AR-10 accuracy: Mixing barrel & bolt manufacturers

That round outside the group was the first one after using Hirtenberger to check my zero, so I'm not surprised it's off from the rest. That said, after that first round, the remaining 5 settled right in. I'm going to try and make it out to the range on the weekend to test further.

That's with the Criterion - i forget the profile but it's their CL 18.5" Gov/LW profile.
 
I can weigh in with a bit of insight. I have bought one of the first Modern Hunters in .308win, but it was a pig at 11.5lb with optic, not what i wanted for hunting.

When the Stag 10's came out I decided to build one as light as possible without giving up any of the features I wanted in a AR style hunting rifle. As it is setup for hunting this year, the rifle weighs 6.505lb with no optic. with optic, mount, sling & bipod 8.4lb. I still have to get a muzzle brake, so weight will got up another 1oz for a Insite Heathan Aluminum brake. Those weights I quoted were with just a thread protector on the barrel. And it kicks quite a bit without a brake.

The first barrel I put on it was a Faxon 20" pencil barrel, because it was the lightest commercially available barrel I could find in Aug 2018. I put about 400 rounds of factory ammo through it before I sold it. It was a about a 1.5moa gun with me behind it, off the bench, with a bipod & rear bag. I'd say I'm a average shooter, not great by any means. I was quite happy with it. But I wanted shorter.

I swapped to a MRA 18.6" pencil barrel. it was slightly lighter than the faxon 20" pencil. I haven't shot it that much since installing it in April, since the scope reticle shifted and it went in for warranty. It appears to be about the same, around 1.5moa. I'll know more later this month when I get home from work, re-install the scope and get some more range time.

I should really take some good pics and do a proper thread on it sometime.

Cheers
 
mileageman said:
When the Stag 10's came out I decided to build one as light as possible without giving up any of the features I wanted in a AR style hunting rifle. As it is setup for hunting this year, the rifle weighs 6.505lb with no optic... I should really take some good pics and do a proper thread on it sometime.
Click to expand...

I for one would be really interested in how you achieved this kind of weight. Sounds like amazing build!
 
RangerPark said:
I for one would be really interested in how you achieved this kind of weight. Sounds like amazing build!
Click to expand...

Keep in mind I built this for packing in the bush. I don't really care about heat stringing. Hunting for the most part is one shot, maybe a follow up shot.

Other considerations was to keep all the features I like in my other AR's. A proper buttstock, ambi safety, radian raptor charging handle, Phase 5 bolt catch, a proper handguard and a Ferro Concepts slingster. While there are lighter stock & handguard options, they do not have the functionality I'm looking for. Think Battle arms sabre tube stock & Brigand Arms 'birds nest' handguard.

Lower
MFT battle link stock FDE
Magpul K grip FDE
V7 2055 aluminum buffer tube (not work the price over their lightweight one, it saves 0.3g over their 7075 buffer tube)
V7 aluminum castle nut & aluminum endplate
JP enterprises AR10 Silent Capture Spring System
V7 titanium trigger pins
Hiperfire Eclipse trigger (will be swapped out to a Geissele National Match to save 20g and keep my hunting rifle triggers the same)
V7 titanium takedown & pivot pins, they seem to work just fine. I don't know what is proprietary about the Stag pins.
Phase 5 .308 bolt catch. I don't ever drop the bolt with my trigger finger, but I like being able to lock it back without moving my hand from the pistol grip.
Radian talon ambi safety selector FDE. (will be changed out to a V7 titanium ambi when I trigger swap to save 7g.)
V7 lightwight magazine catch & button.

Upper
V7 lightweight port door
V7 lightweight port door rod
V7 aluminum forward assist
V7 hyperlight 15" mlok handguard, ceracoated FDE
two magpul m-lok QD sling mounts
2" magpul aluminum picatiny rail segment to mount my bipod
Brownells Titanium BCG (3g lighter than a V7 titanium BCG!)
V7 titanium firing pin
POF roller cam
Radian Raptor LT charging handle FDE
MRA 18.6" pencil barrel 4140 nitrided
SLR Riflworks 0.750" titanium clamp on adjustable gas block, ceracoated black
Spike melonited rifle length gas tube
V7 aluminum thread protector


All that weighted 6.505lb on my scale.

other stuff to get to 8.4lb
Ferro Concepts slingster FDE
one Magpul QDM quick disconnect sling swivel
Aero precision 1" cantiliver scope mount (I don't need a cantilever mount, but could not find lighter 1" scope rings the correct height)
Vortex Razor HD LH 3-15x42 HSR4 reticle
Neo Pod bipod with picatiny adapter.


Things I still have to do before this years hunting season.
  • reinstall my vortex scope now that it is back from warranty
  • swap the Hiperfire trigger to the Geissele National Match
  • swap the Radian Talon safety to the V7 hybrid ambi safety
  • order & install a Insite Arms Heathan Aluminum brake (I have one on my ATRS MS and love it)
  • get out and sight in at the range, doing some ammo testing.


For comparison my similarly built ATRS Modern Sporter weighs just a touch under 6lb with a 20" Faxon 6.5 Grendel barrel. Most of the parts are the same between the two. But you get to pack quite a bit more power for the 0.6lb weight penalty of the Stag 10.
 
mileageman said:
Keep in mind I built this for packing in the bush. I don't really care about heat stringing. Hunting for the most part is one shot, maybe a follow up shot.
...
other stuff to get to 8.4lb
....
Click to expand...
Wow! Thanks for all the detailed build details! I'll consider all of this when putting mine together. 1.5moa, eh? Definitely let us know how your future testing goes.

I'm sort of undecided on what I want out of my build; on one hand I really want a lightweight plinking rifle I can pack around with me in the woods, and on the other I want a rifle capable of maintaining "tight-enough" groups after a fast string of fire. So what's "tight-enough" for me? Maybe I can have my pencil barrel and eat it, too... wait, that's not how that idiomatic proverb goes....

I've put some more thought into it and I've determined that for my target-shooting purposes, as long as it can maintain accuracy acceptable for a DMR-style service rifle out to expected threat engagement distances (300-600yrd range) after a string of fast fire such a rifle is expected to handle, I'll be fine with that. With that in mind, the Russians ran their SVD with a pencil barrel for 52 years before beefing it up a bit around 2015 (2018, depending on your source), and that was a great, light-weight DMR. As long as I can justify it as a DMR-acceptable barrel, that's sorta good enough for me when it comes to the "cool" factor of this build. Perhaps DMRs lie on a spectrum between battle and sniper rifles, so I'm sorta telling myself that my DMR will lean a little towards the battle rifle side of that spectrum. ;)

Thoughts on all this, fellas?

P.s. I'm gonna huck on either my 3x ACOG or Strike Eagle onto this while I save up to get a 3-9x Accupoint. I think putting on the 3x ACOG would outrage some in the gun community! XD I really wanna slap it on there to make a temporary battle rifle out of it.
 
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