Uintah Precision UP-10 Bolt-Action Rifle in 6mm Creedmoor: Full Review

Ernest Hemingway once described New York writers as “angleworms in a bottle,” a barb that spoke to the lack of original ideas and concepts coming from the city’s literary community. Sometimes the gun world feels like there are a lot of angleworms as well, peeking over the shoulder of the competition, borrowing the best ideas, and slapping their company’s logo on a “brand new” product.

It’s refreshing, then, when a truly intelligent and original idea hits the market, and that’s exactly how you would describe the Uintah Precision UPR10 (and its cousin the UPR15) uppers. To put it simply, these bolt-action uppers attach to a variety of standard AR lowers. The concept is simple, and perhaps the most difficult thing about owning one of these rifle systems is pronouncing the company name (yoo-IN-tah, like, “you inta precision?). In addition to their uppers, Uintah Precision offers complete rifles. The UP-10 utilizes a UPR10 upper and comes with a Magpul K2+ pistol grip and PRS Lite stock. The process of converting your UP-10 rifle to an AR is extraordinarily simple—just knock out two pins to transform the bolt gun into an AR.

The UP-10 rifle’s genesis story is very different than most rifles in that Uintah Precision’s parent company—Uintah Machine—has specialized in building heavy-duty coal mining equipment for several decades prior to building rifles. When Obama-era regulations limited coal production, the Hamilton family, who owned Uintah Machine, began working on other projects. One member of the family, Richard Hamilton, was an avid hunter and decided to build his own precision rifle.
“Richard Hamilton never even owned an AR rifle before designing the UP-10,” says Jason Baker, Uintah Precision’s director of marketing. “But he was a hunter, and he wondered why there had never been more crossover between bolt guns and ARs. That’s how the first UP-10 rifle came to pass.”

One reason that Uintah Precision guns have become so popular so quickly is the company’s fastidious attention to detail. The machining on these guns is ultra-precise, and you can even swap bolts between different UP-10 rifles without issue—or even impact shift. Tolerances are so tight that Baker relates a story about a friend of his who, in the process of cleaning his Uintah Precision rifle in anticipation of the opening day of hunting season, misplaced a spring from the bolt assembly. Baker remedied the situation by offering his friend the loan of his own UP-10 bolt, which functioned flawlessly in the hunter’s rifle.

UPR10/UPR15 uppers and UP-10/UP-15 complete rifles are built by Uintah Precision in their Utah facility, and these rifles and uppers have arrived at just the right time. Over the last decade, there’s been a marked hybridization between bolt guns and ARs. Today many tactical/precision bolt-action rifles boast AR-style features like aluminum handguards and QD and MLOK attachment points. But the UPR10 takes things a step further, creating a bolt-action upper that is patterned to fit in conjunction with an AR lower. One advantage to this design is familiarity: the AR-pattern guns are the most popular rifles in America and so many shooters are comfortable with the standard AR control layout and operation. Additionally, there are a lot of bolt-action shooters who like the idea of owning an AR and the UPR10 offers them a high-quality, precision-made target bolt gun that’s suitable for long-range competition shooting and hunting that can be converted to an AR in less than a minute. What’s more, the UPR10 upper is legal in all 50 states, including jurisdictions with restrictions on ARs.

The UPR10 upper receiver, which comes standard on the UP-10 complete rifle system, is machined from 7075-T6 billet aluminum and comes with a type 3 hardcoat anodized finish. A 20 MOA Picatinny rail is machined to the receiver and continues onto the 15-inch MLOK handguard. 416R barrels are standard, and carbon fiber-wrapped barrels are options. The 6.5 and 6mm Creedmoor steel barrel offerings come with a .81-inch diameter barrel, while the .308’s diameter is .90 inches. All barrels are threaded 5/8x24 so you can add a wide variety of accessories. The bolt itself is a three-lug design with a 60-degree bolt lift and just 10 parts and can be disassembled quickly and easily. It features an M-16-type extractor and plunger ejector, and the bolt body is made from precision machined 4140 steel. The bolt knob is threaded 5/16x24 so it can easily be swapped out of you’d like. All Uintah Precision rifles and uppers are available in right and left-hand configurations.

The UPR10 upper fits onto DPMS LR-308-style lowers (see the website for a full list). The UPR10 does not require a buffer tube or spring. Complete UP-10 rifles are available in 6mm and 6.5 Creedmoor and .308 Winchester. MSRP for the UPR10 upper range from $1,475 to $1,999 while the UP-10 complete rifles carry an MSRP of $2,375 to $2,850. These guns are backed by Uintah’s outstanding warranty and all parts are sourced in the USA, and all these rifles and uppers are guaranteed to shoot MOA or better with premium ammunition.

Why a Bolt Gun/AR Combo?

If you already have an AR-10, why would you transform the upper into a bolt gun? The answer is simple: versatility. By pressing out the pins on your AR you can transform it into a precision bolt gun that’s ready for competition. Of course, you can do this without modification to the existing lower and without sacrificing the AR’s blessed versatility. The UPR10 upper works with AR-10 style magazines, and you can easily swap out the included single-stage Velocity 3-pound trigger for a number of aftermarket options.

Legality is certainly one reason to own the UPR10 or a complete UP-10 rifle. States and cities continue to work to ban AR-pattern rifles, but the bolt-action UP-10 remains legal. The UPR10 and UP-10’s appeal isn’t limited strictly to areas where ARs are tightly regulated or banned altogether, though. My wife and son are left-eye dominant and consequently, they shoot left-handed. The Uintah Precision design allows me to purchase left-handed uppers, rendering my right-handed precision rifle suitable for a southpaw.

On a personal note, I love the flexibility of being able to carry a bolt gun and an AR is a single compact gun case. Moving through an airport on the way to a match, shooting course or hunt can be a hassle, but the modular design of the Uintah UP-10 makes it easy to transport. What’s more, you can easily swap out barrels on this rifle if you’re doing a lot of long-range shooting, which isn’t easy with all precision bolt guns. There’s also plenty of room for mounting night vision optic on the UP-10.

At the Range with the UP-10

I had an opportunity to test the UP-10 complete rifle in 6mm Creedmoor, and I must admit I was impressed before I ever laid eyes on the rifle. Uintah Precision ships these guns in a Plano hard-sided locking case that’s suitable for flying with firearms and large enough to accommodate the complete rifle and an AR-10 upper. That’s no slight add-on when pricing these guns: as someone who travels a lot and sees the damage baggage handlers inflict on firearm cases, I appreciate the inclusion of a quality hard-sided locking case with the purchase of this gun.

My test rifle was chambered in 6mm Creedmoor and came with a 22-inch 416R Match Grade Machine barrel with a Black Cerakote finish, 1:8 twist, .81-inch diameter and a threaded muzzle. Bolt operation was silky smooth, and that’s due in large part to the precision machining that goes into building each of these rifles. A 10-round magazine comes standard with these rifles, and there are nice touches throughout including serrations on the front of the flared mag well for shooting from barricade positions, an oversized trigger guard, and cutouts in the 7075 lower to reduce weight. The PRS lite stock is ideal for a variety of applications: it’s light enough to make this a suitable hunting rifle yet its nicely contoured for resting on a bag or bench and offers plenty of sling attachment points.

But let’s get to the important stuff, shall we? With Hornady Match and Precision Hunter 6mm Creedmoor ammunition, this rifle was a tack-driver, punching .7- and .8-inch holes in paper at 100 yards and maintaining sub-MOA accuracy out to 400 yards. The MLOK handguard made it simple to mount a bipod on the rifle and the top rail left room to spare with a magnified optic in place. The trigger broke at 3.1 pounds on average, and there were no mechanical hang-ups with the rifle during testing. One reason this rifle feeds so flawlessly is that one of the lugs orients downward during cycling to scoop the next round off the magazine. Taking the bolt out is simply a matter of pressing the rear pin and pulling backward.

Occasionally, an innovative firearm changes the entire gun market, and I believe the UPR10 upper and UP-10 rifles could be just such a product. Could it be in the future that most of our bolt guns and ARs ride on the same lowers? Perhaps, and if that’s the case you have Uintah Precision to thank.

For more information, visit: uintahprecision.com

Uintah Precision UP-10 6mm Creedmoor

• Action: Bolt-Action
• Cartridge: 6mm Creedmoor
• Receiver: Machined 7075-T6 billet, type 3 hard anodized
• Barrel: 22-inch Match Grade Machine, 1:8, Black Cerakote finish
• Weight: 7 pounds unloaded, no scope
• Trigger: Velocity Single-Stage, 3.1 lbs
• MSRP: $2,375 as tested
• Capacity: 10 ­rds. (standard)
• Trigger: 3 lbs. (tested)