Rise Armament Watchman XR 22 ARC Rifle

As The 22 ARC Round Gains Traction, Rise Armament Steps Up

Wildcat rounds are those developed by ballistic Jedis in search of the perfect round. The problem is that while many of those rounds are great, they never really take hold and die a quiet death. The 22 ARC is a round that broke that pattern. Developed by Hornady, the 22 ARC (Advanced Rifle Cartridge) brings exceptional power and performance, built into a compact cartridge that fits into your AR-15 but is equally at home in a bolt action.

The challenge any new super round faces is finding a company to build a gun worthy of its performance. In the case of the 22 ARC, one company that stepped up was Rise Armament, and their new rifle is the Watchman XR 22 ARC.

Rise Armament Watchman XR, Silencer Central BANISH, Hornady 22 ARC Match ammunition — For testing the Rise Armament XR 22 ARC, he enlisted Hornady ammo, a Silencer Central BANISH suppressor and Sightmark's Latitude riflescope. All helped the rifle (and shooter) perform flawlessly and accurately.

Rise Armament XR 22 ARC Details

The gun was built as a super-accurate shooter with applications in extended-range shooting for hunting varmints, whitetails and antelope, as well as Precision Rifle Series (PRS) competitions and tactical/law enforcement applications. While the gun is feature-rich, you will notice that I continuously go back to accuracy. The trigger is always at the heart of any precision gun. The Watchman XR 22 ARC uses Rise’s Iconic Independent two-stage trigger that offers a 1-pound first stage and a 2-pound second stage. It has a very crisp break and a short, clean reset. Barrel-wise, Rise Armament went with an 18-inch 416R stainless steel, fluted, button- rifled, air-gauged and tested barrel.

22 arc rifle cartridge design — **Geek out on the ballistics of the Hornady 22 ARC (22 Advanced Rifle Cartridge). Image courtesy of hornady.com.**

Rise Armament sent Hook & Barrel a Watchman XR 22 ARC for testing. As a point of honesty, I had the opportunity to shoot the gun at an event several months earlier. During that range experience, I quickly found that Rise Armament had definitely found the secret sauce for accuracy. We ran the Hornady 62-grain ELD-VT Match as well as their 75-grain ELD Match Black. Both rounds performed extremely well. The rifle was set up on a Kopfjäger K800 carbon-fiber tripod with their Reaper grip. It was also set up with a Sightmark Latitude 6.25-25 optic and a Silencer Central BANISH 223 suppressor. With this setup, I was able to shoot two consecutive groups at 0.75 inches. While a mix of components determines accuracy, the Iconic trigger plays a major role. It is one of the best drop-in triggers on the market.

The Hook & Barrel Bottom Line Results

Empty sans riflescope, the Rise Armament Watchman XR 22 ARC comes in at 8 pounds making it heavy enough to have a real effect on recoil mitigation while not being a ballistic boat anchor. The conditions during my most recent test were not optimal, yet the gun performed extremely well, as 0.5-inch groups were the norm!

The Rise Armament Watchman XR 22 ARC is simply built for performance.