Tangentially related...I love my LMT MARS-L lower on my AR.
Epoxy - amazing as always.
Do you know if the two stage trigger in LMT ARs is similarly "good"? I know the AR10 is a slightly different trigger (I think?)
I can't directly compare the LMT trigger on your MARS-L lower with the MWS 308 as my mrp 223 rifles all came with the regular single stage triggers. The 308 MWS is a two stage. It's about 4.5 pounds. I have directly compared it with my SR 25 and they feel identical. Comparing the lower for the MWs and the SR25 they are almost identical. They definitely came out of the same factory. An employee of KAC once confirmed that they did and indicated that KAC actually made the lowers for both. You can tell. The LMT is only missing the ambi bolt release. Everything else is the same. The MARS is a different story as they went full ambi on the MARS but it's different from the KAC SR15 lowers. The 308 versions however have almost identical lowers. The uppers are where they differentiate.
I can say that I have the SR15 and SR25 so I can compare the triggers in those as they are both 2 stage. They felt roughly the same to me. But... I hadn't really looked at comparing them. So they could be different. I'll have to check that out.
If you are thinking of upgrading the trigger and feel you want lower than 4.5 pounds, then really the only upgrade for the LMT/KAC two stage trigger is to go to a Giselle. I personally don't consider it worth it, but many do. When you see the KAC triggers up for sale, that's the route the owners are likely going. While 3 pounds is my favourite for tactical target shooting, I have no problems shooting a 4.5 pound trigger like the LMT/KAC or even the non adjustable Giselle triggers which are also set at that weight.
Interestingly enough I had read for the H&K M110A winner that the US army had requested a Giselle handguard and trigger for the contract. Being the very recent owner of the G28 done up MR308 I can see exactly why this would have been requested/required. The H&K trigger is useable but it's a weak point. Plus the heavy issue would be easily taken care of with that handguard. If they sell M110A version to civilians then that is the way to go. I suspect that will be the best H&K MR308 ever. Good old American know how and.. Wernher Von Braun.
Damn, nice collection Epoxy. My future additions would definitely include a LMT MWS. Also down the line I would like an Alexander Arms Ulfberht(anyone got one of these? what a beast!)
Here is my POF P308:
and a XCR-M that I used to own:
Thank you.
I looked into the POF back a ways as they are nice looking and I've heard of more than a few happy owners, but I generally am not a piston AR guy. The H&K and the ADCOR rifles have been the only exceptions so far. Plus it used to be easy to pretty much collect them all. These days the AR10/AR308 popularity has exploded. In my case, I ended up being in the right place at the right time and picked up one of the AR10t prototype guns that were used for the testing by the Canadian military when Wolverine was doing up the AR10 contract for them. So.. the LMT and now the H&K fit a bit of a theme. They were the predominant AR308 rifles used in Afghanistan an Iraq during the Second Gulf war. POF, PWS, LWRC, etc etc etc.... I wish I could buy them all. But since most of us can't (Maybe Bartok5 can/has) I'll have to live vicariously through other people's reviews. Looking forward to seeing some more info on your POF!
The XCR-M. I really wanted to get one when they first came out. I looked one over and I did like it. I felt it was a flagship product for them as most 308 versions a company puts out are compared to their 223 versions. It was surprisingly nice. But.. the barrel attachment method.... I was very suspect of that. Add in that it's a piston design along with the quick change barrel attachment and I decided to hold off. I also tend to orientate my AR308 rifles for precision or in a DM package. This has been the niche market of the AR308 for a fairly long time now. But.. the non precision market must be a lot larger, especially in non restricted. I was choked with the Stag 10 308 selection as they were all setup as non precision rifles. So obviously there is a large market for that type of setup. But with the cost of 308 ammo, the time to reload it, I'm just too cheap to use one as anything other than a precision rifle. Again, clearly there is a large market for it and the Stag 308 offerings seem to support that it is a larger market than what I ever thought.
Which brings us back to the LMT. It does have a very good quick barrel change attachment method. Not a huge selling feature to me. But it was handy as mine came with the 16" CL barrel attached along with a 20" SS barrel. On a side note.. be very careful with the torque settings on the LMT bolts. I bought mine NIB here on CGN and when I undid the bolts to put on the 20" one of them snapped. Both Questar and LMT replied within a day. Questar even sent me a new bolt even though I didn't buy the rifle from them (The previous owner did). LMT was also prepared to send me a spare. It's a nice feature for quick self gunsmithing and changing barrels like the OP of this thread did. But.. be careful. Don't over torque those bolts.