[jatx]

In recent years, most of my shooting has been limited to handgun and shotgun sports. When I began looking for a new carbine earlier this year, I decided that I wanted something that could be used for both defensive and hunting purposes, with the odd carbine course thrown in now and again. On the hunting side, it would be used primarily for coyote, bobcat, and javelina. I was initially open to either 6.8 SPC or .308 Winchester.

I ended up with the package below, the first Project Leonidas rifle sold by John Noveske. The specs are as follows:

DPMS .308 Upper and Lower
Noveske 13.7” Barrel (1 in 10 twist)
Permanently attached KX3 flash hider
PRI Gen. III Handguard
Nightforce 1-4x24 NXS Scope
LaRue SPR-S Mount
Troy Front & Rear BUIS
TD Battle Grip and VFG
LMT SOPMOD Stock
Streamlight TLR-2 Light

I called John on the very day that he decided to begin marketing these rifles. After discussing my requirements for awhile, I took my place in line behind all of his other enthusiastic customers and began the excruciating three month wait. While he will build this rifle using either the Armalite AR10 or DPMS as a base gun, I went with the DPMS on his recommendation. Likewise, the unconventional barrel length was the result of my desire to go no longer than 16” including FH. The KX3 does a great job of controlling and focusing muzzle blast on a short barreled .308 and, when permanently attached, takes this one to just a hair over 16”.

The PRI handguard was a creative solution offered by John. I explained to him that I have no intention of ever mounting anything on the side rails, limiting my accessories to front BUIS, VFG and a lightweight light. By inverting the PRI, he gave me plenty of rail at six o’clock to play with the fore-aft position of my VFG and light, utilizing the rail intended for a bipod as the mounting surface for my front BUIS. It turned out pretty slick and fits my needs perfectly.

I purchased the Nightforce scope and mount from Wes at MSTN. I wanted an illuminated optic that would (1) take me from no magnification to 4x and (2) offer simple range estimation capabilities, and those criteria really left me with only a couple of options – S&B Short Dot or Nightforce. Ultimately, I decided that the Short Dot was not worth the extra money given my likely uses.

Accuracy results so far are really good. My 100 yd. groups with plain old 150 gr. Remington Power Point were ranging from .7-1.1” today from the supported prone – not bad considering that the FC-2 reticle’s center dot is 1.5 MOA and my targets’ bullseye is three inches in diameter. As for velocity, I don’t have a chronograph, but Noveske measured muzzle velocity using M118LR at 2650 fps in a similar rifle. Over the next week or so, I plan on experimenting with some different weights of Match ammo to see what the rifle likes best.