Dang, ya shouldn’t have to tweek such a rig to get at the very least a 1 moa group from a bench. I agree completely, which is why I just had a quickie offhand shootoff with the AUG, which also has a 1x optic. They were very equal in most respects, with the chief objective being to compare two weapons with user-friendly optics designed for quick dominance out to the critical distance of 100m.
I've tweaked box-stock AR15 clones to shoot 1 MOA just for the satisfaction of knowing how to do it. Due to old eyeballs, I need a 6x-or-better scope to find that little black dot. Then I go back to a wide-field "fast" 1x form of sight, knowing the rifle itself can easily outshoot the sight I chose for it. Except for the mountains of Afghanistan, most combat ranges still average a max of about 100m. Unless you carry an AK, where thoughts tend towards a battlefield about 25m deep. This gives me a 50-75m "cushion" to engage the enemy before he even thinks about getting his head screwed on straight.
I can go with a proven weapon for ranges beyond 100m, but just as hunting deer in Michigan, a good field of fire beyond 200m is really hard to find around here. So I want to study "all my tools in the toolbox", including my own skills, to shape the battlefield before a crisis occurs to my personal benefit. I've discovered that if I personally rebuild and tweak a weapon, I shoot it better, and with more confidence. As it says in the Marine "rifleman's creed", it becomes a part of me, and I understand our combined strengths and weaknesses better. That's a big load off my brain, which will be busy with other tasks in a crisis.
Second, I plan for a defensive fight on my own, known, turf. That means known distances to key features, deception, multiple firing points, and inviting-looking locations for the bad guy, which is really a kill sack.
Finally, continual practice so I can reach out reliably to the outermost range of my defensive position. I want a high probability of making consistent hits at ranges that seem to the bad guy that the fire is coming from another zip code.
So I want to engage with my built-to-spec rifle at a long enough range that I don't have to be too concerned about falling back to a shotgun or pistol-caliber carbine. It's like the old, "train like you fight, and fight like you train", with the added advantage of knowing my own 'hood.
While continuing my futile quest for .22lr ammo, I got word of another model of handgun now discontinued, and never really sold in large quantities when it
was in production. The last one at my favorite EBR store sat in the case for six months, and I didn't want to press my luck any further. Luckily, I snaiged it a few days before someone else had the same idea. The Heckler & Koch .45ACP Mark 23 SOCOM, shown with a Walther PPK for size comparison.
This civilian version differs from the official "agency" model is the lack of "SOCOM" marking on the slide, a separate range of serial numbers, and a "US Property" barcode on the serial number plate. It was designed and built from the ground up with special features for the ultimate in silencing, and shooter-friendly accuracy and handling. My first 12-shot magazine tends to confirm this.
While the barrel is threaded for a wide variety of suppressors, the H&K wet-and-dry suppressor, designed specifically for the Mark 23, is a special favorite with Marine room-clearing teams. Besides using water to enhance thermal efficiency, it disables semi-auto fire, requiring the shooter to manually cycle the slide for the next shot. A vertical foregrip is added for better handling.
In actual use, Marines claim this setup works better than any other handgun, SMG, shotgun, or rifle they tried. The only noise when firing is the hammer hitting the firing pin, which is about as loud as an office stapler. The slide being cycled makes a modest "zip-zing" reciprocating sound. The bullet hitting the target is usually very loud, but by then the target has stopped caring.
The Mark 23 can fire almost any kind of ammo that can safely make it down the barrel, including high-power oddities like 45Magnum. I mixed in some red-hot Double Tap .45 (200fps faster than standard), with no noticeable change in admirable shooting qualities.
It's like one of those Mercedes super touring cars you see at an important car show (or commercial), something one-of-a-kind with 4000 horsepower, top speed of 280mph, zero-to-sixty in 2.1 seconds, and more electronics than a next-generation manned spacecraft.
The Mark23 is real steel-and-plastic, was made in "reasonable" quantities, and is zealously maintained and used by civilians and federal agencies alike.