BlackOps Precision Current Owners and Potential Owners Info

[JSTARSZ]

I have been a Sniper's Hide member for just over five years and it has been the worst thing and the best thing that ever happened to my weapons knowledge base; bad for the pocket book but great for knowledge. I would like to take a quick time out to thank Lowlight for a great informational site. Without this site I would have never got to meet and befriend Mike Bush, the Owner and CEO of BlackOps Precision, along with Tim Cronin and Colton Bagnoli, the master gun dudes behind the scenes that make these rifles as crazy accurate as they are. I would love to make this a sticky for BlackOps owners to exchange rifle pics, loads, and other items of information that BlackOps precision owners would require to build that perfect load but that isn't up to me.

I first came upon BlackOps Precision a couple of years ago when I was looking for my first custom build. I did a lot of research and talked to quite a few builders then I came across Mike Bush. I called BlackOps and got a hold of Mike in an airport, traveling who knows where, but he was kind enough to walk me through my options for a build which turned into a BlackOps Perseus.

I liked that one so much that it wasn't even a year later when I was calling Mike Bush again looking for another build. And, this is where it gets trick,y but, also shows the class act of Mike and crew. I ordered up a Recon in 308 and Mike took the order and off he went. About six months into the build I was talking to Mike and discussing my loading and how with my 20" 308 was getting 2580 fps but I wanted more. Now, he could have said, well juice up the load, but what he did was to take a whole different turn and approach. He told me he would think about what to do and email me back. He emailed me and told me I should go with a Creedmoor for my build. Which I said, well, I thought you were close to already finishing the 308. What he said next blew me away, he said, that's OK, we will finish that rifle and and I will sale it to someone. Now, this is a left handed rifle so it isn't the easiest to sale. He said they will start a new Creedmoor build for me...which he did, and let me tell you something, that rifle is an absolute hammer.

This is it and I couldn't be more happy; but, lets face it, not everyone would do that for a client and maybe Mike wished he didn't for me too. But, he did, and I am forever grateful for an owner that took the time to educate a rifle junky.

I am sure I am not the only guy with a Mike Bush story so feel free to chime in.

 

[JSTARSZ]

Let's talk some load data/ballistic data for my Creedmoor since I have been working with the most lately. The newest rifle in gets played with the most.

Data on rifle - Bartlein 22.5" barrel
Load Data:
I am using RL17/142 Sierra BTHP for loading the Creedmoor - I started my ladder test at 41 grains and worked up to 42.5 grains. I found a nice node between 42 and 42.5 and the FPS was around the same as commercial Hornady 140 AMAX. I worked until I got what I was looking for and I have settled on 42.3gr of RL17 with a COAL of 2.840" - very long bullet very much like a VLD.

Sierra 142 BTHP: 42.3 GR/RL-17 - 2.840 COAL - 10 rounds on CED m2 Chronograph - 45 degrees/35% Humidity and 400ft altitude
2718
2707
2703
2698
2721
2720
2704
2725
2734
2734
H: 2734
L: 2698
ES: 36
SD: 12.2
AV: 2716

That is close to where the commercial 140 AMAX is so I settled there as it gave me good FPS and great accuracy. I got to take the rifle out for some work the last couple of weekends to start to get my elevations down for the rifle. I have some data points to work with: My home range has the longest point at 460 yards so that is my first point of data. I then got a chance to air it out this weekend at my in-laws place where I could get a target to 880 yards so I placed one at 580 Yards and one 880 yards. This is rugged terrain and you have to carry your steel up hill through brier patches so two targets were enough for me to lug up with my shooting partner.

Yards: Weather - 55 degrees/38% Humidity/455 ft Altitude
460 - 8.25 MOA
580 - 11.5 MOA
880 - 23 MOA

I took these data points and started putting them into JBM and found it didn't work well with the original 2716FPS but the numbers corresponded best to 2840fps. I will continue to check these points as I get to shoot other locations and other temperature patterns.

 

[JSTARSZ]

To the 308 Perseus - 20" Bartlein 1:10 Twist barrel

178 AMAX Load - 44.5 Grains of Winchester 748:
2559
2569
2569
2569
2569
2574
2574
2578
2578
2583
2583
2583
2583
2588
2588
2588
2594
2599
2599
2599
2609
2583 AVG
12.66679198 ST DEV
50 ES

308 - 178 AMAX 2585 FPS
Range Drop
(yd) IPHY
Range Drop
(yd) (MOA)
100 0
150 1
200 2
250 3.5
300 5.25
350 7
400 8.75
450 10.75
500 12.75
550 15
600 17.5
650 20
700 22.75
750 25.75
800 29
850 32.25
900 36
950 40
1000 44

 

[bohem]

JSTARZ, I gotta say... I'm jealous and you're just making my impatient waiting worse!

I have a 911 receiver from back before the rebranding and it's one of the smoothest receivers I've felt. I have a 300WM tube on it now, Ply1951Guy & I were lobbing in 208's from almost 2000yd over the weekend with it.

I have a 6.5CM Perseus on order right now and I'm looking forward to the day that I can post up some pictures of my own BlackOps. Mike's CS and the attention to detail from everyone at BlackOps is Tier 1, anyone else with a BlackOps?

I think a Jaeger may be in my future sometime too...

 

[Icallem]

will comment in the morning, As it turns out, I have the Recon you passed on. Just so you know, that was a mistake for you!

 

[Coltster]

VERY nice rifle JSTARSZ! Can't wait for my 300 Norma Jaeger, Colton at BOP has been extremely helpful with answering all my questions in a timely manor. Good customer service like that is hard to find these days, plus they are MT guys so their gtg in my book

 

[SavageStag]

Mike is a class act for sure.

 

[71firebird400]

I've been more than happy with my Jaeger (338LM). Shoots well under it's accuracy guarantee and the fit/finish is outstanding.

 

[Rthur]

Mike built me a Infidel in 260 with a aics 2.0. It had 48 rounds through it when I arrived at Rifles Only. I was shooting loads built by Southwest ammo. Lapua 139s at 2740ish. It is a hammer. Frank shot it while I was there and said it was a fricken laser. I have been more than pleased with the rifle. It now has 2k+ on the barrel. The defiance action took a little breaking in with the ceracoat but the dust at RO took care of that. If I was in the market for another rifle Mike would be on the short list of places I would buy one from.

R

 

[JSTARSZ]

will comment in the morning, As it turns out, I have the Recon you passed on. Just so you know, that was a mistake for you!

that's ok, the Creedmoor is just fine with me. I am glad the 308 found a nice home to live with nice people and gets out to play often

 

[Icallem]

When you were going to get the Recon, it had a 22 inch barrel. As Mike knows, the large percentage of my shooting is from 600 in, so he cut the barrel to 16 inch, threaded it 3/4-24 and sold me a direct thread Thunderbeast. I was going to not shoot the rifle until the can was here, but being like a kid at Christmas, I could not wait and took it out the other day. Like everything I have seen from BOP, it shoots little bitty holes!
Glad for you that the CM is shooting well, but neither one of us thought it would do anything different.

 

[Icallem]

Shoots well under it's accuracy guarantee and the fit/finish is outstanding.


That is an understatment with everything I have from Mike.

 

[buckey]

Another satisfied customer of BlackOps here - Mike and crew are top-notch!!

 

[SFree]

You guys want to make me stick my finger down my throat, Congratulations... jerks

 

[JSTARSZ]

You guys want to make me stick my finger down my throat, Congratulations... jerks

Scott, you know you want to lossen the purse strings and pull the trigger on a BlackOps rifle. We will not think any less of you when you break down and give them a call and start the tour and Preston deserrrrrrves a BlackOps lefty rifle anyways so go ahead...dial the number to accuracy.

 

[SFree]

Scott, you know you want to lossen the purse strings and pull the trigger on a BlackOps rifle. We will not think any less of you when you break down and give them a call and start the tour and Preston deserrrrrrves a BlackOps lefty rifle anyways so go ahead...dial the number to accuracy.

I'll put my Jeep on the market and I'll still have to cash in my annuity... Yea, that's the ticket!
I've got plenty of string, just no purse.

 

[Speeddog]

I'm waiting for Mike and co to complete a new Ravage build for me: Manners T4A stock, match barrel/new Ravage action, etc. etc. etc. I'm a great fan of .22 "trainers" and plan to replace the Annie 64MPR I'm currently using with this.

According to Mike, this "MAY" be done in time for some summer matches. If not, no biggie: Mike's been a pleasure to work with and I'm really looking forward to the build. Will post pics once I have the rifle.

 

[SFree]

Is Mr. Bush ever gonna clue us little peeps in on his changes in product and design since the departure from Defiance?? Would love to see the alterations at the web site...

 

[JSTARSZ]

Is Mr. Bush ever gonna clue us little peeps in on his changes in product and design since the departure from Defiance?? Would love to see the alterations at the web site...

I will let Mike discuss that part of his company and what his future plans are. I am just a fan of their work!

 

[DeSnifter]

I talked to Mike yesterday and my JAEGER is the next one in queue for chamber and barrel, so it should be soon now. Hopefully I will see my SPECTER sometime in July.

 

[JSTARSZ]

I talked to Mike yesterday and my JAEGER is the next one in queue for chamber and barrel, so it should be soon now. Hopefully I will see my SPECTER sometime in July.

DeSnifter, We expect some really nice pictures and load data for the JAEGER when you get it.

 

[Monchichi]

Damn JStarzs those are probably the cleanest rifles I've ever seen. That multicam finish is nothing short of amazing. Where are all the other current Blackops/Skunkworks rifle owners? I know there are more out there. I ordered a 20" .308 from Mike. It's going to be used for work so I'll be getting all the free ammo I can shoot in 168gr HPBT. I can't wait. I'm gonna have to save up for a quality scope. I ended up wasting the money I had already set aside. I used it to order a Blackops 1911 HA!

Mon

 

[BlackOps Tech]

Is Mr. Bush ever gonna clue us little peeps in on his changes in product and design since the departure from Defiance?? Would love to see the alterations at the web site...

I'd like to start out by thanking JSTARZ for starting this thread, which illustrates what a close knit community we are as shooting enthusiasts. I also want to thank our customers whom have stuck with us through thick and thin. We've experienced a lot together throughout the preceding couple of years and I appreciate each and every customer we have. In addition, I have a great appreciation for the vendors that we've chosen to continue to use as part of what we do, such as Manners Composite Stocks and Bartlein Barrels.

Things have changed quite a lot for us over the last 12 months. Some changes have been challenging and some have been highly welcome, but we're continuing to grow and we're certainly not going away. Basically, I've welcomed the challenges as an opportunity to continue to separate what we do and how we do it from that of others. One of these changes is that Michelle is no longer in our shop. Those of you that have communicated with her on a regular basis can reach me directly via email at [email protected], or Colton via email at [email protected]. Our shop number is back to the original number, 406-892-1850 and you'll encounter any of us answering the phone during normal working hours. We're also no longer partnered with Mission Arms Group as our Sales and Marketing firm and have reeled those responsibilities back into a smaller, tighter knit crew within BlackOps Technologies....namely Colton and myself.

As many of you may know, we're no longer using Defiance Machine to manufacture our actions. There are many reasons for this, but this is one of those welcome changes that will allow us to really step it up in the area of rifle actions. We're gearing up to manufacture our own actions, and I'll make a public assurance here that the level of quality and design will far exceed that of the actions that we used to have our name on.

I won't divulge here what makes our actions far better, but I believe enough in our designs that it should be quite obvious when we release them. We'll release our hunting weight actions first, followed by our precision rifle actions and after that, it really gets interesting. One of the coolest aspects of our actions is that when we say that a certain feature measures "X," rest assured, it will measure "X." You'll never see a centerline that isn't perpendicular or parallel to other features and then hear one of us tell you that, "you're not measuring it right," or "you're measuring the tool and not the feature."

We'll continue to offer our DBMs and Night Vision Mounts as part of our builds and as stand alone components. We've made a few improvements to our DBMs and I have a few surprises in store in this area as well.

Again, a big thank you to our customers and chosen vendors and as it has always been, I'll be available to each of you should you have questions or concerns. We'll also continue to hold ourselves to the high standards of what our customers have experienced with our rifles. Uncompromising accuracy, our unequaled fit and finish quality and attention to detail.

 

[buckey]

Good info Mike - thanks for sharing.

Now you have really got our attentions - can't wait to see the in-house actions!!

 

[bohem]

I tried so hard not to read through this thread after I posted in it...

Now I'm really drooling from seeing the other owners on here. BOOA, BlackOps Owners Anonymous should be the title of this one ;-)

I know I speak for everyone when I say that I'm really looking forward to seeing the new actions coming out

 

[JSTARSZ]

Whenever I see and hear Mike talk about all these upcoming changes I start peaking into the safe to see what I can sale to save up some money. Got to agree bohem, I may need the BOOA to come and stage an intervention on my life and checking account much the chagrin of my wife. And, no, in no uncertain terms, will my two BOP rifles ever see the light a day on the SH For Sale boards. My wife would have to...better leave that off the thread.

 

[cloudy]

Here is one Mike put together for me. I spent about a year collecting parts and sent them off to have it all put together. I could not be happier with the finished product, fit and finnish is amazing. Mike's work it some of the best!

Specs:
Defiance rebel action
Rock Creek M24 barrel cut at 22", fluted
Surgeon DBM
BOP Timney trigger
McMillan A1-3 stock
Badger EFR
Badger rings
SWFA SS 5-20
Krylon paint job

 

[Jaxdialation]

Great rifles all around guys.

I just haven't found the need to go BOP when Surgeon and Georgia Precision make hammers in so many configurations.

Congrats on your fine weapons!

 

[JSTARSZ]

Mike was out in Virginia this weekend so we thought a range day out would do everyone good. It was a nice day on the range and as he had his Perseus and I had mine so we had to take a nice family pic of the two of them on the range.



Mike's rifle is on the left and mine is on the right. Every time Mike comes out to visit my steel targets always break; well at least the welds do. I am not saying he brings a bad omen from Montana but you have to think after awhile. I actually think it was the 338's fault as we only had 350 yards to shoot today and I think the pressure was just too much for the bracket to survive the Lapua onslaught.

 

[JSTARSZ]

Here is one Mike put together for me. I spent about a year collecting parts and sent them off to have it all put together. I could not be happier with the finished product, fit and fishing is amazing. Mike's work it some of the best!

Specs:
Defiance rebel action
Rock Creek M24 barrel cut at 22", fluted
Surgeon DBM
BOP Timney trigger
McMillan A1-3 stock
Badger EFR
Badger rings
SWFA SS 5-20
Krylon paint job

That is a really nice looking rifle. Looks battle hardened and I bet it is an absolute hammer and since it is a left hander it is all that much better.

 

[BlackOps Tech]

Mike was out in Virginia this weekend so we thought a range day out would do everyone good. It was a nice day on the range and as he had his Perseus and I had mine so we had to take a nice family pic of the two of them on the range.



Mike's rifle is on the left and mine is on the right. Every time Mike comes out to visit my steel targets always break; well at least the welds do. I am not saying he brings a bad omen from Montana but you have to think after awhile. I actually think it was the 338's fault as we only had 350 yards to shoot today and I think the pressure was just too much for the bracket to survive the Lapua onslaught.

Thanks again Tim for the hospitality. It was a perfect day and the shooting was awesome....and next time the BBQ is on me. I'll be back in a couple months.

 

[cloudy]

JSTARSZ I love this rifle! I'm going to be sending my rifle back to BOP for a new barrel and brake for a surefire suppressor. I'm also gonna send my stock and scope out to USGUNWORKS for some new paint, I may have to steal your paint scheme I love the multi-cam. I can't decide between that and the flectarn. And being a lefty makes it that much better, I'd love to shoot that thing.

 

[R.Walters]

I will find a UGSW build one of these days! not knocking the new name, just loved the old name so much!

Nice rifles JSTARSZ and Mike! Wouldnt mind hammering some steel with you one day soon, shoot me a pm if you want to

 

[JSTARSZ]

I will find a UGSW build one of these days! not knocking the new name, just loved the old name so much!

Nice rifles JSTARSZ and Mike! Wouldn't mind hammering some steel with you one day soon, shoot me a pm if you want to

I was also attached the UGSW name too but when you have to change it due to legal reason then you are kind of stuck.

 

[Bruiser_Joe]

 

[Bruiser_Joe]

 

[Bruiser_Joe]

 

[sniperdude]

ill have one of each please , I might even take the ones with the bolt on the wrong side

 

[JSTARSZ]

BigJoe, loving the Ranch Rifle...how is it shooting?

 

[Bruiser_Joe]

its not mine it was mike's when i shot it, i was very impressed. very handy, easy to shoot offhand. would make a great LEO rifle, very similar to a tac ops tango

 

[mossyoak79]

Guess I'm part of this club. . .with my Newley acquired Perseus

 

[JSTARSZ]

Guess I'm part of this club. . .with my Newley acquired Perseus

you are...I really like that Perseus. You will have to let us know how it shoots.

 

[AEROMechanic]

Well crap...

 

[Dan M]

http://www.snipershide.com/shooting...lack-ops-precision-closing-business-down.html

 

[VJJPunisher]

here's a pic of mine, its the documented new action, see below

 

[RCS1278]

So what happened to Mike and BOP anyways?

 

[KYS]

So what happened to Mike and BOP anyways?

Read the thread that Dan M linked above your post.

 

[JSTARSZ]

Wow that was over a year ago when I started this thread... That's a lot of water under that bridge in a short amount of time. I still love my BlackOps rifles but I wish it could have turned out differently.