Civilian Service Rifle

They say that time flies when you’re having fun and that’s certainly been the case since I took up shooting Civilian Service Rifle (CSR)! It’s hard to believe it was January 2012 that I took part in my first competition; I wrote a piece for Shooting Sports, detailing my first outing and even though I didn’t do particularly well, I was hooked as soon as I began shooting. A great bunch of guys (and a couple of ladies too) and an exciting discipline using the type of rifles I like the most i.e. straight-pull AR15 and similar military rifles; what’s not to like?

WEATHER ASIDE

OK, so the weather could be a bit better but the league runs from October one year until April the next and as we shoot at Bisley it’s hardly going to be warm and sunny, now is it? We’ve been blessed with some lovely days though but also a couple of real shockers, where it’s poured down as soon as we arrived and carried on until we left. However, that’s what modern waterproof clothing’s for and there really isn’t any excuse these days for being too uncomfortable. It’s also been bloody cold now and then but once again, decent jackets, trousers and a good base layer really help. I’m amazed when I hear fully grown blokes moan that they’re cold, what do they want, their Mums to make sure they’re warm enough, like little kids?

The mud seems to be largely a thing of the past though, as the NRA has invested a lot of money improving the ranges. Short Siberia, where we shoot at shorter distances, now has a nice layer of shingle all the way from the 100 yard firing point, down to the turning targets, which is much better for the run-downs. Century has also benefitted from some extensive drainage works, so the swamp we used to run through is now a distant memory and we’re not slipping and sliding all over the place, which has got to be good for range safety.

KIT IMPROVEMENTS

The shooting conditions have obviously improved but what about the kit I’ve been using? Well, I no longer use my straight-pull FAL in competition, I decided to get my Southern Gun Company Speedmaster out instead and it was a wise decision. It’s longer and heavier than the FAL but ergonomically it’s better and as it fires 5.56mm ammo instead of 7.62mm, it’s cheaper to feed and recoils less, so I’m back on aim quicker. I’d been reloading for the FAL, using 168-grain Sierra Match Kings; 69 grain .224 calibre Sierras are much cheaper than their larger counterparts and I’m using roughly half the powder per round. It’s usually around 100 rounds per day, so the savings soon start to add up. A lot of competitors use 77 grain SMKs but my Speedmaster loves the 69s and I bought loads of them years ago, so I’ll stick with them for the time being.

I don’t always use my own finely crafted fodder though and have used RUAG and GGG NATO spec ammo quite a bit over the last three years. I used homeloads almost exclusively during the last season but for the last couple of matches I used GGG and had some of my best scores ever! Peter Cottrell, the NRA’s Head of Shooting and Competitions, uses military issue 5.56mm NATO ammo exclusively and he seems to wipe the floor with most people in his class. So maybe it’s the ‘nut behind the butt’ that’s important but I do wonder what he’d be like with even better ammo?

FRIGHTFUL OLD BORE!

I hate to think how many rounds my Speedmaster has shot, it’s 15 years old now and I must have fired at least 10,000-rounds, maybe 12,000! Many shooters replace their barrels long before this, at around 5-6000 but the DPMS 1 in 8 Match tube is still putting 10 x 69 grain SMKs into 1½” at 100 yards and that’s plenty good enough for CSR! Fair enough, I’d love it to be doing ½ MOA like it did originally but I seem to be doing OK in competition at the moment, so I’ll leave it alone. I’m sure it will give up the ghost during a comp one day and spray the bullets all over the place. But I’ve certainly had my money’s worth out of it - barrels are, after all, a consumable.

One thing I did do last year was to have my gunsmith mate reduce the diameter of the barrel, by turning down the front two thirds. I now have a much slimmer profile and I’ve lost 1Lb 2oz off the front end, which certainly helps balance! I now no longer have to work so hard when shooting standing stages and my scores have improved. I kept the ‘pepper pot’ type muzzle brake, as it’s really effective and why pay more to replace a perfectly good item?
The handguard is still the Hogue free float tube that I specified all those years ago. I’ve seen quadrails come and go over the years and they always seemed uncomfortable to hold without rail covers fitted and too bulky with them. The new generation of slim handguards are much nicer though and something like the Samson Evolution may find its way onto my rifle one of these days.

Unfortunately I had to install different springs in my JP Enterprises match trigger to increase the pull weight; as before the modification, it wasn’t heavy enough to meet the minimum pull weight of 4.5lbs. It really went against the grain to make a trigger worse but ‘Service Optic’ class forbids anything lighter. It’s quite a bit heavier than the minimum but I’m used to it now, so I’ll probably leave it as it is.

BETTER BUTT

Another thing I’ve changed is the standard plastic butt pad for an adjustable model; it’s allowed me to extend the length of pull an inch or so and also to alter the height of the pad. It’s now much better than before and I’m amazed at how slippery the standard M16 item is, a bit of rubber certainly helps secure the rifle in the shoulder. There are various fully adjustable butts available and the Magpul PRS is especially nice but at around £300 they’re a bit pricy, they’re very popular with fellow competitors but I think one will have to wait a while.

I’ve been using the same scope for pretty much as long as I’ve had the rifle; it’s an old and now discontinued 30mm-tubed Deben 2.5-10 X 50 with target turrets and a sidewheel parallax adjustment. It’s pretty much bombproof and it’s never lost zero or malfunctioned in any way and in short I just trust it. I don’t need anything higher than x4.5 mag though, or such a massive front lens for that matter, so something with a lower mag and smaller objective should logically be on top. However, after losing weight from the barrel it’s not quite so front heavy and it’s actually quite handy being able to shoot on x10 mag when testing ammo etc.
Deben’s new optic line is called Hawke and the nearest model to it is the Endurance 30 2.5-10x50. I really like the look of some of the Nightforce and Schmidt & Bender tactical scopes but at over £2,000 each I think they’ll have to stay as dreams! The new Vortex Strike Eagle 1-6 X 24 looks very interesting at around £270 and I’ll hopefully be trying one soon.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Well, I’ve loved the last 3 years competing in the best discipline around and I can’t see me giving up CSR anytime soon. I’ve done pretty well in the league, coming 8th, 14th then 11th over the three seasons. Most importantly though my scores are getting better, so I’m beating myself, even if my league positions have gone up and down a bit. Next season, just for a change, I’ll be trying my hand with a higher mag scope and a bipod for some matches, so only time will tell how I get on.

CONTACTS:
Speedmaster rifles – Southern Gun Co, 01208 851074 www.southern-gun.co.uk
Sierra bullets – Henry Krank & Co Ltd, 0113 256 9163
Vortex Optics – Www.vortexoptics.com (for nearest dealer)
Hawke optics - Deben Group Industries, 01394 387762