The Recce Carbine: Jack Of All Trades, Master Of A Few?

A couple of years ago I wrote a commentary on the role of the Special Purpose Rifle, which was originally a special operations project to make a more accurate carbine than what the M4 afforded, providing ground units with precision fire capability while keeping magazines and ammunition loadouts standard across the team. My buddy and student FlyBy wrote a piece about his own experience in building a short, quick handling carbine for his uses. The logic is very simple- make use of the extended range the 5.56 in its heavier loadings can provide, giving a decisive advantage when engaging an enemy that either is not previously aware of your presence or has supporting fires, especially indirect.

The whole idea is to kill that bastard before he knows you’re there, using as few rounds as possible, and getting the hell out of there before his bastard friends kill you.

So getting back to the SPR, the Recce rifle has a similar history. Originally the SPR Mod 1 sported an 18in barrel, with the Mod-Holland (named after 5th Special Forces Group Sniper chief MSG Steve Holland) having a 16in barrel for better portability in CQB roles. To me, it made the most sense. The reality is that you don’t gain much for practical purposes with two extra inches of barrel, other than a little bit of velocity, so the 16 inch gun was more tactically sound. Naval Special Warfare had a similar train of thought. Shorter, more portable is better for a wider variety of roles. Thus they came up with the SEAL Recon Rifle, now known as the Recce Rifle. It ended up being a little lighter than the SPR and had a wide variety of optics, which was really more dependent on the guy running the rifle than a set standard at the end of the day.

Between the SPR and the Recce Rifle, small team operators had more precision fire at longer distances, thus giving a distinct advantage on the battlefield without having to carry additional weight in a loadout. It wasn’t a perfect solution in all cases, but with the heavier Mk 262 77gr OTM rounds, the effectiveness of the 5.56 was significantly improved over the M855 in all aspects. Its a concept that is still as relevant today as it was then, and maybe even more so. How many AR-15s are out there? And how can we make those more lethal?

Nowadays the meaning of both terms is pretty loose, basically applying to any accurized AR platform. Got a decent barrel with a 1/7 or 1/8 twist and free float handguard? Can you shoot 1 MOA groups in the prone? Well, roger that, you’ve got what they were after nearly twenty years ago. But that should also tell you just how far we’ve come in the AR department (and in weaponcraft in general) when a basic AR layout available just about everywhere can meet their accuracy goals from back then. Not a bad problem to have.

I’ve talked about my own SPR a few times. Nothing fancy, a BCM Recce 16, Geissele SOCOM Rail, Harris bipod and a Primary Arms 1-8×24 ACSS scope. It works, and as the guys in the Scout Course know, it works really well. Little bit on the heavy side for humping up and down the hills, but that’s mainly due to the weight of the Geissele. Solid as a rock but it weighs a ton on the gun.

Enter a lighter setup. One of my other accurized rifles is much lighter (nearly a pound) and is nearly as mission capable for all practical purposes while being faster in the hands. Its my own Recce setup- deadly to 500, light weight, and extremely reliable. I’m running a Palmetto State 14.7in FN chrome lined barrel AR-15, milspec trigger, magpul rail sling mount, VTAC sling, Tango Down grip, my trusty old bombproof TA-01 ACOG, and only the finest Krylon paint. Nothing fancy, not going to win any beauty contests or cool guy wannabe awards, but the gun is rugged, simple, runs like a Swiss watch and has all the accuracy you’ll need to be lethal at longer ranges than the other guy.

Like every tool, the Recce rifle has a place and a purpose. But with a basic 16 inch barreled AR, decent ammo, a decent optic, and most important, training in the fundamentals of marksmanship and the small unit context to get to that final firing position, a small team of riflemen can use those skills as major force multipliers. The nice thing is that today, unlike those formative years developing those setups, the options are damn near unlimited, and not overwhelmingly expensive. Taking into account the vast number of very basic, but very good, common off the shelf AR-15s that are out there, the only thing limiting you is your own level of training.

 

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About the Author: NC Scout

NC Scout is the nom de guerre of a former Infantry Scout and Sergeant in one of the Army’s best Reconnaissance Units. He has combat tours in both Iraq and Afghanistan. He teaches a series of courses focusing on small unit skills rarely if ever taught anywhere else in the prepping and survival field, including his RTO Course which focuses on small unit communications. In his free time he is an avid hunter, bushcrafter, writer, long range shooter, prepper, amateur radio operator and Libertarian activist. He can be contacted at [email protected] or via his blog at brushbeater.wordpress.com .

14 Comments

  1. Matt Bracken April 23, 2020 at 09:29

    Going back to the early 1980s, SEAL Teams were enamored of the Brits. If the SAS and/or SBS did it or used it, it had to be better.

    For example, we switched from the Vietnam-era 14-man SEAL platoon to the SAS-style 16-man platoon. 14 in reality meant 2 seven-man patrols, it was extremely rare for all 14 men in a SEAL platoon to participate in an op, they would generally take turns going out, night after night. Seven was thought to be just right for enough firepower, not too much noise, good control from point to rear security, and enough guys to carry out a WIA while still providing supporting fire. Then in the early 80s, following the SAS, we switched to 16, to operate as 4-man “elements” or 8-man “squads” etc. Old Vietnam-era combat veteran SEALs hated 4-man patrols; they considered them too light to both fight and carry out a WIA. If you get a WIA, you are stuck, unless you have a QRF ready for rescue. Under triple canopy, this was rarely the case. (As it would be today for patriots in the bush.)

    Why this long-winded non-sequitur reply? It’s all about our damn love affair with the British SAS and SBS, always keeping them on a high pedestal.
    What the hell was wrong with the good old American word RECON? As in Recon Marine, or Recon Patrol? Or Recon Carbine?

    I could never get used to using “Recce,” pronounced “wrecky,” short for reconnaissance.
    Why the hell not just RECON, dammit? Do I have to wear a beret with a unit badge on it, and carry a tea pot to say “recce” with the correct British accent?

    Please dump that snobby snotty British abbreviate “recce,” unless you graduated from Hereford.
    We are Americans, dammit, so it’s a Recon Marine, Recon Patrol, and Recon Carbine!
    At least it is to me. I’ll never say or right “recce.”
    Rant Over
    Bracken Out.

    • NC Scout April 23, 2020 at 11:15

      Its not an exclusive British term. Recon is an activity. Recce is a label for whatever equipment you’re carrying, normally purpose built or modified for the task of Recon.

      I trained with South Africans who use the term, even had a whole unit named ‘The Recces’. Many of the TTPs and doctrine they came up with from Rhodesian vets, their own war with Angola, and combined with Vietnam experience brought it to the Army Special Recon schools. None of them, to my knowledge, graduated from Hereford. It is (or was, just a few years back) widely used in the US Army now.

  2. Matt Bracken April 23, 2020 at 09:39

    Another reason for a short to mid-length barrel on your patrol carbine: it won’t get hung up on shrubbery while patrolling at night, and won’t get stuck on obstacles during CQB. With a 2-point sling and your right hand on the grip, your left can reach out past the muzzle to guide you through the vines and brush. In small unit patrolling, that’s where you should be, to stay hidden, not out on roads or in fields, where you can be observed. A long barrel is just a PITA because it will keep getting hung up and need to be pulled back and cleared, not exactly stealthy on patrol.

    While I’m on this, I’ll note my go-to patrol carbine has a 14.5″ barrel with a permanent muzzle comp. It works okay as a flash suppressor, and a benefit I discovered along the way is that it’s significantly quieter out a few 100 yards in front (where the bad guys would be). This is the balance for being louder to the sides (where your friends are) while you are on line moving forward or backward in contact.

    To find out what different weapons sound like and look like at night from the front, it’s worthwhile to shoot past one another under controlled, safe conditions, with good comms and solid, safe cover. It’s important to know what different weapons will sound like and look like at night, at different ranges. As far as I know, nobody does this in training, but IMHO they should.

  3. Atlas Shrug April 23, 2020 at 10:19

    Matt – Amen on RECON! I’ve built a couple such setups for myself, and I call ‘em “Recon Carbines” or RC for short (plus it kinda is nostalgic for e good ole RC Cola that used to be more prevalent in the South).

    That whole “recce” word is garbage (and not even a word).

    Keep your powder dry,
    Atlas Shrug

  4. Philip Lewis April 23, 2020 at 11:21

    I’m right there with you Matt.
    I’m most of a generation behind you in the community, class 148(1987). I grew up with the 16 man platoon at SEAL Team 4, and remember the Vietnam vets still there were talking/complaining about the changes to the original structure. The UK influence was very much there with our diving SOPs and most significantly with our CQB TTPs, ala MP-5s and all the rest. ST-6 had only been active since 1980, and all of their ideas and founding TTPs were SAS based, as I was told. Fast forward a few years and I’m at NSWDG in the early 90’s. The organization of the force was (logically) Navy based. The smallest group of operators was the “Boat crew”, organized into “Elements”, formed into an assault “Team”. It was during this time that the “RECCE Rifle” came into being. The first models built by John K. and Victor B., and then perfected by John C. until the HK 416 variant came into play. They used Lilja barrels if I recall correctly, all hand built from barrel blanks. Never did understand why RECCE was used, when all we did was beach RECON, Leader’s RECON, and Target RECON….
    All was well enough until the 9/11 years, and once again the Army, influenced by the UK-SOF model, simply couldn’t ever understand how those Navy guys in Va somewhere did things, so they just waved the magic wand and poof, we had “team” instead of boat crew, “troop” instead of element, and “squadron” instead of assault team. Nobody has served at a “SEAL Team” in almost 20 years, they’ve been at a squadron, just like the US Army/Hereford guys….
    I never really got over the name switches, and left that command in 2007. Retired in 2012 with 26.5 years. Still feel a little bitter toward the Army and NSW for letting go of even more of our legacy, and having destroyed the original, self-sustaining capabilities of the SEAL platoon concept, to go along with the big Army model. Oh well, at least I got to see and live in the good old days!
    -Phil Lewis

  5. Anonymous April 23, 2020 at 11:26

    5

  6. Leroy April 23, 2020 at 12:05

    Is everybody ok with house arrest? What’s your line in the sand? I say May 1st. Let’s steal a commie holiday from them.

  7. Berglander April 23, 2020 at 13:02

    Great read, thanks. I really appreciate what you’ve put together here. Aaaaanddd….I hate to say it, my main rifle is a PSA with an ACOG, very similar to yours. I hate that I’ve spent more money on nicer rifles, and yet my main one is a PSA…and it works damned well.

    Quick question on your paint job-looks like you’ve got the UW Gear Minuteman in Woodland (great rig, and GREAT pattern!) If that’s what fits your environment, why did you choose to go so light on your rifle’s camouflage?

    • NC Scout April 23, 2020 at 13:08

      Thanks man!

      I actually have a few of those rigs. That one is in woodland because…woodland is cool. But the one I’ve been using the longest is in ATACS-FG, which goes pretty well with the muted tan, brown and green that I paint my gear in.

  8. Anonymous April 23, 2020 at 13:19

    3.5

  9. Czar Of Recon April 24, 2020 at 14:35

    Have you heard about the RM277 with a 6.8mm hybrid round? It is slated to be the next squad weapon for US Army.

    • NC Scout April 25, 2020 at 00:08

      Yeah. Looks pretty neat.

  10. brunop May 5, 2020 at 03:06

    “No one does that during training – but they should.”

    Mosby / Mountain Guerilla has been doing that for at least a few years. We did it in patrol classes in St. Maries, and we did it in Oregon in the Coast Range. Didn’t spend a lot of time on it – just enough to: a) be safe, and b) get familiarization with the sounds of various rifles’ incoming rounds. IIRC, AR-15s in .223, AKs in 7.62×39, and an FAL in .308.

    • NC Scout May 5, 2020 at 04:13

      As do I.

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