Patriot Ordinance Factory, or POF, released a rifle recently that's created a bit of a stir. They call it the Tombstone as on homage to the Western movie which is based on the town of Tombstone, AZ and it's storied past. It does not have that classic Western lever action look. I don't hate it but it needs some TLC in the looks department. Some people might like it as is.
Let me lay down what I like. First is the rifle is chambered for 9mm. It's a great cartridge and would be a good way to get new shooters into trusting guns without spending a ton of money on ammo. It's also widely available in some fashion. You'll be able to shoot even if it's not your favorite ammo brand. It's not an AR-15 but it's design language is still modern and intimidating and seems to lend itself well to accessories leading us to the second thing, accessorizing. The handguard features sections of MLOK and picatinny rail for a variety of accessories. The forward top rail section is interesting and makes me think POF intended that short picatinny rail space for AR style front sights. I suppose you could run a PEQ or IR device there if you wanted to. I would be interested to see if the handguard is based on any existing pattern such as a Stribog or APC9 since you could see if someone like Midwest Industries or JTAC has a replacement handguard that could bolt up.
Third is the magazine. Instead of the traditional tube magazine, POF opted to use their proprietary magazines used in their sub-gun, the Phoenix. The rifle comes with a 20 round magazine which already beats capacity for traditional magazine layouts. There is a 35 round magazine. That would make this rifle way more fun to shoot. Less loading. That alone is pretty great!
Cheap to shoot, lots of modern accessories and a great capacity with standard magazines will make this rifle prime for the ambassador. The manual operation will help with any ammo sensitivities that some semi-auto designs can be plagued by and handloading options are wide open since you no longer have to make the cartridges powerful enough to run the action with the expanding gas. That singularly makes this rifle a stellar choice for suppression.
The barrel is 16 inches and has a muzzle brake. I see the brake as a placeholder and I assume the thread pitch is 1/2x28 so I would immediately replace that brake with my preferred mounting system for a silencer. For me that's the Dead Air KeyMicro based JMAC Customs stuff.
In general, I think the concept is great with the execution somewhat let down by the tacti-cool nature for the stock and handguard. I understand that this is a new design and not based on any existing lever gun that I am aware of.
The biggest gripes I have seen come from the shooter community so far is two-fold. First is looks and second is cost. I can't do anything about the nearly $2000 price tag but I think I can help with the image department.
Here's how I would fix it's cosmetic issues or at least build a Tombstone if I had one.
Thankfully, the stock uses the Remington 870 pattern meaning you could replace it, however, the lever is shaped and squared up with the Magpul stock so you'll either need to heat and bend the inner part of the lever to match the stock's curve or make a custom stock to match. Thankfully, there is this wonderful company called WOOX and they make gorgeous, modern looking stocks and chassis using wood and metal. Recently, they released a kit for the Mossberg 500 guns called the Gladiator.
I'm hoping that WOOX makes an 870 compatible stock in the future. Again, there would have to be some work done to match the lever to the stock or vice-versa but it could be done. Alternatively, Boyd's could easily whip up something interesting like their AT-ONE stock for the Tombstone. I think a black lever gun needs wood to some extent. I would also put wood panels to cover the handguard's MLOK slots on both sides and bottom.
Drop an Aimpoint T1 style red on top and you should be great. However, I have another idea that I have yet to see executed. Primary Arms makes a good looking micro prism in 3x magnification. I would very much like to see PA make a 2x version of the micro prism scope. They do have a 2x prism but its bulkier than their micro prism. I've been looking for a 2x micro prism for a while now and the only company that does it is Monstrum. If PA did make an SLx MicroPrism in 2x, I'd be inclined to run that with a low profile mount instead of the red dot. You could also run an LPVO but that would add so much weight and there isn't much need for magnification past 3x other than for competition. I don't really see this gun for that. I do see it as a handy farm rifle but I'll dig into that later.
The next thing I'd be interested in is the barrel. Currently the barrel is a 16.5 inch length and the handguard is around 10.5 inches according to POF's specs. I want to Form 1 this rifle as an SBR and trim the barrel down to closer to 10.25 inches. By cutting the barrel down to just under the handguard, we can get the silencer's mount closer to the handguard's front end. It will also reduce weight. While the gun is under 6 lbs, that barrel is a heavy profile. The fluting clearly helps with that weight reduction but 9mm doesn't need 16 inches worth of barrel to be ballistically useful. Cutting the barrel down to 10-ish inches to under the handguard makes this more practical since you don't need the extra 6 inches needed to appeal the tax-goons at the ATF because of the National Firearms Act of 1934.
The current color scheme is black on black but they do have an FDE color option for more money. There aren't currently pictures of the FDE model available yet. The FDE or a mix-match color scheme could be great but using the Mad Pig Custom Thumper idea and do a full Cerakote job if you stayed with the stock furniture or go Midnight Blue if you updated to a WOOX kit. You could also do a stainless color and stick with the black furniture giving it an "all-weather" look.
That's all well and good but what is this thing for?
Really its an expensive range toy but it does have utility. This rifle exists in a market place solely on the idea of that it hadn't been done before. If you try to compare it to rifles that can't be had such as an AR-15 due to gun control laws, in most of the Assault Weapon ban states, guns like the Ruger PC Carbine are available in compliant form and it's way cheaper. There are also compliant AR's. The idea of using it as a defensive weapon due to an AWB does work but again, unless we're talking about a country that isn't the US, I don't see where you'd choose this over other compliant options other than you really want one. That, by the way, is an acceptable answer.
I would run this as a barn yard gun, if I could afford one. My idea for this is that I would shoot it mostly for fun suppressed with 147 grain factory loads or handloads but I would use it to bust small game like beaver, ground hog, hares/big rabbits in the barn yard. I would run this rifle the same way I would run a .22 LR lever action. Additionally, I wouldn't mind running it on feral hog or coyote at shorter ranges which is something I wouldn't do with a .22 LR. Really, that's why I call this a barn yard gun. This is really meant for fun but could do work at shorter ranges though I would absolutely shoot a deer with this rifle and the right ammo such as the Federal HST 147 grain out to maybe 75 yards depending on the velocity. Most likely I would keep it under 50 yards. It could absolutely be used as a small game rifle.
Is it worth it?
Nope. It's way too expensive. Yes, you can shoot 9mm. I'm not one of these guys that can reload ammo for 10 cents a round but I can keep it under 30 cents regularly. I have not seen deals on 9mm for under 25 cents per round in a long time. That means I can shoot plinking 38 Special that's subsonic for about as much as I can get factory made 9mm that isn't subsonic. If you don't shoot suppressed then have at it but I do shoot suppressed so it's worth my time to reload. I did the math too.
For the $1962 asking price I can get a Henry Big Boy X in 357 if I want to suppress my rifle along with a full reloading kit.
I can get a Lee Hand Press kit, priming tool, scale and 357/38 Special 4 piece carbide dies for about $215 from Amazon. I can get Barry's bullets in the 125 grain variant at 1000 count for around $130 with free shipping. The heavier 158 grain bullets are around $145 for 1000. Bass Pro is sadly the best way for me to get cheap powder and primer. A bottle of smokeless powder for around $40 and primers for around $80. We're looking around $480 in reloading materials. I'm left with around $380 if the Henry cost me $1100. I can find better deals than that but that seems to be average if on the higher side. Obviously there's taxes and shipping etc. Even still, it leaves me with enough money to buy a SIG Romeo 5 with low mount and around 100 rounds of factory 38 Special from a local store. Shoot the factory ammo and zero your red dot then you have 100 once fired cases to make your 1000 rounds out of over the next few month. Oh and you probably still have enough to take your girl out for lunch, maybe even dinner.
There is one more thing I want to bring up. This is my statement on this rifle. Would I buy this rifle in 9mm? No. Would I buy this rifle in .22 LR? Yes. I actually would.
If POF wants to make a .22 LR version of this gun that uses 10/22 magazines, then I will save up and buy one. Why? Simple. No one makes a .22 LR lever action carbine that's easy to suppress. Yes, you can thread the barrel of any of the current models but then you have to remove the suppressor to pull the under barrel magazine tube out and load. This rifle is prime for this sort of thing. .22LR is so cheap that even the $2000 MSRP can be ignored if you shoot enough. Will it be as classy and a Henry H001 or Winchester 9422? No but I don't really care. POF, it's time for you to make a .22 LR version of the Tombstone. And maybe a 10mm version while you're at it.
Update 10 OCT 2023: WOOX did release an 870 compatible Gladiator stock. If someone has a Tombstone, I would love to see if the WOOX stock fits and how it looks.
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