Young Champion Relies on Tack-Driving 6mmAR Upper
After we reported that Tyler Rico of Arizona won the Nevada Regional High Power Championship (at the ripe old age of 15), some of our readers asked about Tyler’s match rifle. Tyler, who earned his Distinguished badge at age 13 (the youngest ever to do do), primarily shoots AR-platform rifles. The AR with which Tyler won the 2010 Nevada Regional featured a custom 6mmAR upper built by Robert Whitley’s AR-X Enterprises. The 6mmAR chambering, basically a 6.5 Grendel necked down to 6mm, was popularized by Robert, who is himself an avid High Power shooter.
Tyler Rico’s 6mmAR upper has an interesting history. Whitley explained: “Originally we built it up for some testing by the Marine Shooting Team and we took it down to Quantico. They liked it a lot but did not have authority or funding to buy them. When Tyler’s father called me looking for an upper for Tyler, I offered a special deal on it because we wanted to help support a junior shooter.” Built on a heavy-walled DPMS Low Pro receiver, Tyler’s upper features a 26″ Krieger 1:8″ twist barrel, and a side-positioned charging handle.
According to Whitley, “My test rifle with Tyler’s upper shot great. Above is a photo of one of the initial 10-shot, 100-yard test targets I shot with the upper at 100 yards. This gun really hammered. Remember The ‘X’ ring is the size of a dime”.
Five Shots at 300m that Could Fit under a Quarter
Robert Whitley took the photo below at the Marine’s Quantico, VA, Precision Weapons Section facility. The photo shows a target shot with Tyler’s upper at 300 meters. That’s a five-shot group the size of a quarter. Robert reports: “The Marines wouldn’t let me take the target home, because they planned to use the target to support their lobbying effort for funds to purchase new 6mmAR uppers.”
Similar Posts:
- 6mmAR Case-Forming Video
- Grendel-based 6mmAR Cartridge for High Power
- Arizona’s Tyler Rico Wins 10m Air Rifle at NJOSC
- 6mmAR Varminter Field Test
- Whitley's NEW 6mmAR "Turbo" — 105s at 2850+ fps in AR15
Tags: AR15, high power, Marines, Quantico
I’ve been shooting a 30 Major which is the 6.5 Grendel necked up to 30 cal in my VFS rifle. It shoots GREAT. I’m very happy. I’m looking into having a 6mmAR barrel chambered for the same rifle to shoot 600 yard matches.
6PPC, 6mmAR, 6.5 Grendel, 30 Major in one rifle. Seems like an attractive idea.
So a 30 Major is a necked up 6.5mm Grendel, which is itself a necked up .2220 Russian, which is a necked up .30 cal 7.62x39mm … ironic
( Just joking, I know that there are other differences ).
Yep, the 6PPC is just a necked down 7.62×39
Skipping the intermediate steps, the 30 Major is a 30-100 PPC except that the 100 is .100″ long, not short as in the 22-100PPC. Other than that, it’s all about the easy of necking up or down the excellent 6.5 Grendel Lapua brass.
Anybody shooting a 22-6.5 Grendel?