comfortable to shoot with the comb on this THunter.
Very happy with the end results, hope my new rifle gives me the long successful career that my old rifle did. If that is the case, will need much more wall space!!!
I did want to post and let the members here on LRH know about a new model of my Raptor rifle that I have been working on and now is fully ready to offer to the public. I call this rifle my Raptor HUNTER which comes in two models, standard and thumbhole.
Previously, my Raptor Stalker was my lightest weight option for my line of Raptor rifles and the Stalker came in at 10 to 11 lbs bare rifle weight. Not extremely heavy but also not a lightweight rifle either. Kind of a middle of a road warrior which is what it was designed to be. Somewhat portable yet offering legit 1K reach in the hands of a quality marksmen.
The Raptor Hunter uses the same Raptor receiver as the Stalker with its large ejection port window for weight reduction but it uses a custom contour SS barrel that can be ordered from 24 to 27" in finish length depending on chambering selected. The first one I want to post pics of is the standard Raptor Hunter using a McMillan BDL sporter stock made with their carbon fiber shell for lightest weight possible. All Raptor Hunter rifles, like their other Raptor siblings will use Jewell triggers and either HS Precision or Accurate Mag DM systems and fitted with my small Painkiller muzzle brakes for absolute felt recoil control and elimination of all muzzle jump.
The design goal is to offer bare rifle weight in the 8 to 9 lb. range which would put the Raptor Hunter only heavier then many commercial factory sporter rifles.
This specific Raptor Hunter is chambered in the potent 7mm Allen Magnum with a 27" barrel length and tips the scales at 7.7 pounds bare rifle weight. Barely heavier then a standard Rem 700 BDL factory rifle.
That while driving the 190 gr Matrix VLD bullet to a legit 3300 fps. Felt recoil is less then a 243 Win in a sporter weight rifle. This rifle platform is designed to be used from zero to 1/2 mile ranges. That is not to say it can not reach past that but making consistent hits at ranges past 1/2 mile will depend much more on the shooter then the rifle!! The rifle was accuracy tested at 800 yards and it easily met all my standards for accuracy and very comfortable to shoot. This rifle could EASILY be packed all day even in pretty serious terrain by a healthy, in shape male hunter with no problem at all, yet any ones wife, girlfriend or even younger shooter could easily shoot this rifle and master it with ease because of the VERY light felt recoil levels.
The second version of the Raptor Hunter is the Raptor THunter, T standing for Thumbhole as this rifle uses the new McMillan thumbhole sporter stock which I really like. Similar to their Lazzeroni TH stock but much more refined and in my opinion, just a much better all around stock as far as appearance and also in feel.
I recently rebarreled and sold my old personal rifle, ol' green!! So I had to replace it and wanted to replace it with one of my Raptor THunter rifles. My old rifle was based on a Rem 700 receiver with HS Precision Pro series sporter stock and HS Precison DM system chambered in 7mm Allen Magnum. The rifle with a 26" #3 SS Lilja had a bare rifle weight of 8.4 lbs.
The Raptor THunter is identical to its standard Raptor Hunter sibling other then the different stock.
Here is my personal rifle, also chambered in 7mm Allen Magnum. I decided I wanted to go with the gel coat finish instead of the carbon fiber as I just prefer that look. The bare rifle weight came in a 8.4 lbs and the Edge carbon fiber shelled stock would have easily dropped that weight to under 8 lbs.
I was able to finally get this rifle out this morning while testing a batch of customer rifles to see just what the first Raptor THunter would do. Most would not believe this but I did complete load development and drop chart testing with only 20 rounds down the barrel. I have long commented on my load test procedure so will not go into that in detail here but I will say this rifle came in VERY quickly which is not unusual. I do not look for the VERY tightest grouping load a rifle will produce. I look for a good load with the velocity I want, that has consistent velocity and groups well enough to allow me to put that first shot through the vitals of a big game animal at any range I feel the rifle should be capable of handling. In this rifle, I quickly learned that it is capable of much more then 1/2 mile reach!!! And, surprisingly easy to shoot at those ranges.
I decided to stick with the Berger 180 gr Hybrid Target bullet. Many will wonder why I do not use the Elite Hunter and my reasoning is simple. If I were using this rifle at nothing but ranges outside 500 yards, I would likely use the Elite Hunter but as this is a rifle that will be used for any range, I like the thicker jacket of the Hybrid Target bullet as it stands up to the velocity potential of the 7mm Allen Magnum a bit better. To that end......
I developed loads using RL33 for this rifle. Top working loads produced 3420 fps with the 180 gr berger!!!! Those loads produced slight but noticeable ejector rings on the case head, primer pockets were new condition tight after all testing. Still, this is ALOT of velocity for this bullet, or any conventional cup jacketed bullet that may be needed used at ranges inside 300 yards.
Decided to step the load back a bit to 3340 fps which produced VERY comfortable pressures yet still produced consistent velocity and still had a relatively clean powder burn. Something that can be an issue with RL33 if your pressures are low.
Also has to seat the bergers about 20 thou off the lands to fit in the HS Precision magazine length. Again, this is generally not the best for RL33 as I have found that this powder prefers bullets seated very close to the lands for best extreme velocity spreads. Still, muzzle velocities were consistently under 25 fps for ES, which is plenty tight for a chambering with this level of performance as far as velocity and BC.
Today was the first outing I had with the rifle. Using my reverse engineering process to test the drop chart, I set the rifle up at a given range, in this case 750 yards. The drop chart said that with this load, the 2.5 mil hash on the Leupold TMR reticle would be dead on. So basically I zero the rifle at 750 yards using that 2.5 mil reference line. Took three shots to dial in the rifle and that third shot dusted a 2" diameter target rock.
Let the rifle cool and then I set up on a 375 yard target rock of roughly 3" diameter. Hold at that range is 0.4 mil so I held the .5 hash line on the bottom edge of the target rock and let the big 180 sail. The shot impacted the top edge of the small rock. Perfect.
Let the barrel cool completely again and then found a target rock, again roughly 3-4" diameter at a measured 590 yards. Predicted hold was 1.5 mil. Took that same hold and shot again clipped the top edge of the rock, Perfect!!!
Let the barrel cool and found a target rock at 850 yards. Predicted hold was 3.2 mils so I bracketed the 1/2 moa sized target rock between the 3 mil line and the smaller 3.5 mil line and smacked the top edge of the rock again.
Now, I wanted to see what this rifle would do so I lined up on a 1/3 moa sized rock at a measured 1047 yards. The predicted hold over was 4.8 mil. The Leupold Mk4 with TMR reticle has 1/5 mil lines between the 4th mil line and bottom post which makes this a very precise hold. The shot landed about 2" high about the rock but well within 1/2 moa of my point of aim and I was surprised to see how easy this rifle was to shoot at this range. I took several more shots with the rifle at ranges between 900 and 1100 yards and all easily landed within 1/2 moa of my point of aim and most within 1/4 moa of my point of aim.
Truly do love the feel of the new Raptor THunter. Nothing magical, nothing cutting edge, just a good designed stock, hell for stout receiver and no recoil at all. I tested a customers 25-06 today before I shot my Raptor THunter and the recoil from the THunter was easily 1/2 that of the 25-06......
I have yet to post the details of the Raptor Hunter and THunter on my web page, need to do that but pricing will be the same as the Raptor Stalker but without the option for adjustable Cheek Piece so keep in mind that you will want to keep scopes low as possible. The Leupold Mk4 6.5-20x 50mm FFP TMR was extremely comfortable to shoot with the comb on this THunter.
Very happy with the end results, hope my new rifle gives me the long successful career that my old rifle did. If that is the case, will need much more wall space!!!
