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In this article, I discuss what I consider to be my do-all rifle concept, my go-to rifle if suddenly things were to go wrong. The idea behind a rifle setup like this one is that I could grab it out of my safe in any emergency scenario without knowing what the threat is or what the risk environment might look like, and it would still do a good job of covering just about all my bases, regardless of my location. Whether in a rural or urban setting, this rifle could provide you with whatever you might need in most applications.
This rifle is a BCM RECCE-16. You can accomplish this similar setup with a much more affordable base rifle, but the BCM RECCE-16 is very high quality and has been a very accurate rifle for me. I have the RECCE-16 lightweight, which means it has a lightweight profile barrel, keeping the entire package slightly lighter. I like the 16-inch barrel, and I'll give you a couple of reasons why.
First, I don't have to deal with any NFA hassles or need to use a pistol brace since this rifle meets the minimum barrel length requirements. A 16-inch barrel is also extremely effective with the 5.56 NATO cartridge. 5.56 is a very velocity-dependent cartridge, and the 16-inch barrel can still give you effective terminal ballistics without having to sacrifice anything in the process. It's about as short as you can go while still having long-range capabilities and avoiding other problems.
The other thing I like about the BCM is its simplicity. It's very bare bones in many ways. There's not a lot about this rifle that is fancy per se, but it has everything you need and nothing you don't. For example, it has the BCM PNT trigger, a single-stage Mil-Spec-style trigger, but it's their polished nickel Teflon™, so it’s an upgrade from your standard Mil-Spec trigger and a noticeable one, which I like quite a bit, and I haven't really felt the need to replace it. It doesn't have an ambidextrous safety, but if that's something important to you, you could always install one. I haven't found the need for that as a right-handed shooter.
This has the M-LOK® handguard, which is the right choice now. KeyMod has seen its day, and I don't believe you should pick up anything KeyMod at this point unless you're getting a great deal on something a little bit older. The stock, the furniture, and everything else that comes on the BCM RECCE-16 is good to go as well. Nothing requires being changed out. You might prefer to change them out, but ultimately, this furniture works exactly as intended.
This is a good, reliable base rifle chambered in 5.56 NATO. If you must buy something more budget-friendly, which is totally understandable, just make sure you vet it to ensure it meets the standards you have set for it.
We have a capable rifle chambered for an abundant and logistics-positive cartridge in 5.56 NATO, and we have that 16-inch barrel, which can push it out a little bit further. We don't know what the threat environment will be, and we don't know what challenges we might face. So, we must choose an optic that will give us some versatility. I have nothing against throwing a red dot sight on a rifle like this and saying it's good to go because in many circumstances and many environments, especially urban, that would be a good option. It's very simple. There's not a lot of thought process involved, and they're relatively robust. However, if I'm unsure whether I might face targets at longer ranges or have issues with positive identification before engagement, an LPVO does a great job of providing me with that capability. The Primary Arms PLxC Compact Rifle Scope with a 1-8x range, I can't recommend enough. It is a first-focal-plane optic with Primary Arms’ ACSS Raptor reticle. It is in yards, BDC (Bullet Drop Compensator)-calibrated for 5.56 NATO or 308.
Why do I like this LPVO? First, it's extremely lightweight, at 17 ounces. That's light for a first focal plane optic with up to 8x magnification. Illumination is secondary, in my opinion, for features I care about in an LPVO, but it does provide you with that as well. It has very clear glass. The reticle is beneficial for getting on target quickly when you’re at range or using wind holds. It is robust and easy to use. Eye relief's good. Everything's good about this optic. It really is hard to beat in its price range, which is mid-tier of $14-1500. That's not cheap by any means, but if you want a first focal plane optic that can get up to 8x magnification and you want it to provide you with some quality of life behind the glass, this is pretty much the best value for your dollar.
If you’re on a budget and want to set up a rifle similar to mine but don't want to spend $1500 on an optic, which is completely understandable, I suggest looking at a second focal plane optic in the 1-6x range. At those lower price points, that's a much less complicated system that is more forgiving regarding glass clarity, eye relief, and everything else related to what goes into an expensive optic. A Sig Sauer Tango MSR Rifle Scope second focal plane or the Primary Arms SLx Rifle Scope with ACSS Nova Fiber Wire reticle are both very good options, and both are within the $300-400 price range. I would look at the Vortex Optics Venom Rifle Scope 1-6x as well.
Those are all great options that are budget-friendly and still accomplish the same goal of having some magnification on the rifle while maintaining a solid 1x performance. This is important to a degree, but in my situation, it's not as important because I have a secondary aiming solution on mine. I’m using the Primary Arms PLx mount, made in the USA. It's a very good mount—very solid, very rigid. Primary Arms also offers a 30-millimeter top ring cap for it, allowing me to mount an optic with the RMR footprint above my LPVO in the 12 o'clock piggyback position (in my case, I’m using the Trijicon RMR HRS Type 2 Relfex RDS). Now, I have a secondary aiming solution in case my main optic goes down, and it gives me faster target acquisition at close ranges because it's a red dot sight zeroed to 50 yards. It also allows me to aim passively using night vision goggles without sending out any IR or photons for somebody else to identify. All this to say, the 1x on my LPVO isn’t quite as important to me, though I still prefer it to be good.
To maximize the effectiveness of this rifle and to get the most out of this optic, I am running IMI Razor Core 5.56x45mm NATO Ammo 77-Grain Sierra MatchKing Hollow Point ammo. It’s more accurate at a longer range and still very effective on target. 77-grain is much better out of shorter barrels than your typical 55 or 62-grain loadings. I’m using this ammo because it will give me the best chance of accomplishing my goal, whatever that happens to be. With the Primary Arms PLxC 1-8x, if you zero it at 50 yards with 77-grain OTM 5.56 NATO ammo, the BDC reticle built into the optic lines up almost perfectly. You don't have to think too hard using this reticle because everything's already mapped out so that your four mark is at 400 yards, and your six mark is at 600 yards. Very easy, very intuitive. And this ammunition can make those distances consistently. It complements the optics package and enhances the overall capability of this rifle system, which is another reason why this could be considered more of a do-all system – it can push the boundaries of what 5.56 NATO was originally considered capable of.
A very important part of any rifle used in an emergency scenario will be your ability to keep it. You don't want it to fall off your body or to be misplaced or taken from you, so you need a sling. The BCM stock has a QD sling point, and I have my sling attached. On the other end, I have mounted the BCM Gunfighter QD Heavy Duty D-Ring Sling Swivel on a Magpul M-LOK QD Sling Mount. I like these swivels because they tighten up on the sling more, especially with these thinner slings. Some slings are a bit thicker, so you might not get away with using these swivels, but I’m using a Flatline Fiber Co. padded sling that I’ve enjoyed using quite a bit. I like that it has a padded section, which is very minimalist. It's not very thick, it's not obnoxiously big or poofy or anything like that, but it adds just enough padding to make the rifle comfortable to carry for long periods of time, which I find important. Some of those very thin slings that are just a strip of nylon over time will wear into your shoulder or wear into your neck, making things a lot more uncomfortable.
So, get a sling that provides extra padding. Blue Force Gear slings are another option that I consider very good for this role. They make excellent slings. I have them on multiple rifles, and I also like the standard Magpul slings. They may not be as high-speed as others on the market right now, but they're thick enough, and the webbing itself is thick enough to create comfort while being an effective, durable sling that gets the job done.
Of course, the next most important thing is seeing your target. Yes, the optics help with that, but only during daylight hours. What if it’s dark? You need a light. Of course, you need to use the light judiciously. You don’t want to spray a bunch of white light down range without knowing what’s there, so a tactical light is meant to be used with intent, but you will need one to positively identify a threat in the dark. Surefire is hard to beat. On my setup, I have a Surefire KM1-E lamp head on an Arisaka Surefire 300 Scout body with a Surefire tail switch. Building my light out this way saved me a bit of money while keeping it good quality. Arisaka components are more affordable but reliable and universally compatible with other light systems, such as Surefire’s. I have it mounted using an Arisaka Inline Scout Mount.
The KM1-E light is a vampire light, meaning it can produce both IR and white light. It also has an ‘off’ feature, so I won’t accidentally activate it when it isn’t needed. The IR is useful because I have night vision and can passively aim through my red dot optic, while the IR light provides a little more flood illumination of the area. This rifle doesn't have a laser sight, but I can still engage a target under night vision with the red dot and IR light effectively. Because that's more of a secondary concern for me when it comes to a do-all, 'who-knows-what's-going-to-happen' type rifle, I find it completely acceptable, especially from a civilian standpoint.
The tail cap switch is reliable, and there’s no pressure switch, so I don’t have to worry about cables snagging or failing at the worst possible time. For a preparedness-related rifle and something that's made for "who-knows-what" you might run into, I don't like having any additional components that could fail on me or add unnecessary weight. This is what I prefer now, and I'll start moving towards this more frequently on other rifles I own unless I'm restricted by the size of the rifle or the layout where a pressure switch might be necessary. The 300 series of Surefire lights weigh less than the 600 because they only use one battery instead of two, which matters when you get to the end of your rifle, where weight becomes more noticeable.
Extras
Everything fits together nicely on this rifle. There are a couple of other things that we can add on, which I generally do, but while they do help with quality of life, I don’t consider them requirements. For example, quick detach is your best friend. It allows you to remove unnecessary components – thus bulk and weight – quickly. Then, if you decide you need it, you add it on and then remove it again quickly. And that's very important when it comes to a rifle. You want it to be lightweight and well-balanced, but some accessories can undermine that.
Quick Detach Suppressor
For example, to accommodate my HUXWRX VENTUM 762 suppressor for this rifle, I use the ASR Flash Hider from Silencer Co., which includes threading for a suppressor. Since the suppressor uses a universal hub system, it is compatible. This suppressor adds another 14 ounces of weight to the front end of my rifle, but I can at least quickly detach it when I don’t need to use it. The VENTUM is a low-back pressure can, so I don’t have to significantly modify my rifle’s gas system to use it, either. This is a feature I want to have because I feel a suppressor can be important in many ways. Most crucially, in an uncertain situation, it lowers your signature, reducing both sound and flash, not to mention helping with night vision, protecting your hearing, and even making shooting more pleasant. I like having access to one.
However, I don't find it to be an absolute necessity. If you don't have a suppressor, or you're not interested in dealing with the paperwork and everything else involved, that’s totally understandable, and it doesn’t mean you don’t have a good do-all emergency rifle setup.
Another consideration is how it affects your zero. My optic right now is zeroed for running suppressed. If I take the suppressor off, because of the lightweight profile of this barrel and the amount of weight that I am removing from the end of it, I must adjust my elevation by one full mil. It just so happened to work out that it's one full mil, which I appreciate because it's easy for me to remember. I don't think that works on every optic the same way or with every suppressor and barrel combination. That’s something that you should be aware of if you're going to be switching between suppressed and unsuppressed.
Another quick detach accessory that I think is worth considering is a bipod. It could be very valuable during an emergency where you have this type of rifle capable of reaching five or 600 yards. On my handguard, I have a Magpul M-LOK Picatinny Rail Section for attaching my Harris Bipod SLM 9-13. I prefer 9-13 to 6-9 because it works better for my body type and posture. Since I’m always on the 9 setting while using a 6-9, the 9-13 gives me more room to elevate if needed. Harris Bipods are excellent. There are more expensive bipods, but I don’t think you can do better than a Harris in their price range. This one's an M-LOK Harris Bipod, to which I've attached an American Defense Manufacturing (ADM) quick detach mount. It accepts the M-LOK inside of the mount and turns it into a QD that attaches to Picatinny for those situations when you’re prone, shooting targets and at a distance and need more stability to make the shot consistently. The bipod is yet another 11 or 12 ounces on the end of your handguard, so once again, quick-detach is your friend.
Summary
So, this, to me, is the do-all rifle. Will it be as effective as a 6.5 Creedmoor or a 308 at long range? No. Is it going to be as effective as an MK18 with a 10.3-inch barrel at CQB and room clearing? No, but we don't know what's going to happen. We may not know why we're grabbing this rifle from our safe or what threats we might encounter. We might have to go into a building and say, “Man, I wish I grabbed that MK18,” but once you leave that building, maybe you're out in the prairie, like where I live here in North Dakota, and you say, "Hey, there's a target over there at 900 yards." These are things that we're just not sure about. So, if we want a rifle that can cover those bases without having to hyperfocus on any individual task, this is what I came up with.
You could call this a GPR, a General-Purpose Rifle. You could call this the do-all rifle, but it could also be considered the rifleman's rifle because it will do what a rifle was meant to do. There’s nothing overly niche about it, but everything could be taken care of to some degree with this setup, and that's why I like it. Of course, someone out there might criticize my lack of backup iron sights. I'm not opposed to backup iron sights on the system. In fact, I would generally suggest them. I just haven't gotten the ones I wanted yet for this rifle, and I haven't decided if I want to put inline backup iron sights, which would require me to use tools to remove this optic system because of the way the mount works, or if I should just go ahead and throw 45-degree offset sights on this particular rifle so I don't have to worry about that part of the problem.
I hope this has given you some things to consider when setting up a rifle for general preparedness purposes!
--Magic Prepper
