So far I am very happy with my IBI 308 barrel on my Stag 10. However I have only shot some Hirtenberger to zero and dial in my gas and a box of Winchester 168 grain at 200 yards.
I had 1 group at 1.13 MOA and the rest were sub MOA averaging 0.78 MOA.
I'll be handloading some 168 and 208 grain Hornady in Lapua brass. I will start a thread with results once I get time at the range.
I would avoid using 208gr in an AR-10 based platform. The rifle was designed to shoot 147 to around 180 grain projectiles with a very specific pressure and pressure curve. Running projectiles heavier than design puts more stress on the action and your so limited by magazine length you won't be able to take advantage of the long bullets anyway unless you single feed them.
You don't need a 200+ grain projectile to shoot long range. These are not bolt action rifles so you need to change your thinking a little to compensate for the limitations an auto loader puts on cartridge selection if you want it to be reliable and have a long service life.
I have a Modern Hunter in 6.5 Creedmoor and I don't run heavier than 130 grain projectiles even though I run 140's in my bolt action. The twist rate supports the longer/heavier projectiles but I never run the heaviest projectiles I can find in a semi no matter how far I'm planning to shoot with it.
My M-14's only get fed 175gr or lighter as well, the M-14 is a little more sensitive to pressures and projectile weights than an AR which has a more forgiving gas system but I just go with the same philosophy for all my auto loaders. I load to fit the magazine and I pick a bullet in the range that the manufacturer designed the rifle to be used with. Accuracy is still good and even a 155gr can be pushed out a long way very accurately.
As far as I'm concerned a 308 semi's best choices for long range are either a 168gr or a 175gr projectile (whichever the barrel proves to prefer) pushed by a powder around the burn rate of H4895. A 150ish grain projectile may also work very well but I get the feeling you want to go heavier for longer range shooting.
Also, unless you have money to burn I wouldn't bother with Lapua brass, semi auto's can be hard on brass and you have to full length size every time so you'll be working it more than in a bolt gun.
I second both of these. Only reason I haven't gotten one yet is I want a lightweight build without a shiny barrel.
I do want to support a local business and a good guy though so maybe I'll just have to build a second "match" upper.
Find a place that will Nitride your barrel for you. Will make it last longer as well as look nice.
Oh got to thinking the other day about a different finish, it's such a personal preference and cerakote is easy enough done. Haha what do you guys think, fde barrel as well??.. its tempting!
fluting would be nice, but it could further complicate things accuracy wise. Now if they offered a headspaced BCG to go along with these sweet barrels!! My brownells order is taking forever it seems, Wonder what would be the absolute best BCG to buy thats in canada right now? hmmm just relized I don't have any sort of muzzel device either.
Hope I get this thing running to at least shoot a few coyotes yet this winter, it sure handles sweet and the 2-10×42vx5 fire dot is just perfect in my opinion, cds with zero lock is just genius!
Looks good, if it were me I'd center your scope between the rings better. I've read that it's possible to damage your scope if the rings are too close to the turrets or the end bells. I also just think it looks better with it centered.
Not sure how it would look with a FDE barrel, as long as the cerekote wasn't too light it would probably look pretty good. I've been liking olive drab more then FDE lately though so I'm a little bias that way.
Maybe get the forend cerekote'd FDE and the barrel black?
Looks good anyway, looking forward to some more range reports from guys with these rifles and to hear how the various barrel options work in them.
What concerns do you have with fluting? I've heard arguments both ways but I've also seen some fluted barrels shoot some half MOA groups at 800 yards so I don't think it hurts it if done right.
I wouldn't have a barrel fluted though unless they can also stress relieve it when done. If not you'll lose the consistency your barrel manufacturer built into it with their stress relieving process.