Want a Super Accurate AR15? Check Out the Cutlass by Battle Rifle Company
OutdoorHub Reporters 09.19.18
Battle Rifle Company, a veteran-owned company of Houston, is a low profile yet outstanding producer of AR platform rifles. For a couple years, I’ve been using their Cutlass. It’s an AR15 chambered in 5.56 NATO and a member on the company’s BR4 line. The Cutlass is specialized for maritime security use (read: corrosion resistant).
The Cutlass cuts an impressive profile. On the muzzle end is an artful, but still tough-looking spiraled flash hider. A bit of stainless steel thread shows at its base – the only shiny component of this rifle. A free float, 1:7 twist 16-inch barrel provides substance and is to be credited with this rifle’s superb accuracy. It’s available chrome-lined or stainless. Around that barrel is an ocean of Picatinny rail. Top and bottom, left and right, there’s ample room for optical, lighting, and other accessories. The gas block is low profile, necessitating back-up iron sights on the front as well as the back. These are included and made by FAB Defense. The stock BUIS work well, but the true capabilities of this carbine are best appreciated with a magnifying scope.
A run-of-the-mill upper and lower receiver are improved by stainless steel springs and other components. The dust cover, forward assist, magazine catch, and takedown pins are NP3 coated, as is the bolt carrier group. The coating makes for an elegant and satiny finish and equally smooth operation. Cleaning this beauty is especially rewarding, as the silvery sheen of the bolt carrier gives evidence of a job well done. Like color? That’s a good thing, as Battle Rifle Company features this rifle in a different color every year. Mine is a lovely, not flamboyant grayish blue, perfectly tactical aboard ship, or on the dusty desert hills where mine sees most of its action. After miles of banging against my chest rig, the finish has worn thin on a few spots, but this rifle remains a looker.
A quality single stage nickel boron-coated trigger is another reason to celebrate. Mine breaks at an average of 4.41 pounds and has been a consistent performer for thousands of rounds regardless of the extremes of dust and heat to which it’s been exposed. It has very little roll, and a loud, crisp reset.
Battle Rifle Company chose Hogue products for the grip and buttstock. These heavy-duty components are well matched to this rifle and facilitate ease of handling. The five-position buttstock is easily operated and between it and the weight of this rifle, more than seven pounds sans optic, virtually all recoil is absorbed. I’ve had no problem staying on target between shots even at 800-1,000 yards.
This rifle has carried me through several carbine class experiences, though it’s admittedly front-heavy for my five foot, five-inch frame. In 2016, I ran with it three or four days per week and completed the six-mile Pecos Run & Gun in the Sun event in Pecos, Texas with the Cutlass. Heavy though it is, its accuracy and dependability helped garner my best placing ever in that event. For this series of mid-range engagements, the rifle wears a Lucid Optics L7 riflescope, a solid performer for this purpose that’s also been kind to me on the precision rifle platform, allowing me to make hits out to 775 yards on its maximum 6x magnification.
So far, the highlight of this little rifle’s career, and a peak experience in mine, was the 2017 Precision Rifle Fighter X course in New Mexico, taught by STA Training Group. The instructor readily agreed to accept a 5.56 gas gun on the line, though I was somewhat surprised to be the only person with a rifle that has both these traits. 6.5 Creedmoor was the next smallest chambering in the nine-student class, and all the other rifles were bolt action.
Despite what would seem like comparative shortcomings, the Cutlass held its own for three days, though it was quite a necessity to have someone calling visible hits beyond 750 yards. Over a long weekend I developed a DOPE log for this rifle that resembles that of any serious long range rifle.
The climax of the weekend, as well as my year, was scoring two hits out of eight attempts on a 12×18-inch steel plate traveling at 3.5 miles per hour! Credit is due in no small part to the highly skilled instructor, Jerod Johnson, who was calling shots and wind, as well as Bushnell’s excellent Elite Tactical LRTSi 3-12x scope. But this superbly accurate rifle is the foundation of that success.
Flipping the Cutlass from tactical to long-range mode is relatively easy with a sling stud affixed to the bottom rail. Off goes the sling and Lucid Optics scope; on goes the bipod and Bushnell scope when it’s time to belly down on the long range.
My copy of the Cutlass won’t be for sale while I’m alive, but you can order your own from Battle Rifle Company for less than $2,000. I’d love to hear how it improves your shooting experience.
