The ARC Angel — Our Ultimate 6mm ARC Rifle Build

Yes, I'm wearing a plate carrier in this one. I did a video on it earlier and just decided to keep it on — so for all you haters wondering why: just because I felt like it. Now, the build. This is the ARC Angel, an AR-platform rifle in 6mm ARC. Up top is a Delta Team Tactical 18-inch 6mm ARC upper — I'm a huge fan of this upper, it looks completely sick. Underneath it is a Battle Arms Development lower; I've said it before, I absolutely love, love, love their lowers.

For glass we went with the Swamp Fox Warhorse, a 1-6 first focal plane LPVO. I couldn't think of anything better to put on a battle rifle. There's also an Emissary handbrake, a Sentry Strap keeping the sling locked in, a padded Blue Force Gear Vickers sling, and a B5 stock — we haven't run many Bravos on our guns, but it seemed fitting on this one.

We also put the Athlon Rangecraft chronograph to work. Man, you want to talk bang for the buck — these things run right around 300 bucks, way cheaper than the Garmin, and so far it's been absolutely spectacular for us. Setup is stupid easy: start a session, punch in your bullet weight, and boom. You can pair it to your phone for full ballistics too — I forgot to download the app and the signal at the ranch is garbage, so that part's a screen recording, but it works.

The numbers: shooting Hornady Black 105-grain, the ARC Angel ran 2647, 2682, 2683, and 2668 — call it 80 to 90 feet per second under the advertised 2750, which I'd say is pretty good. For comparison, we ran green tip through a PSA Jakl in 5.56 and averaged right around 2500. So the six ARC is running roughly 185 feet per second faster, and that's just straight velocity — the bigger story is trajectory. Per the box, you've got a 1.9-inch rise at 100, dead zero at 200, and only 7.8 inches of drop at 300. This thing shoots super flat inside 300 yards, which is exactly why I picked this cartridge for a battle rifle instead of another 7.62 or 5.56.

Funny story: two days after I talked to Delta Team Tactical about this upper, they posted a 6mm ARC giveaway gun already named the Archangel. Damn it, guys — that's exactly what I'm calling this gun, I'd already done all the graphics. So if you see theirs and mine, they're not the same rifle. Mine's the one with the Warhorse on it. Also, go find John-with-an-H over at Swamp Fox and make fun of him — I'm just kidding, he doesn't have a Kamala Harris tattoo on his back. Probably.

A few tweaks are coming. The Wheeler high rings are getting swapped for something taller — this is a battle rifle and I don't want to be crunching my head down all the time. Once the Hearing Protection Act gets through the Senate, I'll probably put a 6mm can on it, because six ARC is a pretty loud round. No light on this one — I shoot outside most of the time and this isn't a rifle I'd run indoors anyway.

As always out here, I'm wearing my ShellShock Protection: the Bluetooth electronic ear pro with the on/off indicator light — so you stop leaving your muffs on in the range bag — and the photochromatic glasses that go clear indoors and darken outside. They're a sponsor, but I run their stuff because I'm a believer in it.