Best .308 AR for med to long range?
- Thread starter thewolfchild
- Start date
The popularity with the 308 has gone through the roof in the last five years. Basically the civilian market has finally figured out that the military transitioned away from the 308 bolt action to AR based semi autos. So what was once the TRG21/22, Remington 700P/M24 in photos is now AR10/308 based. The crappy part about this was you used to be able to find some really good stuff on the EE that would sit there as everyone was going nuts for the AR15 rifles and not taking a second look at the AR308. It's still easier to pick up a great AR308 as they do tend to cost more overall but the market and interest has definitely gone through the roof.
One thing I didn't really add is if looking for a 16" AR308 there is currently really only one choice. The DPMS G2. It's brand new and not well known. mnt has some good stuff on his Recon G2 that's worth a read. I have one as well but still not sure what optics I'll be going with. For a target rifle heavier built isn't a bad thing. But for a 16" run/gun or patrol rifle well weight and form factor are everything. Although rifles like my LMT with a 16" barrel and KAC SR25 with 16" barrels are excellent, they just became outdated. I switched to the 20" on mine as soon as I bought it. These rifles are big and not really light. The KAC was probably one of the best choices as they did a number of things to lighten them, while providing great ambi lowers. But... enter the G2. The Freedom group pulled a real surprise with this one. They displayed them at Shot show 2014. But unlike most it wasn't a preview of what's coming a few years later. Instead they had them ready for retail and were sending out orders right after Shot Show. They managed to keep this one under wraps. What's interesting about the G2 though is the redesign. They went with a 7075 forged upper/lower vs the older DPMS 6061 billet and then later the 7021, added what is pretty much the KAC/LMT enhanced bolt with double ejectors along with a new extractor. it also has a monolithic BCG so gone is the need of staking screws. It's almost the same form factor as an AR15 bolt with minor changes. Bottom line it feels like an AR15 when handling and the weight was significantly less than the regular AR308 rifles. Here's a stock picture of a G2 Recon. I suspect these rifles are going to cause a lot of changes in the AR308 world the next few years. The hunter model with longer barrel is extremely popular in the US. A true modern hunting rifle.
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Mystic Precision
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Krieger Barrels and Timney triggers available.
That'll make it shoot.
Jerry
That'll make it shoot.
Jerry
Regarding the OP's concerns, he didn't care about classification for taking it out of country. But I've put down my deposit for ATRS's Modern Hunting Rifle (full disclosure). I'm not too worried about the classification and it being a new creation for a few reasons:
1) just as in the swiss arms situation people have put out money partially because the RCMP have classified it NR, so they go back on their word just more fuel for the fire of the RCMP bureaucrats being out of control.
2) based on their quality work in precision rifles and their own ar15 design, I believe it will be an excellent product
3) if there is something wrong with it, it's a machine shop where the bosses create new firearms, fixing hiccups won't be like sending your gun of to the Freedom group or something. You might be on the phone talking about your malfunctions with the machinist, not a call centre agent
That is the exact reason why I'm holding back as well.
Heck, I'm holding back from purchasing an SSG3000 as I would prefer my next .308 to be SA instead of a bolt.
And now there's an LMT MWS that showed up in the EE that could screw up my "lets wait and see" plan...gotta be strong and stay focused!
My DPMS LR-308 showed up and I've run a few different types of ammo through it. At 100 yards teh best group so far was with Federal Fusion 150 grain and was easily sub moa. My 110gr varmint load that I built for my RFB last year also shot sub moa.
Pretty sure the lone shot was my fault and not the rifle, I didn't have any more of that ammo with me or I would have tried again.
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I'm so impressed with the AR-10 platform that I just bought another one but this time it's a 16 inch more set up for fun shooting than just making tiny groups.
My LR-308 is for sale on the EE if your interested in spending more on glass and less on the rifle.
Pretty sure the lone shot was my fault and not the rifle, I didn't have any more of that ammo with me or I would have tried again.
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I'm so impressed with the AR-10 platform that I just bought another one but this time it's a 16 inch more set up for fun shooting than just making tiny groups.
My LR-308 is for sale on the EE if your interested in spending more on glass and less on the rifle.
Bought the Mega 10 from the EE with the 16 inch Rainier ultra match barrel. I finally gave in to his last price drop and after adding up what he put into the rifle to build it I think I came away with the best deal I've made on the EE so far.
Transfer completed today so I should have it next week. Range report to follow.
It's unfortunate that I didn't have time to do any load development for the LR-308 as I'm pretty sure I could have built a load that would shoot 1/2 moa based on what I saw it do with cheap factory ammo and a load I built for a different rifle and just threw into it to see what would happen. I'm actually tempted to just keep the LR-308 as well but I'm sitting on 6 AR's when this new one shows up so something has to leave. I actually just made a trade on one of my uppers so it's technically only 5 1/2 AR's now. One of my buddy's asked for a night to think about it and the LR-308 may be gone later today.
The only parts on it that are Mega Arms is the matched billet upper and lower. Everything else is pieced together from other manufacturers.
I'll post a pic or two next time I'm on my computer, I can't post pics from my tablet.
My new AR-10
I can't wait for it to show up and get it out to the range, I should have it later next week
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I can't wait for it to show up and get it out to the range, I should have it later next week
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I went with an Alberta tactical modern hunter. . Don't really care what epoxy has to say, I am 100% confident that it will be a top notch firearm. As for the common sense laws, common and sense are 2 words that will never go together, especially in politics.
Their gun is NR, they are offering the best parts available on the market and it's low production, custom built, Canadian made Quality. It's billet, not forged. Forging is much cheaper.
Are their prices higher than others? Yes.
Ever tried hiring a skilled person in Canada? You can't get them for 15 or 20 dollars an hour like you can south of the border so that cost gets passed on to the end user. Same reason why you can buy a norinco AR for a fraction of anything made in the USA.
Can I say this rifle will function flawlessly? No
I haven't been fortunate enough to ever have a semi auto that would function perfectly all the time. I've seen their work and cannot wait to fire the modern hunter.
Personally I would much rather buy a custom gun, than buy a gun and rebuild it. Your just paying for parts your not going to use. It's like buying a Ferrari or buying a mustang and then spending tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars to make it go as fast and handle as well. . At the end of the day, you still have a mustang that is just like every other mustang, not a Ferrari.
Their gun is NR, they are offering the best parts available on the market and it's low production, custom built, Canadian made Quality. It's billet, not forged. Forging is much cheaper.
Are their prices higher than others? Yes.
Ever tried hiring a skilled person in Canada? You can't get them for 15 or 20 dollars an hour like you can south of the border so that cost gets passed on to the end user. Same reason why you can buy a norinco AR for a fraction of anything made in the USA.
Can I say this rifle will function flawlessly? No
I haven't been fortunate enough to ever have a semi auto that would function perfectly all the time. I've seen their work and cannot wait to fire the modern hunter.
Personally I would much rather buy a custom gun, than buy a gun and rebuild it. Your just paying for parts your not going to use. It's like buying a Ferrari or buying a mustang and then spending tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars to make it go as fast and handle as well. . At the end of the day, you still have a mustang that is just like every other mustang, not a Ferrari.
Good for you! Forging is only cheaper due to numbers. They don't do forging for low numbers as the initial expense is too great. Billet is cheaper for low run productions as the initial investment isn't so high. LMT has switched over to forged (Which means KAC as well), DPMS G2 is now forged etc. Once you have the numbers to justify the initial cost it becomes cheaper. This is why most of the AR15 forged upper/lowers only come from a few different sources.
Also should add that a modern manufacturing plant in the US for example has a lot of automation. Check out the ADCOR manufacturing video. It's pretty cool. You might pay that person more but you need a lot less of them. Again you also get the economy of numbers if you can produce/sell enough. Which they can in the United States.
The car comparison doesn't really work here. The classification system complicates things. The near future also doesn't offer any security with regards to your purchase/investment. It's a potentially volatile time. That being said I think we are all guilty of at least a few purchases we just had to have and nothing contrary to us buying it was going to register. It's all part of it.
I can't wait for it to show up and get it out to the range, I should have it later next week
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Looks cool. What optic or sight are you planning on using?
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OK... haven't checked in on this thread (that I started) in awhile. Just read through it, and want to say thanks to most you for your replies. I was looking for info on .308 semi auto AR's and I got plenty. I appreciate that.
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Going to take the Vortex Viper PST 4-16x50 off the LR-308 for this one. Hasn't been a lot of interest in the LR-308 on the EE so I may end up keeping it and having to buy another optic. I'm not going to give in to lowballers for such a sweet rifle, I'd rather keep it. I can always sell something else instead. Or keep them all
