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Hicks' Designs Answer for
Tactical Rifle Market
APHD LRP1
By Thomas Blahnik
© Sniper’s Paradise 1999
The offer was posted on one of the many shooting related discussion boards
found on the Internet. Jeff Hicks’ post was asking for qualified individuals
to test their new project, a custom tactical rifle. I placed my reply on the
board and waited for contact, which wasn’t long. Jeff called our offices
a few days after the posting and began telling us about his project. He gave
us a little more background information on the company and his pet project.
In our initial and follow up phone conversations with Jeff, we learned that
he is ex-Army like most of us here at Sniper’s Paradise. When Jeff left
the Army, he looked for and found a job based around a love for firearms that
he developed while in US service. Jeff initially took a position at Answer
Products and began developing and perfecting rifle building. Jeff has specialized
in precision hunting rifles that have traveled around the world and taken every
different sized game animal imaginable. Yet Jeff’s real passion was always
in the tactical rifle arena.
In early 1999 Jeff finally decided to follow his hart, and began building
the prototype for Answer Products which he eventually took with him when he
opened his own company, Hicks' Designs. This prototype rifle was the
one we tested. Jeff had already thoroughly tested his rifle on a short range.
He was now seeking somewhere and someone to take his baby and push the outer
limits on longer ranges. Sniper’s Paradise had both the trained personnel
and the ranges that could help Jeff finish testing his rifle. We received the
rifle for a ten-day marathon of testing and evaluation.
 When UPS brought the rifle we immediately noticed
that the large steel case was unusually heavy for a rifle. After opening the
case we quickly understood why. Jeff had included a second rifle and several
different scopes. With a phone call to Jeff we found out that the second rifle
was sent because of our desire to test the new Talbot QD "Split Second" scope
mounts, which are the subject of another review. First things first, we had
to finish unpacking the case Jeff sent.
After opening the shipping case that Jeff had packed for the rifles transportation,
we quickly learned something new about Jeff and the other people at Answer
Products. They take great care and pride in their work. Jeff had individually
wrapped every sensitive item in bubble wrap, then each item was placed inside
a tailored cloth bag which was shut with drawn strings, and then they were
carefully arranged on the thick foam padding in the steel shipping case. I
later remarked to Jeff that nothing short of a small nuclear blast could have
damaged the contents. At this comment Jeff simply told me that with all the
rifles they have shipped around the world, they learned not to take any chances.
If Jeff was going to take extreme care in building rifles for people traveling
to exotic places to hunt, then it didn’t make any sense to let the rifle
get damaged and become worthless in transit.
Once we had the rifle and other contents unwrapped and all the packing material
stashed in a corner, we began the evaluation process by disassembling the rifle.
We always like to get a close look at new rifles. With the rifle apart, we
saw the continuation of Jeff’s reoccurring theme of "extreme attention
to detail." Everything seemed to be thoroughly reworked and lovingly attended
to. We immediately saw that the Remington 700 action was trued, lapped, and
coated. The standard extractor has been replaced with a Sako style. Yet this
replaced extractor is more than just "put in." The old lip where
the Remington extractor was located is machined away and a new steel ring is
built in its place. Jeff tells us that this process makes the extractor much
stronger and more reliable. Something else we noticed with the rifle apart
was that a speed lock had been installed for faster "lock-up times." Both
of these small replacements in conjunction with the reworked and coated action
surfaces definitely make for a smooth stroke between every shot. One of the
other SP staff members remarked that this action "felt like grease on
a glass table."
Jeff has chosen to use the Walther match barrels for their tactical rifle
line. These barrels are a little more money, but worth the added cost. Jeff
told us that every rifle will be fully "broken in" and ready to go
when its shipped to the customer. Additionally, Answer Products will guarantee
a ½ MOA at 100 yards with a 5 shot group and send two test targets to
help back that guarantee. When a customer receives one of these rifles from
Answer Products, all they need to do is dig through the packing material and
then head to the range for a serious day of shooting. No long drawn out break
in and no arguments with other shooters on its proper method or procedure.
Just unpack and have fun.
After re-assembly of our test rifle and insuring the proper torque was on
the bolts, we headed out to the short range. The short range has a max distance
of 300 yards but we would not need all of this on the first session. We first
had to see what kind of groups we could get at the standard 100 yards. Now,
when we head out to test fire for groups, we don’t lock a rifle into a
mechanical rest to play. We feel that it is very important to see and feel
how a rifle fires. Just because a rifle can shoot well in a vice does not mean
that it will respond correctly to shooter input. Locking a rifle into a rest
would be like putting a car into a wind tunnel. You may be able to evaluate
minor details, but there are so many more things involved, which can only be
tested in a real world environment.
Our rifle was placed on the ground and our testing began. Our shooting today
would all be done from the prone position, a front Harris bipod, and a homemade
rear sand bag. This is how much of our shooting takes place, so this is how
we test rifles. Of course, there are many critics out there that swear no "real
world shots" are taken from the prone shooting position because life "does
not exist on a golf course." That is another topic for another article,
but to those reading this article I say, "You are obviously looking for
and planning your shooting in the wrong places if you can't find a prone position." Anyway….our
testing began with the "grease on glass" actioned rifle, and we weren’t
disappointed. Initial groups were easily under ½ MOA for 10 round groups.
The gun fed round after round into the chamber with no noticeable effort. The
action almost seemed to load it self. Another feature of this rifle we haven’t
mentioned yet is muzzle break. Shot after shot produced the same results. The
rifle barely recoiled, yet what recoil was there was straight back. There
was no twisting and no noticeable barrel rise. The rifle just gently eased
back, keeping the crosshairs on target the entire time. Of course follow up
shots were easy with a system this gentle and well designed. The testing on
the short range continued and produced results that became standard. At least ½ MOA
was easily achieved from 100 yards to 300 yards, as long as the shooter did
his part. We would get to test on the long range for another few days.
On the last Saturday of each month we have a 1000-yard match at the RGV Ranges.
Most people don’t get the opportunity to shoot at extended ranges, so
we make sure we give shooters the chance and the opportunity to play as much
as possible. The 1000-yard match this month just happened to fall within our
granted allotment of testing time with the Answer Products rifle. We would
have several people available to thoroughly test, and play, with our temporary
toy.
By the time the last Saturday finally rolled around, we had tested
the A.P. rifle two more times. The results were the same. The Answer Products
rifle proved to us that it was consistent at the short ranges, but we were
now going to see if it had what it takes to shoot at the longer ranges. As
the 1000-yard match began, we decided that one shooter not in that relay would
shoot the rifle at the steel plates from 500 yards out to 900 yards. Shooter
after shooter commented on how smooth the rifle shot. Group sizes ranged with
individual shooter and their ability, but they seemed to stay around the MOA
to sub MOA range. At the end of regular competition, a few of us got serious
and printed some groups on paper at 1000 yards. These 1000 yard targets are
42" x 42" with a 12" bullseye. We didn’t concentrate on
getting the shots in the center; instead we work on group size. We concentrated
our efforts on keeping the same point of aim and letting the rifle do its thing.
Our largest group was 19" and the smallest was 8". The groups averaged
out to a cool 12" and some change. Now at this point I must insert some
basic info about our 1000 yard shooting which is similar o our short course
rules. We do not use the popular mechanical rests common to benchrest shooters.
As a matter of fact, we only use a large "sandbag" for a front rest
and a rabbit-eared bag for the back. Many times you can even find us using
bipods from the prone. Additionally, down on our little piece of the southern
most tip of Texas, you can find a 10-15 mph wind on an almost daily basis,
so this is not a bench rest shooters favored conditions. These conditions are
not necessarily the optimum conditions for a rifle test, but they are more
realistic and more practical for our needs. In a bench rest shooter’s
hands, I am sure that the rifle would perform much better, but for our targets,
it achieves or surpasses the necessary accuracy requirements.
Our time with the Hicks' Designs rifle was too short. Most of our testing
is done on equipment that is sent to us for testing and then left in our hands
after it’s done. Each and every one of our shooters wanted to keep this
rifle in our arms room for future shooting. Yet, we all knew that Jeff Hicks
wanted his rifle back for his own shooting and for more testing by other people.
The rifle proved itself to us as a sub MOA rifle with gentle characteristics.
The action was one of the smoothest we have used in awhile, and we are waiting
for Jeff to share his secrets for its creation. Jeff tells us that the production
rifles will retail for around $2700 or they will build one on your action for
about $400-$500 less, and those are very fair prices. If you are looking for
a rifle and are ready to make a worthwhile purchase, give Jeff a call and get
your custom piece started before the rush starts, and the order line backs
up.
for more info, check out:
Hicks Designs
http://www.hdrifle.com
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