By Ron Dan
You aren’t going to shoot your animal past 600 yards. Well, that’s true for at least the majority of you reading this. For the rest of you overachievers, even if you can do it ethically, a poke past 1K will be rare or nonexistent for most of your common hunting scenarios. When we work with companies to design guns, we build products based on real-world field use. Is it cool to say you can shoot your hunting rifle at 1,200 yards? Absolutely. Are you actually going to take an ethical shot at an animal at that distance? Unless you’re Terry Houin or a few of my other friends, please don’t even try this.
When I met with Gunwerks owner Aaron Davidson to develop projects like The Pygmy, I pushed for short, light, and fast designs. The Gunwerks Tiny AF was one of my favorite models they ever released because it broke out of the standard mold, and it’s a very practical rifle for many applications. We looked at the Tiny AF and asked how we could scale up that concept to build a versatile big-game rifle. That’s where The Mustache Ride came about.
The Gunwerks Mustache Ride
Short 300 PRCs were not a brand-new concept for Gunwerks. Derec Davidson already had success with this barreled-action concept, so it was already ballistically proven. Stealing inspiration from the Tiny AF, we also incorporated a great folding stock design that allows for a compact package without sacrificing any feel or shootability like a conventional folding chassis design would. Finally, we decided to go outside of the Gunwerks family to use our favorite suppressor, the Dead Air Nomad Ti OTB. I know it’s a big statement to call something our favorite at Field Ethos, but this can has taken the company by storm. On The Mustache Ride, the over-the-barrel design gives you an overall barrel length of just over 20 inches while also moving your center of gravity back towards the shooter for a wonderfully balanced package.
To feed this rifle, we’re sticking with Gunwerks’ proven 215-grain Hybrid Berger load. If you follow FE enough, you’ll know we generally lean toward the heaviest bullet option we can make work. Finally, on top of the rifle is a Revic Radikl RS21b scope. The technology on the Revic scopes make long-range hits easier and they incorporate well with the whole Revic family of optics.
The Complete Package
All together you have the best balance of the shortest and most compact package in the most effective chambering for the setup. This rife is built to take on any North American hunt at all practical distances. The size and chambering allow for one of the most versatile big-game rifles we’ve done so far.
Price: $14,900. Available directly through Gunwerks.
Pros: You will not find a more compact and capable rifle built by the rifle makers that give you the most confidence out of the box.
Cons: Do NOT make a habit of shooting this gun without the can on it. The blast and recoil will have you questioning everything.
