Unique Alpine

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The Unique Alpine - by RobHunter

Wegenerally like to feature a custom rifle for our Rifle of the Month and wehave got a couple in the pipeline but meanwhile, RobHunter has kindly sent usa review of the Unique Alpine. This works in quite well becausewe hope tobring you a review of another Unique - this time made by the French Uniquefirm. Itis a very similar piece of kit, particularly the action and the uniquebarrel fitting system.Take it away Rob .I have to admit it, when it comes to rifles, I'm biased. For me, if a rifle isn'tinherently accurate (for accurate read half MOAor less) then it's not for me.

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The Unique Alpinecan bedismantled in a couple of minutes with just three Allen keysAt a glance, the TPG1 is obviously designed with ergonomics in mind but theuse of CADtechnology and high-grade materials means that it shoots as goodas it looks.Art or ScienceStarting at the rear of this work of art, the stock is semi skeletonised and is inits self an amazing piece of workmanship. The stock and fore-end hand-grip aremade from a high-impact synthetic plastic which comes in a range of single ormulti-mix colours that are molded through, so no problems with scratches ordings.The grip is a thumbhole design which is quite straight - or upright - with moldedtextured anti-slip finger grips and awrist shelf at the base, all of which makesfor a very comfortable shooting position. The stock itself can be adjusted to fitalmost any size or shape of shooter. The length of pull, butt plate, cheek-pieceheight and lateral movement are all fully adjustable and if all that wasn'tenough, hidden within the stock is an adjustable ground spike to help controlmovement with the off-hand whilst shooting.

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Multi-adjustable butt-stockHowever, the really unusual feature of the butt-stock is the ability to detach itfrom the action simply by slackening-off a socket-head screw at the top of thegrip and sliding the stock assembly rearwards. A handy feature if transportationspace is at a premium. There is one more advantage of the nylon stock; I knowof at least two other manufactures who use an aluminum chassis system andboth give off a metallic ring when fired, which is very irritating. The nylon stockdeadens any such residual noise from the metal to metal transfer at the action.

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Butt-stock is quicklyremoved for compact transportationMoving forward to the action - a standard turn bolt set up - the body is madefrom an high-grade aluminum which is finished in a mil. spec matt-blackcoating. The bolt has three large locking lugs and a ball handle for easyoperation. The action is smooth without any bolt wobble and the lock up on theaction has a good solid feel. On top of the action is a steel multi slotted scoperail with a built-in 20 MOArake.

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,TheCNCmachinedaluminium action is built to a very high standard

The action fits snugly into the full-length aluminum chassiswhich extendsforward the full length of the fore-end. This is where the use of CADtechnologycomes in. In order for this mating of metal to metal surfaces to work, this fithas to be perfect - which of course it is and because the action and the chassisare made of the same high-grade F33aluminum billet, they provide the sameexpansion properties thus avoiding any distortion between the two parts whenheated - whether this is by ambient or firing generated temperatures.The use of a metal chassis and the solid nylon stock does add to the overallweight and the rifle weighs in at 6.2 kg. This is slightly heavier than averagebut I like this, it gives a sense of quality and security and makes the felt recoilseem a lot less than it actually is. The other plus with a heavier rifle is thedegree of muzzle-flip - and thus loss of sight picture - is greatly reduced.The action holds a 5-shot single-stack drop out magazine made of pressed-steeland because of the single-stack, feeding is clean and positive with no hang-ups.The trigger-unit for which you have the choice of single or double stage - thisone had a single stage - had a crisp clean break which was every bit as good asany aftermarket replacement. Both units are break adjustable from 600g to1500g and can be adjusted for pull-length depending on the length of shootersfinger. This is another nice feature - the amount of people that I see trying tooperate a trigger using the joint of the finger instead of the ball still amazes me.When I first saw pictures of this rifle, the only thing that I wasn't to sure of wasthe safety catch. This is part of the bolt assembly and is positioned on the rearof the bolt and at first glance has the look of a pistol hammer. In practice, its

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placement works very well and its easy to see if you have moved it to the 'safe'position without any head-movement from the shooting position.Changing the barrelMoving to the barrel, which is arguably the most important bit on any rifle, themedium-weight 650mm stainless-steel tube is fully free-floating. The profiletapers from 1.135 inches at the breech to 0.945 in. at the crown. Fluting comesas standard on all Unique Alpine barrels and there is an optional factory muzzle-brake for larger calibers. Speaking of calibers, U-Aoffer all the standardchamberings from 223 Rem. to 338 Lap. Magaswell as specials like .22 PPC,6mm BRand 6.5x284.Now, here's the best bit - as this is a modular system, the barrels are easilyinterchangeable! By simply loosening a small internal socket-head bolt andthree smaller locking screws, the barrel and the screw-on bushing that holds itin place, simply slides forward and out. Simple and quite brilliant. The processof removing and replacing a barrel can beaccomplished in a matter of minuteswithout a major change to the point of impact. The 'bushing' actually housesthe bolt locking-lugs and it is this unique feature which makes the barrel-swapand head-spacing possible.

Barrel can be swappedin a couple of minutes - including headspacingI had three barrels to test - 6mm BR,308 and 6.5x284. All were brand-newunfired barrels, plus the ammunition used was a mixture of home-loads fromother rifles that I had to hand. I test-shot thethree-shot groups off a bi-pod resting on a bench at 100 yards in a moderatecross-wind. I'm sure the groups shown would improve once the barrels hadbeen broken-in and with a bit of load development.

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with any barrel

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Half-MOAaccuracy

In theory you could have a 6mmBR, 243, 308 and 6.Sx284 all on the same boltface. This is a really big selling point - nowaiting months or longer for agunsmith to replace your shot out barrels, DIY in minutes! This advantagemeans you could have in essence have a caliber for all occasions on the onechassis.Maintenance of this rifle is designed to bedone by the owner, without anyspecial training and the whole rifle can be field-stripped for cleaning or justchanging parts with a few simple tools. If you have something you can't handlethen RussMoorse and Stefan Holme at U-A know more about the design andbuild of this rifle than just about anyone and have been extremely helpful.The versatility of this uniquely designed rifle combines technically superioradjustable ergonomics with some of the best 'out of the box' accuracyperformance I have ever seen. If you've just started rifle shooting or you wantto upgrade to a unit that will fulfill all your shooting needs, then in my humbleopinion this is the only rifle you will ever need.

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Probably the best 'out of the box' the factory rifle availableWith one chassis and several barrels you could have a benchrest, foxing,tactical and 1000yd match rifle all for a fraction of the cost of four separateunits.Is there anything I would add to improve this rifle? Well all I would do is threadthe barrel for a sound moderator but if this is your thing, U-Aalready sell a fullymoderated 308 barrel. Coming in at around t.2S00 this is not a cheap rifle butwhen you look at what you get for your money, I think the TPG1worth everypenny.RobHunterHunters Of England

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Unique Alpine Calibres

Calibre Barrel Twist Rate Fluted Barrel Lands Magazine Muzzle MagaBrake Capa.223 Rem. 650mm 9" standard 6 optional 10.243 Win. 650mm 10" standard 6 optional 107mm-08 Rem. 650mm 9" standard 6 optional optional 10.308 Win. 650mm 12" standard 6 optional optional 10

.308 Win. Subsonic. 450mm 10" 6 optional 106.5x55 Swedish Mauser 650mm 8" standard 6 optional optional 10

.300 Win. Mag. 650mm 10" standard 6 optional optional 7.300 Rem. Ultra Mag. 650mm 10" standard 6 optional optional 7

.338 Lapua Mag. TPG 2 700mm 10" standard 6 optional standard 7Bench Rest.22 PPC 650mm 14" standard 6 no 1

6mm Norma BR 650mm 8" standard 6 no 1