We've been able to do a little "side by side" testing on a few of the .308 AR's we're offering... people have asked us for feedback so we thought we would give you what we have so far. I do have some pictures and will try to get those posted to this thread in the next few days.
The guns tested represent a pretty wide range of .308 AR's, from the least expensive to the most expensive that we offer.
We compared the following guns:
All of the guns tested were fitted with Leupold optics (not included in the prices noted above).
Overall impressions...
The guns tested represent a pretty wide range of .308 AR's, from the least expensive to the most expensive that we offer.
We compared the following guns:
- DPMS 24" Stainless Barrel (this is the least expensive of our test rifles selling for @ $1,799 to $1,999 depending on configuration)
- LMT's new LM308MWSE 16" which is selling for @ $3,499
- POF's new 20" Gas Piston 308 selling for @ $3,799
- POF's new 12" Gas Piston 308 selling for @ $3,799
- Knights Mk11 Mod 1 with 20" Match Stainless Obermeyer Barrel @ $12,000
All of the guns tested were fitted with Leupold optics (not included in the prices noted above).
Overall impressions...
- The DPMS is a nice basic gun... as expected it was quite heavy with that long 24" stainless barrel
- The LMT is iimpressive... balance just seems 'right'... fit and finish is good... gun shoots really nice, especially for a 16" barrel
- POF looks amazing out of the box... you're also struck by how light it is, even the 20" felt great. Actual weight measure showed the 20" POF weighed slightly LESS than the 16" LMT which surprised us.
- POF's 12" gun is just neat... feels incredible and shoots great. Big blast and concusion wave... much louder than any of the others (as expected for a 12" barrel). Also surprisingly accurate given the short barrel.
- Knights Mk11 Mod1 is a bit of a legend and we were not dissappointed. Well built and wonderful to shoot.
- Over 2 days and nearly 1,000 rounds we did not have a single failure... all of the guns performed flawlessly.
- All of the guns proved that they were quite capable of shooting MOA or better. To be honest we do not feel that we've gotten the best performances out of them yet but we have determined that they will all shot sub-MOA.
- We fired 5 round groups... all firing was done at 100 yards... 99% of our testing was done using Federal 168 grain Gold Match .308 (we did try one 5 shot group with each gun using 175 grain Sierra OTM)
- We did NOT test them for best performance yet... that requires using a variety of ammo to see which gun likes which ammo best and performs best... rather we tested them all with the same ammo to compare results.
- Over 2 days and with 3 shooters it was our impression/belief that the LMT was actually outshooting the others, though the Knights was a very close second. Both of these guns shot numerous 5 shot groups of between .50 and .70 centre to centre. I know the Knight's will do better because it already has on previous outings... but I suspect the LMT will do better as well.
At the end of the day they all showed themselves to be great guns. They performed admirably and any one of them would be a fine addition to your collection... they're all shooters.
The tough decision is which to buy because honestly there is a huge difference in prices but the accuracy is not that much different from one to the other. For those shooting long distance (600 to 1,000 yards) there is obviously an advantage to the longer barrels. The DPMS we tested is actually Scott's LR gun and he has shot it out to 1,000 before with some success. LMT has indicated that their gun will shoot under 1.5MOA at 600 to 800 yards (that was part of what won them the UK contract as it was a requirement). I don't know what the 12" POF would be like at 800 or 1,000 yards but as a CQB 308 it's very impressive.
I'll get some pictures and targets added in a few days as I'm sure some of you would like to see the visuals.
Mark
