Anatomy of the Semi Automatic Sniper System (SASS): Featuring the Lone Star Armory TX10 DM Heavy

This video is brought to you by Slate Black Industries. For grips and accessories, visit slateblackindustries.com. Welcome to 9 Hole Reviews. If you've watched the show for a while, you might recall back several years when we first debuted our Lone Star Armory Multipurpose Carbine, an extremely accurate semi-custom 5.56 AR produced by the team out of Fort Worth, Texas. The rifle was built out as a competition gun. It's fast, reliable, and we stretched it out as far as 800 yards in the Practical Accuracy course, albeit with some challenges fighting through the wind at the extended distances. Well, what do you do if you're looking for a similar performance profile, but need the rounds to buck the wind better, hit harder, and reach out to 800 and beyond? Well, you move up to a large frame receiver in the AR-10 pattern and rechamber for a 30 cal round. Introducing the Lone Star Armory TX10 Designated Marksman Heavy. In today's video, we'll be looking at the TX10's performance, both from a commercial perspective in terms of part selection and build quality, but also use this monster as an example to walk through the concept of the Semi-Automatic Sniper System, or SAS, and evaluate the requirements and implementation of the 7.62x51 gas gun in practical applications. Now before we get started, I want to remind everyone that I've shot as a sponsored shooter for the team at LSA since my competition days before 9-Hole, so while we're certainly going to show you the real results we were able to achieve from the platform and give our thoughts as fairly and without bias as possible, just like any other review, understand that the team at LSA did indeed send the rifle to us at my request. With that out of the way, let's dive into a bit of the history of the large frame AR to better understand the functional development of the platform and its capabilities. The year is 1955 and Eugene Stoner is not designing the AR-15. No, the AR-10, or large frame AR as we'll refer to it, actually predated the 5.56 gun that most people know today. The AR-10 was submitted for military evaluation and selection at this time before being ultimately discarded in favor of the M14, which as we know was then shortly thereafter replaced with Stoner's AR-15 or M16 design. So with the AR-10 rejected, the design effectively sat over the next 30 years. Although it was put into production for some limited foreign military services such as the Portuguese paratroopers, the Cacadores Paraquedistas, it was overshadowed in adoption by other battle rifles of the time, specifically the FAL and G3. It wasn't until the 90s that the 7.62 AR platform re-entered the main stage. Stoner linked up with Knight's Armament Company and began work on modernizing his AR-10 design, adopting commonalities with the AR-15 and taking the platform away from the original battle rifle brand toward a precision rifle system, ultimately creating the SR-25, which was adopted for military service and dubbed the Mark 11. About 10 years later the SR-25 design was updated to the M110 SAS designation. Upgrades included a Knight's URX handguard, adjustable buttstock, flash hider, and so on. Effectively the quality of life changes that were being developed and taking place for rifles in the early 2000s, but that comes standard nowadays. The M110 became one of the go-to weapons for extended distance precision engagements throughout the latter half of the G-Watt era, and only recently as the Army started to rotate in the C-SAS or Compact Variation of the rifle as produced by H&K. The TX-10 we had built much more closely aligns with the full-size SAS though, and so we'll be reviewing the functional elements of that platform specifically for comparison. So what are those functional elements? Let's lay them out. First we have the 20-inch match grade barrel guaranteed at 1 MOA accuracy from the factory. The system must be suppressor ready, specifically with a minimal POI shift. The rifle requires a free-float railed handguard. The stock must provide adjustability to fit the individual user. A two-stage match trigger is to be included, and a magnified optic to maximize mid-range capability is affixed. Now let's take a look at the TX-10 and see how it matches up with these requirements. Straight away, the TX-10 is indeed running a 20-inch match barrel, so check! Okay, but why is this relevant? Well, the 20-inch length is important for maintaining projectile velocity over, for example, a 16-inch barreled gun, which bleeds off around 100 feet per second comparatively based on our testing, which of course has the knock-on effect of impacting the projectile's ability to defeat wind as range begins to extend. The LSA team turns their barrels in-house using Bartline blanks with a 1-8 twist and 5R rifling. The team turns the blanks with their own specific methods for CNCing and lading to ensure the rifle is going to achieve the highest accuracy potential. So what does that accuracy potential look like, and does it meet the requirement for SAS? Well, we shot six 9-shot groups with the rifle to test for varying elements of the firearm's raw paper accuracy potential. The first group here is shot with the 168 grain ELD match load from Hornady. Nine shots in a 2.01 grouping at 100 yards, with the 90% grouping coming in at .88 inches. The obvious flyer you see here is one that I did call a good shot on when I pressed the trigger, so we're going to include it and show you that in the data. Next up, we tried out the 175 grain Federal Gold Metal Match ammunition, one of our favorite loads for our .308 bolt guns. With this round, the rifle grouped at .83 inches at 100 yards, with 90% of the grouping coming in at a tight .62 inches. For our final match ammunition test, we shot the 178 grain Hornady Open Tip Match for nine shots. We observed a .74 inch group with a 90% grouping coming in at a staggering .42 inches. Lastly, we loaded up some PPU M80 ball ammunition as a bit of a control. This is not a round considered by anyone to be even close to match grade and you can see the difference in the results. Here we've got a 2.15 inch grouping with the ball ammo, with just about a 2 inch 90% grouping, with some extremely obvious horizontal stringing. This is a good bit of data so far, so let's put together some basic summary points for the paper First, we were able to secure sub-MOA groupings with the 178 grain Hornady and the 175 grain Gold Metal Match ammunition when accounting for all nine shots fired per group. If we evaluate the 90% groupings, all match ammunition tested in this evaluation scored less than 1 inch groupings, with two out of three strings scoring closer to one half inch groups. Extremely impressive for a gas gun and certainly rubbing shoulders with full-on precision bolt guns. Second, across three different match load groupings, we observed a raw average group size of 1.19 inches. This includes the flyer from the 168 grain string. If we discount that single shot, the raw average total group size drops to an impressive 0.82 inches. Finally, with lightweight ball ammunition, we saw a degradation of the accuracy potential out to a bit over 2 MOA, as we might expect. And honestly, this in and of itself is actually a fairly respectable grouping for ball ammunition. So with that said, let's take a minute to evaluate how all this data translates to the practical accuracy of the firearm. For the sake of simplicity, we'll speak in terms of a 1 MOA standard for this explanation. Here we're going to show you what the group size or dispersion will look like at varying distances. So let's get on with it. Here is what a 1 MOA dispersion looks like on a torso size target at 100 yards, 200 yards, 300, 400, 5, 6, 7, 8, 900, and 1000 yards. Effectively, 1 MOA paper accuracy translates to a headshot size group at 700 to 800 and easily falls within the confines of a torso or even bladed torso or a prone target out to 1000 yards, what we'd generally consider the max effective range for the 7.62x5.1 round. So in our mind, any SAS-style weapon coming in at 1 MOA is, practically speaking, very effective. And anything sub-MOA, such as we've demonstrated with the TX-10, is only going to be that much better. For a last bit of perspective, when we've tested other firearms in this space, we achieved the following results. With the M21 platform, we achieved a .8 inch 9 shot group. The actual KAC M110 SAS itself came in with a best group fired at .8 inches for all 9 shots. And our SCAR-17 printed up a 1.2 inch 9 shot group. All within the ballpark of this 1 MOA standard for the SAS. Okay, back to the TX-10. Let's talk now about the 5th and 6th groupings we fired. We took the .168 grain ELD ammunition and the .175 grain Federal Gold Metal and loaded up another 9 shots apiece. But this time we attached our Silencer Co. Omega suppressor. Here's what we observed. The .168 grain grouping came in at 1.11 inches with a 90% grouping at .92 inches. In our mind, the group size here, as compared to the unsuppressed group, less the flyer of course, is within a reasonable margin of error from one group to the next. The 90% groupings, .88 versus .92. Meaning we didn't observe a material impact to the group size by suppressing the rifle. Something we have observed on say the Mark 12 platform for example, where the addition of the AEM-5 actually tightened the group sizes. The .175 grain grouping had the same results. A near identical group size compared with a .79 inch 9 shot grouping suppressed and the unsuppressed group at .83 inches. More important however, is how the groupings stack up side by side compared to the unsuppressed groups. You'll notice near zero shift to the group center points or point of impact. For a universal commercial suppressor, this is quite astounding. However, we can't credit the suppressor's design as we've seen other rifles with this very can have up to a mil of shift. That's not a dig against the suppressor either, but we would expect some type of POI shift. But the TX10 is able to darn near maintain at zero with no discernible deviation. And how is this possible? Well a truly unique element to our TX10 is the barrel's thickness. This rifle runs a .94 inch thick barrel. That's about a full quarter of an inch thicker than the standard profile pipe. Basically this thing is a thick boy designed to maintain its harmonics and rigidness as it heats. Prioritizing accuracy preservation over extended strings of fire as compared to size and weight concerns. It has the added benefit of directly impacting the platform's capability to run a suppressor without shifting the zero as we've now demonstrated. The next few elements of the SAS requirement list are more associated with functional attributes as opposed to the massive data dump we just went through. Free float railed handguard. Yes, this rifle is outfitted with a 16 inch extended M-LOK handguard. And while the co-branded SLR LSA rails are awesome and we have a lightweight reduced version with no 12 o'clock rail section, as well as a variation with the full top rail for if we're setting up the rifle for night work with our PVS-30, we do acknowledge the strength of Picatinny rails such that are found on the original M110. Especially if needing to mount an IR illuminator or laser at the three o'clock position to work with the clip-on. The stock is the Magpul PRS Gen 3, more adjustable than the KAC M110 stock in all actuality. The trigger also hits the mark as a match grade two-stage. Installed in the TX10 we have the Geissele two-stage. A nice clean break at three pounds leaves little to be desired here. And lastly, the optic. Although the M110 would normally be outfitted with a Leupold 3.5-10 Mark IV, we've taken advantage of some of the technological improvements from the last 10 years and secured a wider magnification range by selecting the Kalas 3-18. Kalas' short dot style optic, which we feel is a great option for gas guns when price is no object. The three power low end lends itself well to a great field of view to see entire sectors of the range, while the 18 power top end is more than sufficient to reach out to a thousand yards if not further. The optic also utilizes the Austrians Skimmer 3 reticle, which is a mill grid Christmas tree style reticle, which we believe is an optimal choice for gas guns when shooting off the mill grid may be desirable across rapid target transitions at varying distances. A few additional elements worth noting that are present here, despite being absent from the functional SAS requirements list, include things like the receiver set. This is an LSA exclusive, which the guys there do in-house. It gives a really unique look to the core of the rifle, although doesn't necessarily result in any functional improvement over a standard receiver set. We also have a Holosun 509T mounted up piggyback style on the Larue mount. Although the rifle is a complete pig, weighing in as you see it configured at 15 pounds, I mean truly designed as a precision gun where weight is actually a desirable attribute, I am in fact able to run and gun with the setup. Ok, not really, it's not a wieldy package for my normal fence carbine manipulation and style of shooting, but the piggyback is there nonetheless and can also support with quickly acquiring targets at distance. The user can place the dot on the target and then drop the head down onto the glass at higher magnification, which will be generally aligned with the point of aim of the dot. The DI gas system is tuned and an adjustable gas block is in place, although the gassing is already extremely soft as the LSA team has an extended gas system on the gun. Lastly, we've protected the handguard with our Slate Black Industries M-Lok panels, intermixed with some Picatinny rail for attachment of our Atlas or Harris bipods, as well as interfacing with the Really Right Stuff ball head in the event we're doing any shooting from a tripod support. Now, with any of our episodes where we look at commercially available firearms, the value proposition tends to come front and center in the comments, and we completely understand why. Especially since we tend to bring more rare, specialized, and uncommon offerings to the show, so you have a chance to see them in action. So how does the TX-10 stack up in this area? Well, this is a $4,500 rifle. That's before the optics package. Keep in mind that the Precision AR-10s are generally more expensive than the average AR-15. When we think about other top-end offerings, such as the Knights, LaRue, LWRC, JP, and any number of other brands, we generally see them falling anywhere from $2,500 up to $4,500, with the Knights even extending up closer to $10,000 in price. That's even true across to the FN platform. You have the SCAR Mk20 at $4k or more. Long and short, this type of Precision gas gun carries with it a premium price tag, regardless as to the make, model, or manufacturer. For the average end-user, would something like a Smith & Wesson M&P10, PSA AR-10, or Aero 308 make more sense? It very well might. Or perhaps a solid bolt gun, based on what the user really intends the rifle to be for. Ultimately, I think we can all agree that there are points of diminishing return as price increases compared to the gain when discussing most things, specifically Precision gas guns. But when we look at the TX10, it is certainly maximizing in all categories in terms of function and performance. And so there you have it, a look at an extremely accurate gas gun, effective out to our max testing range of 1,000 yards. Limited, if anything, by our caliber selection. That is to say that a chambering in something like 6.5 Creedmoor is something that is certainly worth exploring if your plan is primarily long range Precision shooting out to 1k and beyond. And you intend to use a gas gun for said work. And yes, LSA does offer the TX10 in a variety of chamberings. So, we hope you've enjoyed a look at this rifle. We certainly had a blast getting to ring some steel with it. Until next time, we'll see you on the range. We maintain this newsletter to be majority gun content, with 9-hole reviews updates per every email, with less than 33% marketing content. Subscribe today on www.slateblackindustries.com