Long range precision: Uselton Arms Mountain Lite Warbird

Guns Magazine, Feb, 2008 by Jacob Gottfredson

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Uselton Arms is owned and operated by Rick Uselton, a 1911 semiauto pistol specialist. His products in that arena are classic, compact and tactical models. He now produces rifles including several models built around either his own modified Remington 700 action with various stocks, weights, lengths and more or on a second party Winchester action.

While Uselton Arms produces rifles in several popular cartridges, the rifle I evaluated was their Mountain Lite 7.82mm (.308) Lazzeroni Warbird mounted on a high-gloss-finished laminated stock.

Rick Uselton has worked with John Lazzerroni to produce a rifle based on Lazzeronni's case and bullet designs. The MGR produced Remington receiver has been milled with flats past the barrel tenon to the rear of the action. The extractor has been modified. The trigger is a tuned Remington with push safety. The bolt works smoothly with no malfunctions and extraction was positive. The laminated stock has sling swivels front and rear. I was surprised the rifle sent to me was not epoxy bedded and it incorporates pressure points about 2.5" from the end of the stock's forward barrel channel and near the chamber end, although it did shoot well during testing, even when heated by several rounds.

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The scope mounted on the test rifle was a Zeiss Diavari V, 2.5-10x50mm T. This is the more expensive German model as compared to the American Conquest version. It has a 30mm main tube and the traditional European fast optical diopter adjustment. The reticle was the block European style with thinner, plain crosshair center.

Realistic Expectations

I shot the rifle at both 100 and 400 yards and found the claims in their brochure to be correct. He does not make unrealistic claims of 1/2" groups at 100 yards. His specifications are more realistic: 3 shot groups of 1/2" to 1-3/8" at 100 yards and 1-1/2" to 4" at 300 yards. My groups were inside that specification, even in a pretty good crosswind. I suspect reloads tuned to this barrel might have done considerably better.

Part of the information sent to me included another author's assessment o! the Lazzeroni Warbird cartridge. "It is the fastest 30-caliber cartridge available, and also the hardest kicking." It stands to reason if you pull the trigger on an 8-pound rifle, sending a 150-grain bullet down range at 3,675 fps, the recoil will be a bit untoward. However, the Uselton rifle was pleasant to shoot. The muzzlebrake used was very effective and is added to every rifle. A thread protector is provided as well for those times when you want to remove the muzzlebrake.

I use a Model 35 Oehler chronograph with three sky screens. It has proven to be very accurate. Velocity, spread, and standard deviation for 16 rounds were 3,675 fps, 37 fps, and 14 respectively from the 26" barrel. These were shot at 59 degrees F, 90-percent humidity, 60' elevation, and 29.5 barometric pressure, pretty close to standard conditions.

If you believe a reasonable lethality index is the combination of energy velocity being at or greater than 3,000, then the bullet/case design and velocity of the Lazzerroni Warbird with the 150-grain Laserhead should put down medium-sized game at 850 yards, shot even at oblique angles, not that I am suggesting you do so.

Although Rick is currently using a beefed up Remington 700 actions in these rifles, he has designed an entirely new action, which will be available in the fall.

I have evaluated and toyed with a lot of cartridges and rifles over the years, but only once before have I shot a Lazzeroni Warbird, and that was in a Lazzeroni-built rifle. It shot very well. The Uselton-built rifle chambered for the Warbird does also. The Warbird philosophy is not one everyone agrees with, i.e. a rather small bullet for its caliber driven at high velocity (although heavier bullets are offered). But times they are a changin' with new bullet design philosophy as well, and it does have its advantages. The Warbird incorporates a bullet, the Laserhead, cooperatively designed by Randy Brooks of Barnes Bullets, John Lazzeroni, and Robbie Barrkman of Robar.

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Since it is an all-copper bullet, it is lighter than lead, lending itself to longer length and a better long-range ballistic shape than lead filled bullets of the same weight. This is enhanced by a boattail design and it's hardness allows deep penetration. It incorporates the Barnes Triple Shock design with cannelures now proven accurate and less prone to fouling the barrel than its predecessor, the X bullet. The Laserhead bullets are produced undersized dimensionally and then a lubricating coating is electroplated to bring them back to the correct size. The designers state, "This process promotes longer barrel life, improved accuracy, and shot-to-shot consistency over a wide range of muzzle velocities."

While my experience with the Lazerhead is limited to this rifle and 20 rounds shot on paper and steel targets, I have shot Barnes bullets for many years. They have performed admirably. When the new Triple Shock was introduced I found them just as effective, but more accurate in my rifles as well. Other shooters tell me they are having the same experience. Uselton offers the Laserhead in 7mm 120-grain and a .338 185-grain.