That picture was released by the AP a couple months back. It’s the Polish GROM doing a VBSS practice. The rest of the picture set was of them boarding and clearing a vessel.
Can you give me a minute…I am running outside to snap a pic in my backyard:D:D
I should have know better. I really don’t think I’ve ever seen a proper Recce/Recon rifle “in the field” or in use. Such a mythical and conceptual beast.
I will take your word on that since its not U.S. Soldiers but damn I feel sorry for those Poles…their arsenal appears to include quite a bit of fine product from the far east:) Seriously that lead gun is horrific…why not run a barrel that at least looks like its not all jimmied up with a hacked fsp and ganked fluting, etc. like that one pic’d.
Sort of on topic:
How do the Recce SS barrels hold up to sustained fire in CQB?
depends on the manufacturer. some manfers use harder/more heat/friction resistant steel than others. noveske’s, for instance, will probably go twice as long/hot as some others.
but no stainless barrel, regardless of stainless grade used, will take the type of punishment even cheap 4140 chrome-lined barrels can take before damage. when stainless gets super hot, rifling erodes fast.
That is a legit drawback to any true match grade SS barrel given the actual barrel heat or temp is what degrades the SS far more than the actual rd. ct. on the barrel.
That said, the argument plays hardly any into whether one should go with a SS recce or get a CL recon type…as both are never meant to have prolonged cqb exposure but rather maintain a solid ability for cqb should a particular situation arise that calls for it. I would never go shooting strings w. a match grade SS however If several times I had to throw several pmags through it during sustained fire I would not be worried that amt. would degrade it.
You do realize that GROM is one of the worlds premier special operations groups and that they often work alongside Seal teams? Just because a piece of equipment they use looks “cheap” or “Airsofty” doesn’t mean they don’t have a good reason for having it. Form follows function and all that good stuff. I bet they know a few things about their mission profile and if that upper wasn’t suitable for the job at hand they would get something else. They arent short for expensive toys.
Sure, the guy in front with the “Recce” might have a funky YHM freefloating handguard, but the barrel seems pretty match grade to me, and his US Optics something-or-other is nothing to shake a stick at, figure its price is well north of a Short Dot.
Everyone else on the boat has HK416’s, and those lasers are D-BAL A2’s - Top of the line. The USMC Refers to them as “PEQ-16’s”.
I would be careful “feeling sorry” for any member of GROM, for any reason. They may take offense!
likewise, just because they are “elite” doesn’t mean they’re using the best shit out there, or even necessarily know what the “best shit” is. our own military does a comparatively good job- but still fall way short of the technology available to the civilian market.
First off, yes I am well aware of who the Polish GROM are and while they prob. are a crack unit, they are certainly no more regarded than the British SAS (specifically the 22 SAS regiment) or the German KSK.
I have to stand by my org. statements on that pic…that pic looks totally bogus but that is just my opinion.
eta…how can you tell that the barrel " seems pretty match grade"?
also I can almost positively say that the optic is not a USO but either way, how can you calculate the price being north of a 2k plus shortdot when we have yet to determine what its actual make is?
Well, as long as we are derailing this thread: in Polish, “grom” means “thunder”.
Anyway. Here is what the mythical Recce in its pure state is supposed to look like:
But why go Carbine gas when Middy is so much better…
Anyway II. I am still not decided on this issue. I want the gun to be light, but balance is important too…
nobody is ever going to agree on what a “true” recce is, because there’s no such thing as a “true recce” to begin with. as we all know, there was an original design- but that doesn’t mean anything. how many were actually produced? 5? how many stayed in the original crane configuration once in the hands of those who took them and said, “nice, but i don’t like that, that, and this. gonna change it?”
a recce, for our purposes, is a match-grade 16" barrel with fixed FSB of choice- stainless or not- mid or carbine, free floating handguards of choice, M4 lower with stock of choice, pistol grip of choice, low-power magnified optic of choice on a mount of choice. anybody who says “that’s not a recce” and puts their nose in the air is just being cheesy.
its almost a unicorn to begin with. chill.
unicorn
HELL YEAH BROTHER…that dude is the same damn thing as my imaginary C Doll lower. That is simply AWESOME:p
Sad story…the first nf I grabbed was the nxs 2.5 (x32) and when grabbing it I actually passed on a regular " Nav Spec" nxs 2.5 (x24) only to pick a x24 up a cpl. months ago:(
The Nav Spec’s and then the Unicorn you pic’d undergo 10 extra hours of testing, mostly salt water testing IIrc.
You the man for posting that pic.
Besides the shorter rail on Wes’s builds, I am pretty close to the same spec as his definition but again I cannot agree with Wes’s rail length but its not a biggie I guess.
I’m not a cloner; I base my builds on what works best…this “Recce” of mine will thus have a midlength barrel on a MUR reciever, so I am no purist…
You can’t have match-grade accuracy with chrome-lining and last I checked, none of the “good to go” barrel makers were making non-chrome-lined CM/V barrels, only stainless.
Just sayin’ 
check again… www.centurionarms.com
eta- and some of the most accurate barrels you’ll ever come across are un-lined 4140s.
A match-grade chrome-lined barrel is an oxymoron, as chrome-lining will ALWAYS reduce accuracy. Chrome-lining is done post-rifling and is applied as a coating. As such, it is uneven at the molecular level and results in a less consistent surface. This is why stainless barrels are used almost exclusively for match shooting. Therefore, any barrel that is chrome-lined isn’t a match-grade barrel. Also, CL’d barrels can have their accuracy degraded immensely should the CL’ing chip/flake (which isn’t uncommon). This is another reason you rarely ever see CL’ing in precision barrels.
It doesn’t mean they can’t be accurate, it just means they aren’t as accurate as they would be without it. Now obviously a good, quality CL barrel is better than a crappy non-CL barrel. Such is the case with Noveske, Centurion, and BCM barrels. However, they’re still not as accurate as their non-CL barrels. If you already knew this, then disregard.
Also, your comment about 4140 being accurate is along the same lines. Stainless, in practical terms, is not anymore accurate than CM/V, however CM/V doesn’t have the corrosion resistance that stainless does. You’re right, you can have a non-CL match-grade 4140 barrel, but it will rust very easily, hence why most people opt for stainless in the first place and few reputable barrel makers (actually none that I know of) make match-grade non-CL CM/V barrels.
I am beyond a true believer of SS barrels for my needs as I build my guns defensive minded 9.5/10 times. It depressed me when I first accepted the fact that SS barrels were indeed that much more accurate than any CL barrel I have heard off or shot personally. Two totally diff. barrels for two totally diff. applications imho…the majority of the AR world still does not stress match accuracy and rather just combat accuracy. I believe with a lot of research and time/treasure invested, ARs with precision applications can truly become the infamous “space guns” that give you all you want with accuracy even in the face of match bolt guns yet yield that volume/rate of fire that the bolt will never give you.
No big deal which ever mindset you take w. ARs but I see them first as a potentially incredible platform to deliver S/A accuracy…rather than offensive or high volume application gun.