ARMOURY: SECUTOR RAPAX M6

DMR... OR NOT?

AS AN ONGOING PROJECT BILL IS IN THE PROCESS OF BUILDING HIS “.308 AR DMR” AND HAS BECOME SLIGHTLY OBSESSED WITH “LONG RIFLES” OF LATE, SO WHEN HE HAD THE OPPORTUNITY TO GET HIS HANDS ON THE VERY LATEST RAPAX M6 YOU CAN BET HE WAS ALL OVER IT! BUT DOES THE SECUTOR RIFLE TICK ALL HIS BOXES FOR WHAT HE BELIEVES MAKES A GREAT AR DMR?

During my time playing airsoft I’ve often hankered after something with a bit more “legs” from time to time, and to this end have always had a huge soft spot for the Designated Marksman Rifle or “DMR” where you still get semiauto, but with a bit more grunt!

When I lived and played in the USA I was the only Brit on my team, and although I proudly played in DPM for most of our skirmish games, when it came to MilSims and weekenders I’d be in the same digital Army Combat Uniform as the rest of the guys. Strangely I always liked the Universal Camouflage Pattern, and in the arid areas of Florida in actually worked pretty well, greying out into the background just like it does in that famous “sofa picture”. I also gave up my MP5, or in the latter days there my L85, in favour of some form of “M4” variant.

Just sometimes though I wanted some extra range, and there is one “rite of passage” that in my mind every airsofter needs to go through, and that’s owning and fielding a DMR! Until you’ve lugged an ungainly M14 EBR around an airsoft field all day as I did in the USA you’ll never fully appreciate the pain of having “the right rifle”, but one that is going to stretch both your sinews and your sanity!

But of course it’s the AR that we all love, and as much as the EBR rightly has its place in history, these days when putting together a “long rifle” it’s going to be based on that platform, probably in “7.62/.308” unless it’s for OPFOR-use or a dedicated USMC M27 IAR! Now

I do fully understand that we are talking about airsoft and 6mm BBs here, and that the “look” of a larger calibre rifle has little overall bearing on how the airsoft version will perform on the field (ie very much the same as every other 6mm BB platform unless you do something quite special to it!), but there’s just something about that big old mag that sings to my heart.

The SR-25 or Stoner Rifle-25 changed the game for many airsofters like me, and it is a bit of a legendary firearm and one that I now see quite regularly fielded in the DMR-role; it is undoubtedly a fine choice, with many airsoft replicas available as a project base. Designed by Eugene Stoner and manufactured by Knight’s Armament Company, back in the day when Colt made the decision to concentrate on the AR15 it left the AR-10 7.62×51mm NATO battle rifle design up for grabs, that design went largely ignored until the early 1990s when Stoner joined Knight’s Armament Company and continued his AR-10 design work. The end result was the SR-25 (which added together the numbers of the AR-10 and AR15) which improved the AR-10 design with M16A2 advancements and parts commonality. Subsequently we’ve seen many more dedicated “AR-based” airsoft DMRs come to be, and I’m lucky enough to have tried quite a few of them!

It’s true, for the last couple of years I’ve been

““WHEN I LIVED AND PLAYED IN THE USA I WAS THE ONLY BRIT ON MY TEAM, AND ALTHOUGH I PROUDLY PLAYED IN DPM FOR MOST OF OUR SKIRMISH GAMES, WHEN IT CAME TO MILSIMS AND WEEKENDERS I’D BE IN THE SAME DIGITAL ARMY COMBAT UNIFORM AS THE REST OF THE GUYS.”

playing around with an AR DMR build as

I do have that great love for “long rifles”, and I think I’m nearly at the end of my quest apart from finding the perfect inner barrel/hop setup to really give it those sought-for legs! I’m of the belief that a really good “designated marksman” can be a real team-asset in any game, a real force-multiplier of both the shooter and their rifle are genuinely any good! Earlier this month though I was reading one of the posts in the Airsoft Europe group online on the topic of “DMR” and it got me to thinking… what do most people actually mean when they talk about a DMR though? It seems that the answers vary wildly.

BREAKING IT DOWN

Let’s start by breaking down that name; DMR = Designated Marksman Rifle. This is largely defined as a semi-automatic, larger-calibre rifle capable of more sustained fire, and accurized and often fitted with a bipod and a magnified optic to increase lethality at longer engagement distances than the average infantry rifle or carbine. “Them what know” say “designated marksmen are usually considered an organic part of a unit and are never expected to operate independently away from the main force, whereas snipers usually work alone or in very small teams with independent mission objectives”.

In recent conflicts it was found that the infantryman with a 5.56mm carbine or rifle was often outranged by enemies still using older, large-calibre battle rifles, so the designated marksman became a solution for helping them dominate the “middle ground”, ranges deemed beyond effective for a standard infantry platform, but well inside that of a dedicated sniper rifle.

Let’s now look at what a DMR is not; it is NOT a sniper rifle as a designated marksman is NOT a sniper. A sniper will work with a spotter or as a standalone entity carrying out specific tasks, often from concealment or in a hide, at mid to long ranges at the behest of “higher higher”, whilst a designated marksman will work within a squad or section structure at medium engagement ranges slightly beyond those that a regular rifle or carbine will be capable of to carry out specific in-mission tasks.

Back in the early 2000’s there was huge debate in the international airsoft community as to how we could replicate the “DM” in game, yet differentiate them from someone with a bolt-action rifle. After much debate at my own games the team and I made the decision that a “DMR” could be a semi-auto-only rifle (taking our lead from what we were seeing in the real world), and that it had to be obviously and physically locked to semi, with DMR-users sworn against spamming of the trigger. It could be more powerful than regular AEGs, up to 450fps on a .20g, but would also have a MED of 30m to avoid unnecessary injury to the player on the receiving end. We believed this would allow an airsoft “DM” that little extra bit of “oomph” whilst still not giving them the total range of a bolty, and we played this role successfully from that point onwards.

RAPAX ROLLING OUT

At the back end of summer ’21 I had the opportunity to check out and test the RAPAX M5, and I concluded that “All things considered I’m really, really happy with the SECUTOR RAPAX M5 and it’s exactly the kind of semi-auto “reach out and touch somebody” rifle that I hoped it would be”, and after substantially more time with it I’m still of that opinion. As a “stock DMR” (and it is undoubtedly one) it’s still kicking out iro 1.78Joule/439fps with .20 BBs, and will hop substantially heavier BBs with ease and grace!

So, when Tim at iWholesales told me that there was a new RAPAX kid on the block, in fact two as there’s

““THEM WHAT KNOW” SAY “DESIGNATED MARKSMEN ARE USUALLY CONSIDERED AN ORGANIC PART OF A UNIT AND ARE NEVER EXPECTED TO OPERATE INDEPENDENTLY AWAY FROM THE MAIN FORCE, WHEREAS SNIPERS USUALLY WORK ALONE OR IN VERY SMALL TEAMS WITH INDEPENDENT MISSION OBJECTIVES””

an M6 and M7 variant in the mix, I was keen to check out what they brought to the party, and the bottom line is that the latest DMRs in the line-up are the latest in SECUTOR design with great features for those not wanting to spend a fortune fettling a custom build! I got hands-on the M6, the more civilian-looking of the two new models, the M6 (which differs from the M7 which is more MIL-looking and comes pre-fitted with a suppressor), and on first impressions this is a DMR ready to go out of the box with some premium features and some gorgeous styling.

The first thing you notice about the M6 is just how lovely it feels, and just how easy it is to manipulate! It is, as I’ve come to expect from RAPAX rifles, solid as a rock in every respect, and the mix of the very dark bronze of the M-LOK rail and the buffer tube really stand out from the satin black of the receivers; the finish on all parts is absolutely impeccable! The feature set itself is extremely well thought out, as you get a semi-only ambi selector, ambi mag release, and very cool straight trigger. The pistol grip is very “magpulesque”, and the sliding stock has five positions so you can get it exactly as you like it. There are QD sling points inset to the stock and lower receiver on both sides, and the rifle comes with a single QD sling swivel which you can change easily from lefty to righty. Some pretty darn decent iron sights are included, but this is a rifle you will definitely want to set up with an optic, and the use of what looks very much like a Knight’sstyle 7.62 QDC muzzle device really rounds out some impressive looks!

Internally there’s a lot going on too! First up you get a programmable electronic trigger and an ARES EFCS Mosfet so if that’s your thing you can play with this to your heart’s delight, although as “stock” I see nothing wrong with the setup! A combination of bearings and 8mm bushing, a piston with all metal teeth, a CNC steel cylinder and cylinder head made in a single piece to improve compression, and silver wiring throughout make everything nice and tight from the outset, although compatibility with aftermarket parts will give you pace to fettle further if you so desire. There’s a 6.03 mm precision barrel fitted as standard and married up to what I know to be a reasonably robust and efficient hop-unit, although this has a new improved rubber for heavier BBs. Wiring is to the buffer tube and comes fitted with a T-Plug/Deans.

DOWNRANGE

So, everything, on paper certainly bodes well for the M6, and I have to say that as new it certainly worked well on the range. I made use of a longer range owned by a local club to test out the M6 as I knew I’d be after some longer ranges having had a good 60m+ from the M5 from the box, and I’m glad that I made this decision as the M6 really needed more that the

30m range I have in the woods!

I fitted the rifle with a QD 1.1-4x25E MilDot optic, added some lo-profile M-LOK rail covers at the midrail-point, and fitted a Harris-style bipod via an M-LOK mount. From the box the M6 chron’d very respectably at 1.85 Joule/447fps with .20g BBs, and once I’d reset the hop it was more than happy on .36’s although I felt it could actually hop heavier than this! This is a bonus as a heavier BB is more in keeping with getting the range and accuracy you want from a DMR, and the new hop rubber obviously does its job effectively!

One thing I like a lot is that the CNC trigger has external travel regulation by means of a screw to reduce the travel and shooting sensitivity, so again you can set this as you like it; it’s an easy “in the field” adjustment too! The big old 160 BB “.308-style” magazine fits and feeds perfectly, although I’ll give you the heads-up that this is “mid feeder” so you’ll need to find extra mags with great care as many of the box-set options out there are “front feeders”.

So, all set up, .36g BBs in the mag, hop dialled in and the optic zero’d to 50m on the rifle… how did it do? Just great, thank you… really great as a new rifle! The M6 hurtled BBs downrange to 50m without breaking sweat, and making allowance I was soon hitting steels at 60m, then 70m most of the time! I honestly believe that this rifle could actually hit past 80m with little effort other than that of the user, and a little diligent tweaking of both rifle and shooter might even break my magic “100”! This is remarkable for a stock rifle, and I take my hat off to SECUTOR in all ways for their achievement, as this truly IS a workable DMR straight from the box!

Thanks as usual to iWholesales for providing the test model; you can check out all the SECUTOR models they have by visiting www.iwholesales. co.uk AA