by Steve Ware
It’s not that I have not ever fired a modern (read AR-15/M-16 platform) rifle. A four-year stint in the United States Air Force in the ’60s and ’70s as a security policeman with a year in Vietnam allowed me to put thousands of rounds down range with them. But, I had not ever owned one. It’s not that I had any objections to the modern rifle platform; I just had not convinced myself that I needed to add one to my firearm collection.
A few years ago I finally decided that it would indeed be fun to own one, but by the time I had made that decision the number of manufacturers had grown from three or four to 30 or 40! All that did was complicate the decision. Not only was it necessary to sift through the manufacturers and determine which one best suited my needs, but by then the chambering options had grown from the old standbys of .223 Remington and 5.56x45mm to almost anything one could imagine. Feeling overwhelmed, I put everything on the backburner.
Last June the backburner got lit! Reading the “for sale” bulletin board at the shooting range I was drawn to a private party sale of an M4 that seemed to be well optioned and came with 1,000 rounds of ammunition. It was a Daniel Defense M4, model V1 carbine chambered in 5.56 NATO. Rather than buying a basic rifle and having to option it to my specifications, this one was ready to go—with virtually every option I wanted at a reasonable used firearm price.
I had not ever heard of Daniel Defense (101 Warfighter Way, Dept. TGM, Black Creek, GA 31308; phone: 866-554-4867; online: danieldefense.com), but my favorite gunsmith was in town for our IHMSA-sanctioned West Coast Championship and he assured me that they manufactured one of the best rifles out there. The seller agreed to bring the rifle to the range so my gunsmith could go through the rifle, and I made the deal.
One of the main factors in making the decision to buy this particular rifle, besides price and features, was the fact that it is chambered in 5.56 NATO with a twist rate of 1:7; so, it will handle heavier bullets. The 1,000 rounds of ammunition that came with the rifle were 52-grain .223 Remington and 55-grain 5.56x45mm, and I was fairly confident that the rifle would not be a tack driver with those lighter bullet weights.
My first visit to the range proved my theory concerning the lightweight bullets. The groups were more patterns, measuring 2.5 inches. One culprit was the less than perfect optics that came on the rifle. A quick Internet search showed that the scope could be purchased for $80. No wonder the glass was less than sharp at 100 yards and beyond.
I knew the rifle was capable of better than this. Thus, I began my search for better glass which led me to Leupold & Stevens (1440 NW Greenbrier Pkwy, Dept. TGM, Beaverton, OR 97006; phone: 800-LEUPOLD; online: leupold.com). I emailed my friend at Leupold and described what I wanted to accomplish, to obtain a scope that would mate well with the M4 platform, not be visually overpowering and provide excellent long range performance, yet still be acceptable as a close-quarter scope. He suggested Leupold’s new VX-R 3-9x40mm Patrol scope with a 30mm main tube diameter and the TMR reticle and FireDot illuminated center dot. While the scope is listed as a 3-9, actual magnification is 3.3 to 8.6. With an overall length of 12.6 inches, I was confident it would fit well on the rifle and not be overpowering.
He invited me up to Leupold, and I accepted as it had been several years since I had been through the factory. I was interested in seeing what changes had been made. The first change came before I even left town! Pat emailed me to bring my passport. I was rather puzzled by that request but complied. Upon arrival, I asked the reason for that and was informed that due to Homeland Security requirements the nationality of all plant visitors had to be verified. The last time I had been in the plant was pre-9/11, and it made sense.
It was obvious that Leupold had expanded the manufacturing floor since my last visit. They did it by building a mezzanine floor above the manufacturing floor and relocated the engineering department.
The manufacturing process is very modern with machines that turn out parts automatically. Scopes are continually tested to ensure they are both waterproof and will withstand impact and recoil. Leupold even has the ability to replicate the recoil of any caliber of rifle of any given weight. So you can be confident that the scope you buy will hold up on your new .416 Rigby elephant gun. You can also be confident that the scope will perform as advertised.
One interesting feature is that Leupold manufactures many of their own cutting tools. Thus, they do not rely on outside suppliers to provide tools that will hold close tolerances.
Scopes are relatively lightweight; the VX-R Patrol weighs in under a pound. Thus, I was surprised to learn that Leupold uses 4 million pounds of aluminum and 500,000 pounds of steel each year. The plant is also extremely environmentally friendly with all scrap metal and as much of the industrial fluids as possible recycled.
In my mind, the major accomplishment of Leupold is that the company is 105 years old and still owned by the original founding families. And, I am proud of the fact that my new scope is designed, engineered, and manufactured in the United States.
At the end of the day I left the factory with the VX-R Patrol mounted on the rifle using Leupold’s Mark 2 IMS, 30mm Integral Mounting System. The whole package looked like it was made just for the Daniel Defense M4.
Getting home, I familiarized myself with all the features of the scope. The FireDot reticle is operated by pushing the gold Leupold corporate logo on the left side of the scope. There are eight intensity settings and an automatic sensor that turns the FireDot off after the rifle has been motionless for five minutes. But, pick the rifle up, and it comes back on again. It is powered by the readily available CR-2032 coin battery. The fast focus eyepiece ensures optimal diopter adjustment in the field, and the windage and elevation adjustment dials reminded me of scaled down versions of Leupold’s target dials. And, the clicks were positive yet the dials turned easily. One pleasant surprise was that I discovered that I could light up the FireDot and, keeping both eyes open, it became a close-quarter scope with closer targets easily acquired. All that was left was to take the rifle to the range, sight it in and determine the improvement in accuracy with the Leupold scope.
After sighting the scope in, I settled down to shoot a five-shot group to determine the improvement in accuracy that would be made by switching out the low dollar scope with the Leupold. Needless to say, I was impressed with the improvement. The group shrunk from 2½ inches to 1½ inches, a 40% reduction in group size. I was now convinced that the rifle would be a shooter with the right ammunition. And it was obvious that the 52- and 55-grain bullets were too light for the fast twist barrel.
The next time I was in town I stopped by my favorite gun store and bought a box of Hornady (Box 1848, Dept. TGM, Grand Island, NE 68803; phone: 308-382-1390; online: hornady.com) Match .223 Remington ammunition loaded with their 75-grain boattail hollowpoints. The next trip to the range was an eye opener. The five-shot 100-yard group measured .687 inches and the five-shot 200-yard group measured 1.362 inches or .681 MOA. Given the proper ammunition, the Daniel Defense/Leupold combination performed beyond my expectations.
I did some additional testing with Lake City 62-grain 5.56x45mm green tip ammunition. While it performed better than the 52- and 55-grain commercial ammunition, it was not nearly as accurate as the 75-grain Hornady Match ammunition. Thus, I will use the 62-grain ammunition exclusively for range work and for fighting back the zombie hordes should they ever come, but I will reload with a 75- or 77-grain bullet for sub-MOA accuracy.
When all was said and done, I could not be happier with my Daniel Defense/Leupold setup. One thing that it proved to me was that a modern rifle/optics combination can provide excellent accuracy, well beyond that many may expect.
PICTURED ABOVE: Daniel Defense M4, model V1 carbine chambered in 5.56 NATO with Leupold’s new VX-R 3-9x40mm Patrol scope mounted.
