Chambered in 5.7x28mm or in 9mm, the Dark Arms StowAway Rifle packs more punch than similar survival rifles chambered in .22LR or .22WMR.
The StowAway is a single-shot, bolt-action rifle. It has a detachable, 16-inch, threaded barrel. It is 31.78 inches long when fully assembled. I found the rifle to be simple, reliable, and reasonably accurate during my testing.
The rifle is light at only 2.8 pounds, easily breaks down into less than 17 inches in length, but is ruggedly built in spite of its feathery weight. A hollow pistol grip provides enough space to store many rounds of 5.7X28mm ammo. The rifle is made in the USA.
At the time of this writing, the StowAway rifle had a manufacturer suggested retail price of $419 at darkmountainarms.com . The StowAway is also available as a pistol or as a Federally-registered short-barrel rifle (SBR).
If you are looking for a pinweight survival rifle that hits harder than a rimfire, then you might want to take a look at the StowAway.
Background
A rifle is a helpful tool in a wilderness survival situation. As a result, a number of lightweight, easily-packed rifles have been designed with survival kits in mind. Famous examples include the Armalite/Charter Arms/Henry AR-7 and the Chiappa Little Badger.
The problem with some of these lightweight, compact survival rifles is that they tend to be chambered for somewhat anemic cartridges like .22LR or .22WMR.
Dark Mountain Arms tries to address this problem with a survival rifle that is designed to punch above its weight, being chambered in either 5.7x28mm or 9mm. A 40 grain bullet from the 16.5 inch barrel of a .22LR rifle produces about 100 to 140 ft-lbs of energy at the muzzle. A 40 grain bullet from the 16.5 inch barrel of a .22WMR rifle produces about 295-312 ft-lbs of energy at the muzzle. But a 40 grain bullet from the 16.5 inch barrel of a 5.7X28mm rifle produces about 290-425 ft-lbs of energy at the muzzle.
These numbers sounded intriguing, so I contacted Dark Mountain Arms to see if they could loan me a sample for testing and evaluation. They were kind enough to agree. Not long afterward, the rifle arrived at the gun store that was handling my transfer.
Opening the Box
The rifle arrived in a 17.75 X 11.63 X 2.75 inch box. The box identified its contents, gave the web address for Dark Mountain Arms ( darkmountainarms.com ), and requested that the end user read the entire instruction manual prior to using the firearm. The box contained a cable lock, the manual, and the rifle in four parts (the barrel, receiver, barrel lock, and bolt).
Reading The Manual
Not everyone reads firearms manuals. I do. I assume that the designer knows more about his creation than I do. I read the Bible for the same reason.
The StowAway manual is 44 pages longs including both sides of the front and back covers. Here are some of the highlights:
–It begins with the basic rules of firearms safety. This is a great place to start, since many gun buyers may be first-time shooters who need to learn the basics. The rest of us can also use a good refresher now and then.
–Unfortunately, the unbearable tedious state-by-state warnings come next. In his short story, “The Belcher”, Patrick F. McManus talks about reading material that is so boring that he uses it as a pesticide: “I saw two bugs race across the floor, trying to get out of hearing range, but they were overcome with boredom before they could escape. They rolled over on their backs, kicked a few times, and were still, What a rough way to go, I thought, even for an insect. I vowed never again to read Gary’s ‘Origins of the Cleaning Patch’ aloud in the garden. A bug bomb would be more humane.” In the interests of the humane treatment of their customers, I recommend that Dark Mountain Arms move the state-by-state warnings to the back of the manual.
–Like most firearms manufacturers, Dark Mountain Arms does not like reloaded ammunition. There are many highly-skilled hand loaders that make cartridges that are superior to factory loads. But I guess that there are also some careless loaders who create cartridges or shells that damage firearms and injure bystanders. This later group gives the legal departments of firearms manufacturers nightmares, high blood pressure, hives, and other ailments.
–The bolt cannot be opened if the rifle is cocked.
–The manual instructs the user to “Never de-cock the firearm by holding onto the recessed sides of the striker handle and pulling the trigger at the same time.” The problem is that there is no other possible way to de-cock the rifle. An inquiry to Dark Mountain Arms brought the clarification, “It is okay to “de-cock” the striker using great care and making sure the gun is pointed in a safe direction.”
–I was fascinated by the instruction, “Always unload this firearm immediately after firing . . .” I wonder how it is possible to unload a single-shot rifle after it has been fired.
–In the half-cock position, the striker is prevented from moving forward unless the trigger is pulled. This reduces the risk of accidental discharge if the rifle is dropped.
–They recommend wiping off excess grease or oil prior to loading.
First Impressions
The chamber and the bolt of the rifle arrived very oily, so I cleaned it prior to first use with solvent patches, a brass brush, dry patches, and a final thin film of Breakfree CLP.
Assembly was simple. I aligned a pin on the barrel with a notch in the receiver, hand-tightened the barrel lock onto the receiver threads, and then pulled the trigger and inserted the bolt.
Fit and finish are good, with no visible blemishes or tool marks. The bolt operates smoothly.
The bolt is on the left side of the receiver, which felt a little awkward to me at times. Perhaps the designer is a left-handed person trying to teach all of us right-handed people some empathy.
The rifle comes with an optics rail but without any sights. It comes with a stock rod rather than a butt-stock. As a result, the rifle is not well-suited to provide a good cheek weld. Because of this, I installed a UUQ HD1080 Red Dot sight rather than a scope. The lack of some sort of iron sights may be the weak link in the design of this firearm as a survival rifle. Red dots and scopes are just not as durable as the rest of the rifle. A set of rail mounted fixed iron sights might be an acceptable alternative, though the length of the optics rail presents a somewhat short sight radius.
Trigger Pull Weight
I measured the trigger pull weight using a Ready Up Gear Digital Trigger Pull Weight Gauge. My five measurements ran from a low of 4.13 to a high of 5.04 pounds with an average of 4.44 and a median of 4.31 pounds. The trigger has a long pull, and gives just a hint of some grittiness. I suspect that the slight grittiness will smooth out with continued use.
At the Range
It was a beautiful spring evening. The temperature as 68 degrees Fahrenheit. A gentle breeze wafted from the south. Golden light filtered through the as-yet-bare branches of the trees surrounding the range. The first mosquito of the season buzzed annoyingly around my head with the threat of things to come. I set up a target stand in front of the backstop on the improvised range behind the pole barn. I then set up a table 25 yards away from the backstop and placed the StowAway on a rifle rest on the table.
I loaded a single round of Fiocchi Hyperperformance 40-grain Tipped Hollow Point. For some reason, it was somewhat difficult to chamber the first round. All subsequent rounds chambered smoothly. The report of the shot was relatively quiet as is common with pistol-caliber ammo being fired from a rifle-length barrel. Recoil was negligible. The bullet impacted about 8.5 inches above and 1.5 inches to the right of the point of aim.
Over the course of the next four shots I gradually zeroed the sight. I then fired the first three-shot group. That first group was 0.91 inches in size.
The delightful scent of burnt powder tickled my nostrils. I had been forced to delay my testing for several days due to illness. I found burnt-powder-aroma-therapy to be wonderful medicine.
I moved the table back to 50 yards. From there, the size of my groups with the Hyperperformance ammo ranged from 1.03 to 1.91 inches in size with an average of 1.28 and a median of 1.10 inches.
I also tested the rifle with some Fiocchi Range Dynamics Subsonic 62 grain FMJ. The point of impact for the subsonic ammo was about 8 inches lower than the point of impact for the Hyperperformance ammo.
The Subsonic ammo produced about two inch groups while shooting unsuppressed. Those groups were reduced to between 0.91 and 1.16 inches in size while firing suppressed using a Dead Air RXD22Ti Silencer. The Subsonic ammo was very quiet through the suppressor.
There did not seem to be any noticeable accuracy benefit from using the suppressor with the Hyperperformance ammo. The suppressor did cut the perceived noise from the Hyperperformance ammo almost in half, leaving only the supersonic crack of the bullet with little noticeable report from escaping gases.
Using subsonic ammo with 5.7x28mm or 5.56 NATO firearms usually results in a significant loss of muzzle energy. This loss is often so profound that it is almost on par with .22LR performance.
Following the range session, I returned to the house to clean the rifle and suppressor.
Conclusions
The Dark Mountain StowAway in 5.7x28mm is more powerful than survival rifles chambered for rimfire cartridges. The StowAway is light, sturdy, reliable, and reasonably accurate. About the only significant improvement that I can suggest would be some kind of provision for fixed sights.
Disclaimer
Dark Mountain Arms loaned me a sample of their StowAway Rifle in 5.7X28mm for testing and evaluation. Ready Made Gear had provided me with a sample of their Digital Trigger Pull Weight Gauge for a previous article. Dead Air Silencers provided a sample of their RXD22Ti for a previous review. I tried not to let the kindness of these vendors interfere with the objectivity of this review, and I believe that I have succeeded. I did not receive any other financial or other inducement to mention any vendor, product, or service in this article.
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