New Alexander Arms Semi-Auto

[bwaites]

About 6 years ago I was visiting Virginia, and dropped in to Alexander Arms to talk with Bill Alexander. As he was showing me around, I saw a design drawing of a modified AR15, and a 17 HMR cartridge sitting next to the design. I asked Bill about it, and he told me he was fascinated with the 17 HMR and was working on an upper for an AR that would be modified for the 17 HMR. The 17 HMR remains a favorite of mine, and Bill very much enjoys it as well.

Several years later, I had the opportunity to play with a prototype of what became the 17 HMR that AA now markets. Its a great rifle and brings grins to everyones face when they shoot it because of the lack of recoil.

As time went on, I became enamored of long range rifles, and eventually ended up shooting a 7mm WSM in F Class competitions. A few years ago, a friend showed up with the Savage .338 Lapua rifle in prototype form, and we enjoyed it quite a bit.

I was discussing that experience with Bill Alexander, and he started chuckling. I asked what was so funny and he told me that he had been considering developing a semi-auto hunting .338 Lapua. We discussed what I would like in such a rifle, and he told me some of his ideas. Its taken a bit longer than both of us hoped, but AA released the .338 Lapua at NRA and here are the first published pictures. From what we can tell, this is the first online report on the rifle.

The finished rifle will be less than 20 pounds and features a 6 deep groove barrel with conventional lands and Melonite finish. It has a 5 position adjustable gas block and uses a 10 round double stack mag to keep the rifle down low to the bipod and ground. Because of the weight, and a constant recoil system, recoil is very mild overall. Much more like a .243 or Grendel than a Beowulf. You get to watch shot impact anddo not require a muzzle brake even for extensive shooting.

First picture in the wild, I'm not sure who took this, but it is outside of AA:

[bwaites]

And a couple detail pictures.






PS, A coveted Grendel sticker to anyone who can identify that scope!

[Drifter]

A coveted Grendel sticker to anyone who can identify that scope!

Zeiss scope appears to be a (Cassidian) Hensoldt 3.5-26x56 FF.

Rifle looks nice.

[mongoosesnipe]

Zeiss scope appears to be a (Cassidian) Hensoldt 3.5-26x56 FF.

Rifle looks nice.

ditto http://www.mil-optics.de/Seite-81

its a sexy scope 36 mils of vertical adjustment.....here is a video of it from shot
[video]http://youtu.be/tJDAbJMGYjc[/video]
and its a bargain http://optics-world.nl/winkel/product_in...cts_id=429

[bwaites]

Zeiss scope appears to be a (Cassidian) Hensoldt 3.5-26x56 FF.

Rifle looks nice.

Hmmm.....Very close. More details perhaps?

[JDub]

I bet that rig is worth more than my car...boohoo!

[bwaites]

I bet that rig is worth more than my car...boohoo!

I know it cost more than my current car would! The scope is north of $7500, if they weren't unobtanium. MSRP on the rifle will be somewhat less than that, but the combo will still easily top $13,000 once tax is paid!

[Buster]

This is a VERY interesting concept. I have been putting $$$ aside to eventually do the Barrett M107A1 (.50 BMG) thing, but this has me re-thinking. Would like to see more details.
Obviously, long range, hard hitting, is a niche market, but let free market enterprise do it's thing....thanks for sharing bwaites,,,please keep up updated if you will

[bwaites]

This is a VERY interesting concept. I have been putting $$$ aside to eventually do the Barrett M107A1 (.50 BMG) thing, but this has me re-thinking. Would like to see more details.
Obviously, long range, hard hitting, is a niche market, but let free market enterprise do it's thing....thanks for sharing bwaites,,,please keep up updated if you will

No comparison for me. The Barrett is a a great rifle, but its intended use is vehicle and materiel interdiction. Having shot several, they are minute of vehicle accurate, but I don't have to shoot at vehicles or IED's very often!

I do want to shoot out to 2000 meters on steel and targets, and the .338 does that better than anything of reasonable cost.

The test mules are sub MOA with factory ammo, and if the production guns are similarly accurate, I'll have exactly what I want, a sub-MOA large caliber, semi-auto, long range rifle. That's been what I have wanted all along, and I've been offered Barretts at very reasonable prices, but I've been talked out of them by the guys who use them the most in the military.

You can shoot the .338 for cheaper than the .50 if you look at comparable match grade ammunition or handloading.

[ricsmall]

Agree with bwaites. The only way my Barrett would shoot exceptional was with HSM match ammo. Mine was a model 99 though, built for accuracy with 32 inch match grade bbl.

[Buster]

This is what I am talking about.
Not wanting to kill hard targets at 2000 yds either, but ringing a 12" steel plate at 1-2K yrds consistently with an auto-loader for half the price of .50 BMG ammo, yeah, sign me up right here, right now.
Can Bill A. bring a unit like this to market for less than 5K? I am part of that niche market if he (or someone else) can

[Bill Alexander]

Not for less than $5k but certainly less than $6k. The initial investment eats up a lot of cash, sorry! What I really want to do is the ammo to drive this caliber. Domestic brass is top of the list and I now have two ammo machines. Another great hunting caliber and does not require full house loads. Looking at the weight budget and also the feed. Need to mollycoddle those bullet noses during feed as they have influence at 1800m.

[jluck]

Not for less than $5k but certainly less than $6k. The initial investment eats up a lot of cash, sorry! What I really want to do is the ammo to drive this caliber. Domestic brass is top of the list and I now have two ammo machines. Another great hunting caliber and does not require full house loads. Looking at the weight budget and also the feed. Need to mollycoddle those bullet noses during feed as they have influence at 1800m.

Are they actually going to be obtainable though?

[Bronz]

Momma

[Bill Alexander]

Are they actually going to be obtainable though?

This question has more merit than one would initially attribute. Our industry has become infamous for showing product that they then never deliver,

The gun is designed for the civilian market. I anticipate sales to shops such as Cabellas as well as our dealers throughout the US. As mentioned I see this as a hunting rig, so the current work is to look at the weight budget and see where the perfect trade off lies between weight and recoil in the final rifle. Accuracy is a huge part of the balance. My project milestones are to complete final weapon fixturing and production route documentation by mid 4th quarter and then enter moderate scale production for start of 2014. Batches will start at 100 units and the frequency will determine delivery rate. We are initially committed to a 550 unit total run. It has been interesting after all these years to stand in a workshop full of special tools and find that you effectively have nothing more than the simple stuff. Even benches and racks are too short. Pins have to be inserted with a hammer and punch. Got two loading machines though. Thought I was going to get killed by the accounts.

From NRA I would suspect that we will go straight from a modest stock to a backorder position. I am perhaps not as brave as I should be with the production commitments.

[rickOshay]

Congrats Bill. Great project!

[Trooper]

I believe that rifle was designed by Kevin Collins, a young man who grew up in Lafayette IN, went to Purdue for MET then discovered that he loved guns. He has worked for DPMS as an engineer, for Savage Arms and now for FN USA.

[En4cr]

Looks like another bucket list rifle!

[bwaites]

I believe that rifle was designed by Kevin Collins, a young man who grew up in Lafayette IN, went to Purdue for MET then discovered that he loved guns. He has worked for DPMS as an engineer, for Savage Arms and now for FN USA.

Now I'm confused?

Which rifle?

[Trooper]

About 6 years ago I was visiting Virginia, and dropped in to Alexander Arms to talk with Bill Alexander. As he was showing me around, I saw a design drawing of a modified AR15, and a 17 HMR cartridge sitting next to the design. I asked Bill about it, and he told me he was fascinated with the 17 HMR and was working on an upper for an AR that would be modified for the 17 HMR. The 17 HMR remains a favorite of mine, and Bill very much enjoys it as well.

Several years later, I had the opportunity to play with a prototype of what became the 17 HMR that AA now markets. Its a great rifle and brings grins to everyones face when they shoot it because of the lack of recoil.

As time went on, I became enamored of long range rifles, and eventually ended up shooting a 7mm WSM in F Class competitions. A few years ago, a friend showed up with the Savage .338 Lapua rifle in prototype form, and we enjoyed it quite a bit.

I was discussing that experience with Bill Alexander, and he started chuckling. I asked what was so funny and he told me that he had been considering developing a semi-auto hunting .338 Lapua. We discussed what I would like in such a rifle, and he told me some of his ideas. Its taken a bit longer than both of us hoped, but AA released the .338 Lapua at NRA and here are the first published pictures. From what we can tell, this is the first online report on the rifle.

The finished rifle will be less than 20 pounds and features a 6 deep groove barrel with conventional lands and Melonite finish. It has a 5 position adjustable gas block and uses a 10 round double stack mag to keep the rifle down low to the bipod and ground. Because of the weight, and a constant recoil system, recoil is very mild overall. Much more like a .243 or Grendel than a Beowulf. You get to watch shot impact anddo not require a muzzle brake even for extensive shooting.

First picture in the wild, I'm not sure who took this, but it is outside of AA:

Bwaites,

This rifle!