 |
|
|||||
For the past several sniper matches, we all have been thoroughly beaten by a couple of fellows from Louisiana. Their scopes, stocks, barrels, and accessory equipment are pretty much the same as everyone else’s. But there is one difference. They both use Surgeon actions. Is that the secret to their success, or are they simply much better shooters? Being one of the fellows who they trounced, I am hesitant to say it was their superior skill over mine, but I know it is. On the other hand, their use of the Surgeon action had me intrigued. Thus I took it upon myself to find out about it. The Surgeon Actions Near the town of Prague, Oklahoma, there resides a group of fellows led by Preston Pritchett who sat down one day and decided they wanted to design and build an action that they felt would be the best of the best in the tactical line. Being the practical Oklahoma type fellows they are, they decided the action had to be strong, simple, reliable, and meet the demands of the most rugged use. As a first attempt they saw a need for a magazine fed tactical action and a single shot target action.
These guys are not your ordinary machinist types. While they are shooters and gunsmiths, they have also been making precision parts for the aerospace industry. The tolerances they work to are difficult for the ordinary person to comprehend. They transitioned this precision into making actions and rifles.
With input from many shooters, Terry Cross of KMW Long Range Solutions, for example, probably the best sniper competitor on the circuit currently and a tactical gunsmith himself, they finalized a design and began production with the use of CNC and EDM wire cutting machines. The result closely resembles a Remington action, but there are some stark differences. For one, they greatly reduced the number of parts. Second, they incorporated a 20 MOA, integral picatinny rail. This not only facilitated easy scope mounting but also increases the stiffness of the action considerably. They made both the recoil lug and the bolt handle integral as well. To make this work, their tolerances have to be spot on, and they are. The tactical action is machined from a solid piece of aircraft grade 4340, the bolt from 4140. The bolt stop is shrouded to reduce the introduction of dirt and inadvertent release. It is soft to prevent deformation of the bolt lugs when cycled hard. The surrounding shroud or “fence” also protects the integrity of the oversized bolt stop and keeps it aligned. The recoil lug is integral as well and serves to increase the length of the barrel threads. The action was designed to take any Remington compatible stock, feed system, trigger or bottom steel such as the popular Badger bottom plate and magazine box. The action was purposely designed so that police and military armors and civilian gunsmiths could use several parts interchangeably with Remington actions.
Surgeon’s target action is very much like the tactical, but with a few exceptions: It does not have a magazine port and is aimed at F-Class and other single shot and long-range shooters and competitors. Like the tactical action, the bolt is one piece, but the area just behind the locking lugs and in front of the bolt handle are slightly larger than the standard diameter of the bolt. This forces the bolt into perfect alignment parallel to the bore when the bolt is closed. The target action is not designed for a dirty environment like the tactical action. The bolt knob is not quite as large as the tactical action. It includes 3 O rings that enhance one’s grip. Personally, I like the idea. When fast action and a positive grip are required, this really helps. It looks great and sets the action off as well. An anti jam rail has been added to prevent jamming when one is putting cartridges in from the side. The integral recoil lug does away with the washer affect, and a longer thread bearing surface increases stiffness between the action and the barrel. Receiver raceways, lug seat cams, and part of the bolt stop are precision EDM burned on both actions. Actions are shipped in the white. Actions with TIALN coated bolt retail for $1035. Surgeon Rifles While actions are the guts of Surgeon Rifles, they also build custom rifles using their actions with popular stocks and barrels of the buyer’s preference. For this article, Surgeon shipped me one of their newly completed tactical rifles, having fired only 3 groups to proof it for safety and function prior to shipment. They included a target action for my review as well. Both action’s bolts have slight spiral fluting and both are coated. The barrel on the rifle is a Krieger and is mildly fluted also. The stock is a McMillan A5 with adjustable cheek piece. I mounted a Nightforce scope and headed to the range with a few boxes of Black Hills 168 and 175 grain match ammo. It is not easy or altogether a matter of just doing a good job to produce a rifle that shoots well. But this one did. So, fine, great. How about the next one? There is some data out there that says maybe the Surgeon action makes a difference. We all know that we have to be lucky enough to have a good barrel and bullets and tuning, but given that, does the Surgeon action add appreciably to the success of the rifle? I thought back about Jim Clark and Terry Cross. Maybe it was not a fluke that they both use Surgeon actions. While I was contemplating this, a friend and I had been talking about a .308 that he could not get to shoot. This friend is a gunsmith with many years of experience and a Hall of Fame benchrest shooter. In fact, he is the best I have ever seen. I told him about the Surgeon action. Figuring out why the .308 would not shoot had become a frustrating passion for him. He ordered one and fitted it to the barrel. The results were startling. His first 5 shots were in a tiny hole. Being skeptical, he went back to the shop, loaded 5 more and shot them at the tiny hole. It remained tiny. After a few days, he tried another 10 round group with the same result. The barreled action was bedded identically in the same stock. As far as he knew, the only change was the action. Was it the increased stiffness of the integral picatinny rail and recoil lug? Was it the bolt alignment and much closer tolerances? My friend, Pat Byrne, had used a load that he thought was about the best in the barrel after a great deal of experimentation with it prior to getting the Surgeon action. I had simply shot Black Hills 168 and 175 grain match ammo. But both rifles worked exceptionally well. Luck? I think not. Is Accuracy The Only Consideration?
For some, accuracy seems the only consideration and the primary factor in a rifle. For others, it is toughness and reliability. For a sniper, the rifle must have both attributes. For some hunters who find themselves in harsh environments, reliability becomes a large factor as well. Consider the Alaskan hunter who has faced days of cold and wet weather, but whose shot at a bear, for example, might not be more than 50. Reliability in extreme conditions with one’s life possibly on the line becomes paramount. Police snipers and competitors have the opportunity to treat their rifles with great care. Police snipers want short-range precision accuracy and reliable function. Long-range shooters are primarily interested in long-range accuracy. The military sniper might face sand, mud, wet conditions, heat, cold, etc for days on end. Accuracy and reliability are both necessary for success. Surgeon rifles are built for precision accuracy and reliability at both long and short range and to take the rigors of extreme conditions as well. The Future of Surgeon
I don’t want to get anyone’s dander up, but custom tactical and competition rifle companies compete in a very esoteric market. That is a highbrow way of saying that there are slim pickin’s out there for such rifles. With the capability to manufacture 1000 actions a year, Surgeon wants to expand their market position. Advertising and marketing are surely part of the reason that small companies with superior products struggle. For Surgeon it is certainly not the lack of a superior product. It is said that you can put every living American sniper in a football field. While Surgeon will continue to provide rifles and or actions to those men in need, it is branching out to a larger market group. Surgeon will soon announce rifles available for a much larger market, that of hunters, varminters, and competitors with the introduction of 4 rifle types that will use the new techniques that have become a staple of benchrest and long-range sniper rifle accuracy and reliability. The Surgeon Razor will decidedly be the ultimate hunting rifle, the Surgeon Scalpel the solid tactical rifle it has become, and the Surgeon Laser, a target rifle to compete with the best of the best. While the latter two are near perfection already, the hunting/varmint rifle, dubbed the Surgeon Razor will soon hit the hunting market running.
Using the best techniques known by competitors, snipers, and benchrest accuracy extremists, Surgeon will begin building rifles for big game and varmint hunters who want the best the world has to offer. There are a lot of decent rifle manufacturers out there with a lot of savvy. But both the cost of manufacturing and their ties with tradition prevent them from going all the way or incorporating innovative accuracy and reliability discoveries that many are not aware of. The Razor will be somewhat lighter, more accommodating for hunters, and more carry-able. Some of the techniques involved are proprietary. The backbone of the rifle will be Surgeon’s unique action. Parts not requiring strength are cut down to reduce weight. Trigger mechanisms are tuned for ignition and speed. Innovative crowns being used in benchrest circles today are incorporated to reduce offset pressures to bullet bases. Coatings that will survive the rigors of Alaska protect the rifle and parts from weather and damp environments. Barrels used for all the rifles, including the Surgeon Razor, are benchrest competition grade with slight spiral fluting. Not all scopes are equal in reliability, click adjustments, ruggedness or holding point of impact. For those interested in a Surgeon rifle, top quality rings and scopes are suggested that have proven to provide the best of image quality and reliability under stressful conditions while satisfying the above the best that can be expected in today’s optics market. Surgeon is also coming out with a new .338 Lapua Magnum. The same precision standards of accuracy and reliability will be incorporated with the introduction of a new, longer and beefier action. Dubbed the Surgeon Remedy, it will engage targets at long range with bullets configured for long-range accuracy and hard hitting capability. Production is scheduled for mid summer, which is probably earlier than this article will be published I would guess. For information about these products contact: SURGEON RIFLES |
||||||
