Predator Xtreme - Feb 2012
31 www PredatorXtreme com FEBRUARY 2012 and comfortably from the prone position on a moments notice Putting the OPS 4 to the test I brought it to the range ready to go with a case of ammunition fully intending to wear the thing down with a session of constant controlled fire Aside from one momentary jam halfway through the session the OPS 4 performed like the well designed machine that it is Shooting in nonstop groups of two 30 round clips each the rifle performed flawlessly Even with a too hot to touch barrel accuracy was sub 2 inches at 100 yards which suggests that the rifle is certainly capable of much tighter groups Overall I could find no reason to suggest that any apple sized target out to 250 yards was going to be missed except due to operator error After a good cleaning and a complete cool down period I put the rifle through an accuracy test that surprised everyone at the range including several guys who were shooting other albeit lesser ARs both from the bench and prone Using Hornadys excellent SuperPerformance Varmint loads with 53 grain V Max bullets I spent most of the afternoon shooting just over 1 2 inch five shot groups at 100 yards At 200 yards the spread was a little less than 2 inches not bad at all for a light bullet in gusty winds from the prone position To be fair other brands of ammunition were tested as well including Remington Winchester Federal and others and while point of impact varied with each maker and batch I found none that the OPS 4 was unable to digest The single jam experienced midway through the project was likely due to residue buildup certainly no fault of the gun or its design I normally clean the action chamber and barrel after 50 or 60 rounds just to be reasonable about it more often during a hunt where grit snow ice or woods debris are more likely to cause issue with function and performance One benefit of a heavy stainless barrel is more shooting on the front end without fear of warped groups due to overheating However once the barrel does get hot too hot to touch it takes the equivalent of lunch in the shade for it to cool down again Of course this is not going to be a problem for even the most productive predator hunter who may not have the opportunity to empty a 30 round magazine over the course of a full season One goal of my range tests is to emulate hunting conditions as much as possible so I placed
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