.308 MSR's

[TXGunNut]

Been reading about the Ruger and S&W AR platform .308's. My brother is kicking around buying one and the reviews are not very convincing. Both seem to have rather poor triggers but that comes with the territory. He wants it for feral hog population control on his deer lease and wants something with a bit more power that the .223.
Any hands-on real world experience out there?

[lefty o]

my brother recently picked up the ruger .308 piston AR. hasnt shot it yet, but it did come with an 8.5# trigger pull. i replaced the trigger on it already. other than that looks to be a decent rifle. i think its the only thing left ruger doesnt fill with mim parts.

[osteodoc08]

You can replace the triggers with a nicer unit if you wish. I recently purchased a Sig 716 Patrol in FDE. So far about 1.5 MOA with factory ammo. Gonna work on loading some over the winter to evaluate. I've got about 2k 147gr pull downs I've been playing with. Plan on using better "match grade" stuff to work on accuracy. I fully expect 1 MOA or less with select handloads.

A 223 with a Barnes TSX or similar high quality hunting bullet is plenty for hog. It's all about shot placement. The 308 does have a little more behind it though, but be prepared to spend some $$$ compared to a 223.

may consider supersonic 300 BLK or the 6.8SPC. It uses the standard AR platform. The 308 rifles don't interchange and there is no "mil spec".

[Jupiter7]

The DPMS ar308 is the closest thing to standard as there is. Many manufacturers using that pattern. I'd probably skip both and build and do it for less money with higher quality. I have a set I built, little spendy as I went with billet machined upper and lower and lilja barrel. No harder than building a standard AR15.

[45 2.1]

Take a look at the Windham Weaponry 308 SRC. Good reviews, excellent accuracy and takes the 308 P-Mag magazine.....Good like AR-10 carbine and shoots lead well also.

[TXGunNut]

Windham, eh? Was hoping to avoid a proprietary mag issue, not sure what the S&W and Ruger take.
I really want to avoid building a rifle, Jupiter7. It's very tempting after all the reading I've done but would have to build at least 2-3 to reach what I'd call a break-even point. Mostly it's an adventure I'd rather not embark upon at this time but thanks for the input.

[Jupiter7]

Windham, eh? Was hoping to avoid a proprietary mag issue, not sure what the S&W and Ruger take.
I really want to avoid building a rifle, Jupiter7. It's very tempting after all the reading I've done but would have to build at least 2-3 to reach what I'd call a break-even point. Mostly it's an adventure I'd rather not embark upon at this time but thanks for the input.

Pmag is also DPMS pattern. Same mag as the Ruger, S&w and well DPMS. Speaking of, have you checked out the DPMS Gen2? Kind of a mix between a 308Ar and ar15. Drops wome weight of 308ar platform and has gotten good reviews.

http://dpms-gii.com/full.html

[45 2.1]

Was hoping to avoid a proprietary mag issue

AR-10's are not mil-spec (no standard exists for mags). There are at least 5 magazine systems used in them. The P-Mag by Magpul is a really good magazine.

[W.R.Buchanan]

I'd definitely look for one that would take the P Mags. A friend has a S&W M&P10 Seems to work right. You can burn up a lot of ammo in one of these so you're gonna need to reload a bunch.

The guy that owned my 550B before me was an M1A shooter so I have a .308 setup for that press. But I usually only load .308's for my GSR so I do it on the C&H press.

I would look for a bunch of Recycled M80 ball bullets and a bunch of BLC2/W748 before I bought the gun.

Feeding it with factory ammo or even first quality bullets would get old really quick.

Randy

[TXGunNut]

Feeding it with factory ammo or even first quality bullets would get old really quick.

Randy

Good info, Randy. I reload my brother's premium 30-06 J-word hunting ammo :shock: (and have for years) but will decline to load for this rifle. With the quality ammo available for this rifle I may decline to load for any AR-10 pattern rifle I buy/build as well. :shock: My brother is wealthier than I am but is not a prolific shooter. I think he'll be well-served by off-the-shelf ammo. We had this discussion when he was interested in the .300 AAC/Whisper so I won't have to plow that ground again. Factory .308 is even better than .300 AAC/Whisper.
I don't have dies or brass for the .308 and am loathe to add another cartridge to my stable, as much as I hate to admit it I may just encourage him to shoot factory ammo in his AR-10 pattern gun, and I may do so myself.

[TXGunNut]

AR-10's are not mil-spec (no standard exists for mags). There are at least 5 magazine systems used in them. The P-Mag by Magpul is a really good magazine.

Yes, lack of mil-spec is an issue when it comes to many things on an AR-10. I think triggers are not an issue but mags and other components may be an issue. I'll have the pleasure of discussing this topic in hunting camp with him weeks from now and this feedback has been quite helpful, thanks. Only problem is that I may be tasked with finding a couple of AR-10 pattern rifles. I hope he's given up on the supressor idea, I prefer to keep my rifles under the radar.

[W.R.Buchanan]

TX: Federal American Eagle .308 ammo is about $10.95 a box which is just over .50 a shot. I think there may even be better deals on that stuff now as well. It is hard to compete with that low a price and in fact any time you are below .50 it gets harder to reload and save money and especially if you count your time.

My current reloads are using bullets that cost .13 each / 1000 and then you get 150 rounds out of a lb. of powder worth $25 or .16 each and also a primer worth .03-4. Sounds a lot like 32-34 cents per round.

Time at $60 per hour is a dollar a minute, which is about what it takes for me to assemble one round. Now we are at $1.32 per round.

Almost makes sense don't it?

Randy

[rintinglen]

Randy, that is only true if someone pays you to reload.
;-)

[dragon813gt]

I never factor my time into reloading costs. If I could be out making money I would be. Time spent reloading is leisure time so it has no monetary value.

I ditched the AR10 idea because of no parts standardization. To much variation between brands. Your brother would be better served w/ a 300 BLK for hogs. While they are tough they aren't made of armor.

[nekshot]

I don't have a black gun but I drool at the thought of a ar10 in 358 winchester. The ar10 platforms that I have seen produce heavy enough units to absorb the extra recoil. How does the bottom differ from a 15?

[45 2.1]

I ditched the AR10 idea because of no parts standardization. To much variation between brands.


The ar10 platforms that I have seen produce heavy enough units to absorb the extra recoil. How does the bottom differ from a 15?

The upper and lower receivers are bigger (suitable for caliber)...... barrel, bolt and carrier are caliber specific. Most of the other parts are pretty standard unless you are dealing with some RRA parts. AR-10's are a lot of rifle whether you believe it or not....... this comes from someone who used to bash them.

[osteodoc08]

Indeed they are a lot of rifle. Most are pushing 11+ pounds loaded out with scope and ammo. That gets pretty darn heavy running around the woods.