Fear is the largest motivator of human behavior. Pain, or the fear of pain caused by recoil, creates an involuntary reaction that is one of the biggest obstacles to accurate rifle shooting. That being the case, downsizing to a slight recoiling rifle often leads to predictable performance on the range and in the field. With that precedent in mind, Asbury Precision Ordnance created their new ASW223 bolt-action rifle.
One of the special features of this rifle is its chamber profile. It is chambered in .223 Wylde, which is a hybrid between a .223 Remington and a 5.56 NATO profile. The freebore is half the difference between the two chamber profiles. In essence, you can still shoot NATO-spec ammunition while still retaining the accuracy potential of the original Remington chamber design.
“The Asymmetric Warrior (ASW) rifle platform was originally conceived as a sub ½ MOA super magnum (e.g. .338LM) long-range precision tactical rifle based on patented Ashbury SABER modular rifle chassis system,” company president Morris Peterson said. “Over the past seven years we’ve expanded our markets from defense to hunting and target shooting. This is perhaps not the normal migration path for firearms development, but as a small business and systems integrator and manufacturer, our precision tactical rifle system was born on the backs of dozens upon dozens of active duty snipers, professional marksmen, and champion long-range high-power rifle shooters.”
“As we moved deeper into the commercial market we garnered the interest of female and youth competition shooters that needed a low recoiling precision rifle and varmint hunters that wanted to shoot heavy .22 caliber bullets,” Peterson continued. “Selecting the .223 Rem was a natural choice, especially noting the extreme levels of success SOF snipers have experienced with their SPRs and Mk262 77gr MOD-1 5.56x45mm NATO ammunition at intermediate ranges. The Wylde chamber was selected by our former USMC 2112 Gunsmiths as it would safely and accurately accommodate both commercial .223 and military 5.56mm ammunition. Another cross over from the defense world is the use of clip-on night vision and thermal imagers now growing in popularity with night varmint hunters, which on the ASW223 fits nicely on the unitized monolithic scope rail forward of the day optic. For those who enjoy precision practical rifle competition or prairie dog and coyote hunting, but have a recoil sensitivity, this is a dream come true small caliber precision rifle platform that provides consistent sub-1/2 MOA performance with match grade ammunition.
Gun Details
The foundation for the ASW223 is a SABER SX or Surgeon 591-II action, the latter used on our test rifle. These actions are very similar in nature to a Remington 700, with the bolt release moved to the rear side of the action. The safety is a trigger-type that blocks the trigger. The trigger itself is a Huber “Staged Break” Tactical 2-stage model set a 3 ½ pounds. To say that this trigger breaks crisply is an understatement. It breaks like the proverbial glass rod every time.
Once we get beyond the stability of a high-grade action, the barrel is a 1.200-inch shank 416R stainless steel 20-inch barrel. The barrel is rifled with a 5R 1-in-8-inch twist, and is a Pinnacle Series model. The barrel is fluted along its entire length to help cut weight, promote cooling and provide more rigidity. The muzzle gets an 11-degree target crown and is threaded ½-28 threads-per-inch, which is standard for a .22-caliber barrel. To reduce recoil from miniscule to almost nonexistent is an Advanced Armament Corporation Blackout 51T muzzle brake and suppressor adapter. This brake design was developed and perfected with the help of a couple of Army snipers who were working for Remington Defense at the time. Robbie Johnson and Greg Berdat, Army Rangers who fought in Iraq, were perfecting Remington’s Precision Sniper Rifle platform for the military trial and suggested some modifications to raise the accuracy of the Blackout 51T muzzle brake. The changes were put into place and raised performance to a greater level, and helped Remington’s PSR rifle win a multi-million dollar military contract.
Ashbury Precision Ordnance’s SABER-FORSST SSA Modular Rifle Chassis System, as tested. Also available as an option is the ASX-A3 Mod-1 Carbon Fiber Modular Rifle System (MRCS). This chassis is precision manufactured from aerospace grade alloys, advanced composite and lightweight high-strength carbon fiber materials. The Quattro Carbon Fiber Series features an ergonomic enclosed forend with a free-floating barrel channel. Some thought went into the design of the forend. Its heat and mirage mitigating design is accomplished by with rows of triangle-shaped vents located along the 10 o’clock and 2 o’clock positions along the length of the handguard. Three 12-inch MIL-STD 1913 Picatinny accessory rails allow for mounting a wide variety of accessories.
Examining the manner in which this rifle is assembled gives you an idea of how rigidity and stability is achieved throughout the entire shooting system. The forend separates from the action chassis and the top rail is another separate part. The barreled action is screwed into the chassis, and then the forend is slid into place and bolted down. The center chassis section is an integrated rigid receiver mount with large 6.75 sq/in of surface contact in conjunction with the patented monolithic rail design. Next, the top rail is bolted to both the forend and the top of the barreled action using the scope base screw holes. Its rigid high-strength vibration dampening co-dependent design assures that once all of the screws and bolt are torqued down, the rifle is a very solid unit with lots of accuracy potential.
The MIL-STD 1913 rail positions at 3, 6 and 9 o’clock are co-bore aligned as well. Multiple carry options are available with three flushcup sling swivel locations on either end of the forend and at the junction between the chassis and the butt stock.
Moving to the grip area, an Ergo provides a non-slip trigger hand hold, and can be moved to offer 1-inch of play to allow for short or long trigger fingers. Behind that, a well-constructed folding stock rounds out the rifle’s build. The butt stock offers comb height adjustment, length of pull and vertical adjustment of the recoil pad. All of these adjustments are standard on high-end precision long-range rifles. The stock also wears a butt hook, which can be swapped out for an adjustable field monopod.
Built for long-range shooting, the top scope rail is 20 MOA monolithic MIL-STD 1913, which allows the scope to put 20 MOA of adjustment below the center of the apex of the scope’s crosshairs. Essentially, a zero MOA scope ring and base set wastes the scope’s adjustment that represent the adjustments that would be above the crosshairs after zeroed.
Another feature of this rifle is that it accepts Accuracy International-style magazines. This rifle utilizes the AI .223-sized mags, and an A3 10-round detachable box magazine comes with this rifle. Its 3.050 internal dimension accommodates long loaded VLD and heavier bullets to fit in the magazine. To make reloads a snap, an ambidextrous paddle lever magazine release sits just ahead of the trigger guard. This feature is actually a requirement found in military sniper rifles. It allows the magazine to be dropped with the forward press of the tip of the index trigger finger without the need for removing the trigger hand from the grip. This requirement is actually specified as a requirement in USSOCOM’s PSR (Precision Sniper Rifle).
Down Range
To wring the accuracy potential from this rifle I mounted a Bushnell ERS Elite Tactical 3.5x-21x scope. I swapped back and forth between an AAC SDN-6 and a Silencerco Saker suppressor, Since it was tipped with a 51-tooth muzzle brake. A few 5-shot groups went downrange without a suppressor attached for comparison at 100 yards. Most rounds went down range with a can in place. An Oehler 35P chronograph was placed 15 feet from the muzzle to record velocity data.
The first load that went down range was Federal’s 69-grain Gold Medal Match. The smallest 5-shot group was 0.629 inch.
Next, Federal’s 77-grain Gold Medal Match printed a half dozen 5-shot groups that hovered just over ½ MOA, with the smallest going 0.512 inch.
Hornady’s 75-grain Superformance Match load topped the velocity spectrum for 75- to 77-grain match loads at an average of 2,738 fps. The smallest group measured 0.870 inch.
Black Hills Ammunition provided two loads for this test, the first being their 75-grain hollow-point Match. This round averaged 2,688 fps, and hovered just over ½ MOA. The smallest group measured 0.642 inch. Their second load was actually the military MK 262 MOD 1, which is a 77-grain OTM. The average velocity was 2,708 fps, and the smallest group measured 0.403 inch.
Among the realm of .223-caliber precision rifles, the ASW 223 is a spectacular machine. Virtually no recoil and a wide range of fit adjustability makes it a simple matter to mold the rifle to any shooter’s size. If you are ready for a premier rifle in this caliber, the ASW 223 will be hard to beat.
SPECIFICATIONS
- Ashbury Precision Ordnance ASW223
- Caliber: .223 Wylde
- Action: Bolt
- Barrel: 20-ins. 410 Stainless Steel 1:8 twist
- OA Length: 41 ins. (31 ins. stock folded)
- Weight: 11 ½ pounds
- Sights: M1913 Picatinny rail
- Trigger: Tactical 2-stage
- Capacity: 10-shot magazine
- Price: $7,450 as tested
PERFORMANCE
| FACTORY LOAD | VELOCITY | ACCURACY |
| Federal Gold Medal 69 gr. SMK | 2,740 | 0.629 |
| Federal Gold Medal 77 gr. SMK | 2,674 | 0.512 |
| Hornady Match 75 gr. | 2,738 | 0.870 |
| Black Hills HP Match 75 gr. | 2,688 | 0.642 |
| MK 262 MOD 1 (Black Hills) 77 gr. | 2,708 | 0.430 |
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