Driftwood Western — In Development
Outrider
A suppressed, thermal-ready ranch rifle with real reach.
In DevelopmentThis project is under active development and is not yet a Tried & True build. Specifications may change as testing continues.
Why it exists
Built Around a Working Ranch
Outrider started with a real ranch, not a product idea. Tucker Daubs works cattle full-time in northwest Colorado and runs his own small herd under Four Peaks Cattle Company. His rifle rides in trucks, side-by-sides, dirt bikes and four-wheelers, and it has to handle whatever a working day turns up.
That can mean coyotes and other predators, varmints at long distance, and—where legal ranch or landowner opportunities allow—larger game. Some of that work happens at night under thermal. Some of it is a deliberate long shot. All of it happens while the rifle is being carried, day after day.
One rifle that can live on a working ranch, carry well, run suppressed, accept thermal, and still have the reach and precision for serious field opportunities.
Tucker, riding ranch country in northwest Colorado. Photo: Four Peaks Cattle Company.
That’s the requirement. It’s a real one, and it came from Tucker’s own work.
The development brief
What Four Peaks Ranch Work Calls For
- —Run suppressed, all the time.
- —Work with thermal for night predator control.
- —Ride muzzle-down in vehicles and hold its zero.
- —Reach out for long-range varmints, with steel practice well beyond that.
- —Carry enough cartridge for legal larger game where landowner-authorized tags allow.
- —Weight with a purpose: nothing needless, and never front-heavy.
Current direction
The Development Rifle
Outrider is a large-frame, AR-10-pattern semi-auto in .243 Winchester. The first rifle is being built for Tucker and evaluated as a complete system — rifle, suppressor, optic or thermal, and ammunition together.
Selected
.243 Winchester
Flat-shooting reach for varmints, with legal big-game capability.
Selected
Large-frame semi-auto
AR-10-pattern architecture.
Ordered
16″ barrel
A custom .243 Win barrel from Craddock: lightweight fluted contour, rifle-length gas, threaded for a suppressor.
Candidate
Receivers and furniture
Receiver set, handguard, adjustable stock and trigger are being finalized around weight and balance.
Candidate
Gas tuning
An adjustable gas block, tuned for full-time suppressed use.
Open
Day optic and finish
Day optic still open. A Hill Country Brown finish is the current leaning.
Working targets, not results: about 7¾ lb bare and under 10 lb set up for a working day; 1.5 MOA or better; 200 consecutive rounds without a malfunction.
What we’re evaluating
Proof Before a Name
- —Reliability running suppressed, all the time.
- —Zero retention through vehicle carry.
- —Thermal sight picture and target recovery.
- —Accuracy with both a varmint load and a hunting load.
- —Cold starts and real-weather function.
- —Balance — a heavier action is fine, a front-heavy rifle isn’t.
What comes next
Assembly, Then the Ranch
When the barrel arrives, the rifle is assembled, gas-tuned for suppressed use and tested where it’s meant to live — in the vehicles, under thermal and at distance. If the recipe proves itself and can be repeated, we intend to name it Outrider — Tucker Daubs Edition.
Follow along
Talk With Us About This Project
Outrider isn’t available to order. If you run a working ranch and this sounds like the rifle your work calls for, we’d like to hear about it.