The APRS Light Hunter
by Brendan Atkinson
Australian Hunter 40
For those unfamiliar with the name, APRS stands for Ace Precision Rifle Systems, which is operating under the mantle of Lightforce and based in Adelaide, South Australia. The company’s mission is to build and supply extremely accurate rifles, using proven components and techniques.
In the November 2011 edition of Australian Shooter magazine, I reviewed the APRS LR Precision Rifle. Chambered in .300 Winchester Magnum calibre, it was designed for picking off targets at longer ranges and it was superbly accurate. It was also big, rather heavy and obviously, would not be everybody’s first choice for an all-round rifle.
At the other end of the scale, what would happen if APRS were to take what they had learned from the big rifle and incorporate the same precision into a lightweight version? One that would be easy to carry around and still retain the sort of accuracy that was obtained with the big fella? It was a challenge taken up by Andrew Noble, the gunsmith behind the APRS name, and has now resulted in the Light Hunter rifle under review here. Andrew spent six years with the Australian Regular Army as an armourer and is a keen hunter and shooter of larger longer range cartridges.
The rifle
The heart of any rifle is the action and APRS uses the Predator version made by Jerry Stiller in the United States - yes, that’s the guy who makes the actions used by some of the world’s leading Benchrest shooters. It is a turn-bolt repeating action, where the spiral fluted two-lug bolt is fitted with a Sako-style extractor and a plunger-type ejector. The bolt release is a small lever set into the left-hand side of the action.
For this application, a long repeating action is chosen and this is mated up with a Rifle Basix LV-1 trigger - this trigger is adjustable and on the test rifle, was set to 800g. It was light and crisp, and although many hunters prefer a heavier trigger, one tends to get used to this one fairly quickly. The cylindrical action incorporates a magazine, which held and fed five cartridges without a problem as long as the cartridges were loaded towards the back of the magazine; that is, closest to the shooter. The bottom metal (which incorporates the magazine) is sourced from Pacific Tool & Gauge in the US. The top of the action is drilled and tapped for the fitting of scope bases.
There is a two-position safety switch, which moves forward to fire and back for safe. In the safe position, the trigger mechanism is locked, but the bolt may be opened and removed from the action.
The stock is a Manners MCS-SL in Coyote Tan color. This is a practical hunting stock and fitted me quite well. APRS precision-beds the action into the stock and leaves the barrel fully floating. A generous recoil pad is fitted, and there are sling swivel mounts front and rear.
The fluted barrel is a Krieger match-grade stainless steel variant that is 24" in length, and on this particular rifle, it had a one turn in 10" twist. It was chambered for the versatile .270 Winchester cartridge. A recessed crown was used, which assists in protecting the muzzle from impact damage when out hunting. All metal parts were treated with Cerakote, which is a very tough and durable finish, and certainly adds to the visual impact of this rifle.
The review rifle was fitted with a Pacific Tool & Gauge Picatinny rail, with a 20 MOA inclination, and a set of Nightforce 0.885 Ultralight rings were attached to the rail.
The scope
The scope supplied was one of the new Nightforce NXS 2.5-10x32 offerings, which is fitted with the Velocity Ballistic Reticle. This reticle will allow a hunter to place shots on target out to 600 yards, with the aid of a series of bars and markings. It looks complicated, but in practice, one quickly adapts to what the reticle is telling you. There are three reticles offered to accommodate various cartridge velocities and these are simply designated as High, Medium and Low velocity. Full operating instructions are supplied (and you don’t need a pilot’s licence to understand them!) and of course, the clarity and resolution of this scope was first-class.
Range testing
I first tried the rifle at a 600-yard range about 100km from Adelaide. One could not have endured a worse day for testing, as wind and rain did its best to annoy us. After a number of groups that were all wind affected, we abandoned the test and waited for better weather. Even the hardiest hunter would have had trouble staying out in it.
However, I had already noted the potential of this rifle. There is no muzzle brake fitted, but recoil with 130-grain factory loads was of no real consequence. For a bit of target work, the lighter trigger was handy and the Manners stock sat very snugly on the front sandbag rest. I tried some Winchester Supreme Ballistic Silvertips and achieved groups that were flat, but spread out by the wind gusts. Nevertheless, they were in the order of 1.5", which is certainly ‘minute of animal’ for things to be hunted with a .270-calibre.
It was a slightly better day when I ventured out to the SSAA Para Range to continue some accuracy testing. This time, I had the Winchesters, plus some Federal PowerShok 130-grainers and some Remington Core-Lokt in the same weight. I also had some handloads made up from cases fired previously.
With the benefit of more comfortable conditions (and a few wind indicators placed on the range), I witnessed what this rifle is capable of. The Winchester factory loads produced consistent groups of around 1.25 MOA, with the Remingtons doing slightly better. The Federal loads were outstanding in this rifle, perhaps because of a good batch of PowerShok that I used in a five-rifle test recently. Factory loads that will consistently shoot much less than MOA are not all that common.
The handloads consisted of some 130- and 140-grain match-grade bullets over AR2209 powder. With a bit of juggling of the seating depth, I was able to shoot several groups approaching the half-MOA mark. A bit of time was taken with each group, as the Krieger barrel heated up fairly smartly, and there’s no point in abusing the equipment! However, the accuracy potential is certainly there and a patient owner prepared to work up loads could expect excellent performance from this rifle.
In the field
The outfit is designed as a walk-around hunting rifle, so I put one of my leather slings on it and shouldered it up for a walk around my favourite rabbit patch. At an all-up weight (including the scope and mounts) of 8.75lb, I found it no real burden, but after about an hour’s footslogging (for nothing seen), I gave it away. I did feel that I could have gone on for quite some time though.
Unfortunately, there is not much around to shoot with a .270 down here at the time of writing. So for a bit of practice, I equipped the rifle with a bipod and practised some field shooting from the prone position at small targets several hundred yards away. Using the ranging system in the scope, I was able to hit objects the size of a full-grown rabbit at distances out to 500 yards - okay, maybe not on the first shot, but I got them. Fluoro shotgun clays make excellent longer range targets and yes, I did pick up the broken bits afterwards.
Summary
The APRS Light Hunter in .270 Winchester is a very practical and well-built outfit - it certainly attracted a lot of attention at the rifle range. It delivers the sort of accuracy that one would expect from a match-grade barrel, and everything about it just seems to work as should. That’s why you buy a hand-built custom rifle though, isn’t it?
This rifle is available from APRS in a variety of calibres to suit the needs of the purchaser. We will state that price is upon application, as one can tailor the rifle to suit themselves. For advice, phone Lightforce in Adelaide 08 8440 0888 or visit www.aceprecisionriflesystems.com
Specifications
Manufacturer: APRS, South Australia
Model: Light Hunter (Hunter series)
Calibre: .270 Winchester (tested), others available
Action: Stiller turn-bolt, two-lug repeater
Barrel: Krieger match-grade stainless 24"
Stock: Manners MCS-SL
Magazine: Internal, holds five cartridges
Overall Length: 45"
Weight: 8.75lb with scope and mounts
RRP: Price on application