Larry Vickers and the Centurion Arms SPR

[TOrrock]

Larry asked me to start this thread and post his opinion of the Centurion Arms SPR that was provided to him by Monte LeClair.

I took some photos of this particular rifle at the 11-13 July 08 3 Day Advanced Pistol/Carbine class that Larry taught in South Hill Virginia.

@"Larry A. Vickers"

Gents

I am proud to announce my buddy Monte LeClair of Centurion Arms is ready to accept orders for SPR (special purpose rifle and/or receiver) uppers - attached to this post are pics of the SPR that Monte sent me for T&E and that I had at a recent South Hill, VA class.

The reason you should buy your SPR from Monte over anyone else are;

1. He is active duty Spec Ops who has used the SPR overseas in theatre

2. He has sourced all the parts and builds an exact MILSPEC replica to the issued SPR - unlike most others offering them

3. He has detailed knowledge of how it is employed and how it is built so he can help a customer get the most out of his SPR

4. He is a very knowledgable gun guy, one of the very best on active duty today, and this knowledge and expertise goes into his builds

This the same situation as when I was building custom 1911’s while on active duty and using a 1911 myself - that invaluable experience went into each gun making them very unique. And as a final endorsement of Mony’s work I have one of his SPR uppers myself for my collection and training use.

Last but not least Monty also offers uppers that are built on what he considers to be the best available components based on his personal experience.

If you are interested do not wait - contact him at www.centurionarms.com and get on the list - remember he is active duty and he does this as a hobby so he will get a sizable backlog fast.

Regards

LAV

I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves.

[SMGLee]

Monty on the left, OIF, Falluja, Iraq

I have have seen this SPR build by Monty at 1/2 MOA with MK262. and Monty gurentee the upper with right ammo will do 3/4MOA.

[adh]

just curious if the builder sees the ARMS mounts as GTG as there had been so much talk on TOS that there were now some much better options that were more durable (i.e. Larue).

[grinch]

@adh

just curious if the builder sees the ARMS mounts as GTG as there had been so much talk on TOS that there were now some much better options that were more durable (i.e. Larue).

I’m not a fan of the ARMS rings though I did not have a problem with mine but I never used the “QD” capacity I really see no need on a rifle like this except if the scope fails and need to get to your BUIS. The latest rifles actually do not have QD rings they use standard night force scope rings.

[adh]

@SMGLee

Monty will build any set up you want to use, besides, you would most likely buy just the upper assembly, the optic is usually buyer’s option.

I assumed as much, like I said just curious about the opinion on the ARMS QD rings because I have a set that have been sitting in the safe for well over a year

@grinch

I’m not a fan of the ARMS rings though I did not have a problem with mine but I never used the “QD” capacity I really see no need on a rifle like this except if the scope fails and need to get to your BUIS. The latest rifles actually do not have QD rings they use standard night force scope rings.

Good point…and regarding the use of standard rings, this is the fist I heard that…interesting.

[Larry_Vickers]

Thanx Tim for posting this for me - next let me add a couple thoughts to this discussion;

Everyone please understand that the Mk12 SPR as we know it today was originally designed years ago and by current standards some of the components and modfications are not state of the art - such as the set screw gas block. Manty is truly an SME on the SPR and knows the gun inside and out - he can build you a completely authentic as issued SPR or one that features upgrades in build specs as well as parts used - for my collection I wanted one that was to MILSPEC and that is what I got.

In addition Monty has sourced parts that are extremely difficult to get in order to build an exact replica - the barrel for instance is only available to Crane and to Monty ; you can get a barrel that looks the same in contour but to get the exact same barrel as the Mk12 has you have to get it from Monty - that is one of the reasons why it took him so long to come to market with this - he wanted to make sure he had his parts sourced out completely

The Mk12 SPR is an historically significant rifle as it is the FIRST custom built AR style weapon that is issued to the US Military - and specifically SOCOM (the US Army’s DMR would be the other ). That reason alone makes it worth having but getting one from an end user that has used SPR’s in the field is icing on the cake.

Hope this helps - I will say it again ; if you want one don’t wait as the list will not get shorter

be safe

LAV

[Voodoochild]

Well I guess I have found my Christmas present to myself.

[Spooky130]

I would love to see what he would use if you spec’d a version using parts available today with the same end goals.

That being said, an all original gun is really, really cool too!

Spooky

[FR0GMAN]

@Larry_Vickers

the barrel for instance is only available to Crane and to Monty ; you can get a barrel that looks the same in contour but to get the exact same barrel as the Mk12 has you have to get it from Monty

Would this be the CLE SPR barrel by frank white?

[Rana]

@FR0GMAN

Would this be the CLE SPR barrel by frank white?

NO. This is a Douglas barrel by someone who doesn’t wish to be named as the MK12 barrel “guy.” I don’t think it is a huge secret but he just doesn’t want the “notoriety” and offers it only to ONE SOF member outside of the Crane Supply.

[Impact]

pinned gas block ?

[SinnFeinM1911]

Who do I have to know to get one of these?

[CarlosDJackal]

Verrrry interesting!! Anyone know what the cost of an upper would be? Or did I miss this piece of information in the thread?

[grinch]

There is a link in the original post to the website with prices.

The gas block pinning is an option but since the military rifles are not pinnned it is not standard. This is offered at no extra charge.

The gas block will be pinned with a spring pin since this is good enough for the HK416 it is plenty good for a DI gun.

[Voodoochild]

Do you recommend pinning the Gas Block?

[Rana]

@adh

just curious if the builder sees the ARMS mounts as GTG as there had been so much talk on TOS that there were now some much better options that were more durable (i.e. Larue).

FWIW my unit deployed with the Larue SPR mounts on our issued MK12’s last go around, as well as a lot of other Larue products provided to us by one of the industries biggest Patriots- Mr. Mark Larue himself.

[grinch]

@Voodoochild

Do you recommend pinning the Gas Block?

For any serious use ABSOLUTELY

[Voodoochild]

Thanks Monty for the reply regarding the gas block. I sent you an email a few days ago about purchasing one of the uppers. I know you are a busy man with work and your business so get back to me when you can. And thanks for offering us something special.

[Buck]

Please put me on the list for an upper…

B

[SwatDawg15]

Thats freakin awsome… Congrats