.308 Semi vs Bolt?

I agree with Epoxy7 about the AR10 platform. Get a heavy match barrel, trick it out and have fun.
$3000 + is doable, but don't expect to compete against the bolt guns @ 1000yds. There's a price point then diminishing returns.
There's no contest as the bolts have a more solid platform and tighter lockup. Many have tried and died over the decades.
Besides, any extreme long range shooting doesn't require a rapid follow up shot unless it's single string target shooting.
 
OP, I just went throught the exact same issue as you, having to decide between bolt and semi. I went semi and I'll be honest, it was worth it, but it wasn't cheap. By the time everything was said and done, I spent about 3.5k on just the rifle (no glass yet). Since I'm picky about my optics and I want FFP, I'm now looking at another 3k for my scope.

If you go AR10, my advice to you is start looking for a barrel first, since this was the hardest component for me to source in Canada. The most common you'll find is stock DPMS barrels, but DPMS does not make match grade 20" barrels (they have varmint versions but only in 24", they have a SASS version but it's 18" with a carbine gas system...tres weird if you ask me). Keep in mind that any DPMS barrel will require barrel extension fitting to insure proper feeding.

Armalite barrels have a 1yr backorder currently. Lilja can be had from Rick at ATRS but will also take months. All others must be imported and have similar wait periods. ATRS is prob your best bet but talk to Rob or Ryan at Wolverine since they're the AR10 dealer in Canada (and great to deal with too). Another hard find item are free float handguards for the AR10 since their threading is different than DPMS (the cheaper, more mass produced option). Daniel Defense makes a great rail system, but Armalite makes a solid one too.

Feel free to PM me if you have any questions about building an AR10 target rifle.
 
@trekstor,

There are tradeoffs to be made. You need to decide the weightings of these factors for *your* project, for *your* application, in order to figure out which route is best. All that we can do here is help get you good info, for you to make those choices.

For a reasonable price, you can get an accurate semiauto. For the same price, you can get a more-accurate boltgun. For a higher price, you can increase the accuracy of either. At some price-point, you get into seriously diminishing returns.

For a given amount of money, rifle-building effort, and ammo-making effort, you will be able to achieve more accuracy from a bolt gun than from a semi. How much accuracy are you willing to give up, in exchange for how much of a quicker follow-up shot? Note that there is not a right or wrong answer here - this is up to you to decide.

There are other ways to get faster followup shots and better accuracy - with experience, your speed with a bolt gun will improve (*without* sacrificing accuracy), and so will your speed (*without* sacrificing accuracy) with a semi. With more testing and experience (and possibly handloading too), your bolt gun will shoot more accurately (up to a point) and your semiauto will shoot more accurately (up to a point).

There aren't a lot of bolt guns that will shoot half-MOA at 600m. There are even fewer that will shoot half-MOA at 1000m. Note, I did not say *none*, because I have seen such rifles fired, and it is a wondrous thing to watch when you see it done. But I will say that an honest half-MOA rifle is a heckuva lot less commonplace that many think.

Semis that shoot an honest half-MOA @ 100 are real (but, not as common as dirt!). It is harder to get an honest half-MOA at 600 semiauto, but certainly not impossible; it's a pretty top-end piece of kit though, and it needs pretty good stuff going into it (components, ammo), has to be built by a pretty good smith, and unless it's shot by a pretty good shooter it won't be very distinguishable from what an honest-1-MOA rifle will do.
 
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