Advanced Tactical
Ordnance UHS-6.5

A Bacon Makin' 6.5 Creedmoor In AR Format

Written By Will Dabbs, MD

2019

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The addition of a reasonably priced thermal sight makes you a nighttime “hog vampire!”

Between 2006 and 2011 the feral hog population in America grew by 20 percent per year. Conservatively, they cause about 1.5 billion dollars’ worth of damage to crops annually. Like besieged characters in a bad zombie movie, we shoot them as fast as we can and yet they still keep coming.

In response to this grave existential threat to our national security, Advanced Tactical Ordnance has developed the UHS-6.5. “UHS” stands for Ultimate Hog Slayer, and it’s thoroughly optimized for pig hunting.

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The ATO UHS-6.5 is a high-octane handgun equipped with a Pistol Stabilizing Brace,
allowing compact size without running afoul of the National Firearms Act.

Pig-poppin’ …

Hunting is a hot button issue in much of the country these days and pushback from the uninitiated threatens to marginalize traditional hunting pursuits. I think all involved would admit, in a quiet moment, Walt Disney’s Bambi was indeed pretty cute. By contrast, feral pigs aren’t so appealing and many otherwise opposed to, say, deer hunting, might willingly queue up to whack a hog. After all, they’re ungodly ugly, eat anything they can catch and built like armored fighting vehicles. Then there are those tusks …

One farmer buddy of mine down here in the Deep South had to plant his soybean fields three times because the pigs came out in the evenings and rooted along the rows gobbling up his seed. Feral pigs are the ultimate invasive species. You can shoot them in quantity without even a smidgen of guilt.
However, you’ll need a gat up to the task!

A suppressed UHS-6.5 is a discreet way to make pork chops.

All Yardages Covered

Alex Bosco is the ballistic visionary who created the Pistol Stabilizing Brace (PSB). I’ll spare you the sordid details but the PSB created an entirely new genre of firearms in the United States. A PSB-equipped handgun can retain its short barrel without mandating registration with the government as a Short-Barreled Rifle. The end result is an immensely powerful, compact, straight-shooting handgun wreaking pure death on the swine.

“How straight does it shoot,” you ask? From a rest at a 100-yard indoor range we printed a 0.35 group. We also tried running the UHS-6.5 at 1,000 yards and managed a 3.74 three-shot cluster when the wind was perfect. The bullet drops 41 feet at this range and is nearly subsonic but this gun will still stay tight out past any reasonable “pig engagement” distances.

Advanced Tactical Ordnance also builds high-end precision rifles. These bolt guns are purpose-designed for banging steel a grid square away. One of my ATO buddies used a hand-built specimen in .300 Win Mag to drop an elk at 860 meters. This same compulsion for accuracy infuses the UHS-6.5.

Superlative accuracy begins with a superlative 12 barrel. ATO uses the best blanks in the world and cuts their chambers as if they were building a precision target gun. The barrel profile is the thickest they can cram underneath the handguard for maximum stiffness. The end result is a fairly heavy rifle-caliber handgun producing sub-MOA groups at all typical pig-shooting ranges. This kind of performance doesn’t come easy or cheap, but ATO builds their reputation on it.

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Long-range capabilities of the UHS-6.5 call for good glass — a Vortex 1-6x24 Viper.

Accessorizing

Of course the UHS-6.5 includes a full-length scope mounting rail and a skeletonized forearm for accessories. ATO can set it up however you want. There is plenty of room up top for serious optics, night vision or thermals. ATO has used the UHS-6.5 to slay pigs in all three configurations.

The gun comes with a proprietary ATO blast can. This nifty contraption does not suppress the gun’s report or require federal registration but it does project the chaos forward rather than to the sides. In the process it also uses the basic principles of fluid dynamics to substantially lessen felt recoil. Considering most pig hunting is done in dim light, the blast can will help ameliorate muzzle flash as well. We are pushing a precision long-range rifle round through a barrel a foot long — it would be unduly bright if left otherwise unadorned.

If you really want it done up right, ATO can match the UHS-6.5 with a custom sound suppressor optimized for the platform. These cans employ proprietary turbine-shaped stainless steel baffles which simultaneously slow and cool muzzle gases to trim down most of the blast. With the can in place, muzzle flash is neutralized so you can target the whole sounder rather than just a single hog.

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The ATO blast can is a proprietary muzzle attachment that doesn’t require NFA registration.

The Final Word

Out to about 500 meters the ATO UHS-6.5 will drop almost anything walking. While the gun is optimized for porcine eradication it is also effective against such stuff as deer and elk, and it’s markedly easier to hump than a comparable long rifle. Additionally, if the world ever went truly sideways you’d be hard pressed to find a more efficient counter-zombie tool.

Sleek, short and powerful, the ATO UHS-6.5 is the most effective hunting and survival arm you can get without an NFA tax stamp. Whether your mission is to defend farmland from the coarse-haired flat-nosed menace, keep the larder stocked with venison or guide your family out of the hot zone, the UHS-6.5 brings the horsepower you need in a package you can tote.

www.ato-us.com

www.vortex.com

Purchase A PDF Download Of The GUNS Magazine July 2019 Issue Now!

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Advanced Tactical Ordnance UHS-6.5