Since ack can do what I want, with a complicated command line. My best answer to date is to embed it in a bash script, so I would type:
./pack foobar
To search my entire project for foobar.
The script pack would look like this:
#!/bin/bash
CONTEXT=-C1
c:/bin/ack $CONTEXT $* . ../../Libraries/CMSIS/Device/ST/STM32F4xx/ \
../../Libraries/CMSIS/
Still would prefer a .ackrc solution.