Thread: The Original AR, the AR-10 .308

AR-10 rifles are available in a few other calibers as well.

5.56, 6.8, 308 - Water Jug Test


Notice the cinderblock under the .308 jug!

.308 Carbine

This is what the first production AR-10 rifles looked like.

EOTech Holographic Sight


A holographic sight will point to the spot where the rifle is pointed.

Even if your eye is not perfectly aligned with the sight, the red dot will show you where the rifle is pointed.

There is no need to spend time getting a prefect sight alignment for a close range shot.

There is no faster sight for near range shooting.

M110 SASS Semi Automatic Sniper System

The cut out in the M-4 style contour barrel is for mounting a grenade launcher, or a similar flare launcher.

That is a great feature if you intend to fit that type grenade launcher or flair launcher, otherwise I would expect that the thin section of the barrel degrades accuracy a bit by allowing for increased vibration in the barrel when the rifle is fired.

There is a modified flair launcher available for an AR that mounts to a forward rail and does not require a cut out in the barrel.

If the flare launcher is used, be cautious as the flares are an extreme fire hazard. The FBI used those type of flares to set the fire that burned Robert Jay "Bob" Matthews alive.

AR-10 with M-4 Contour Barrel



AR-15 with M-4 Contour Barrel and Grenade Launcher

Some big calibers in AR-10 rifles manufactured by Cobb.

.30-06, 300 Win Mag, and .338 Lapua

Burris Ballistic Plex Scope

Burris sells an excellent Made in America scope with bullet drop compensation that works out to 500 yards.

The hash marks are approximately correct for both .223 and .308 bullet drop (with a 100 yard zero).

The cross hair is 100 yards.

Next hash mark 200 yards, next 300 yards, next 400 yards, next 500 yards.

Since there is a great variety of .223 and .308 bullets available, all with different ballistic coefficients (they all drop at different rates) you have to shoot your exact ammo to find the exact range that each hash mark will represent for you, but it should be close no matter what bullet you are shooting.

I have seen them priced between $150 and $250 in the 3x – 9x 40 mm model.

DPMS 16" Tactical Carbine, flat top, high rail model, collapsing stock, 19 round mag, flash hider, scope.

This is a happy shooter with his DPMS AR-10 chambered in .308 with his 600 yard target, and all his hits are in the 10 ring!

The 600 yard target line can bee seen in the distance.

Yes I like those Ballistic plex scopes - ive got a Zeiss scope with the rapid z 1000 yard reticle on my Savage.

AR-10 Vs. M14 type Rifles

No disrespect is intended against the rifles from the Garand to the M14. They are good rifles and well liked by many arms collectors.

The folks who own them and love them will probably not part with theirs.

They are not accurate enough to compete against an AR at a rifle competition. At Camp Perry, the military rifle competition that is open to American Citizens, a special competition just for the Garand type rifles had to be set up to exclude AR rifles, just so that a shooter with a Garand type rifle could win a trophy.

Some folks claim that they will perform better in sand or mud than an AR type rifle, but they will still certainly jam on sand or mud. Most battles in America are not going to be fought on beaches, sand dunes, or in swamps.

It is possible to take a Garand type rifle and accurize it. That might include changing the barrel, free floating the barrel, bedding the stock, lapping the bolt face, and some sort of a trigger replacement or trigger job.

An AR is accurate straight out of the box, no modification necessary, and usually more accurate than an accurized M 14. If you have a Gunsmith accurize your Garand type rifle, the charge might be as much as the cost of an AR-10 type rifle.

A brand new semi auto M 14 type rifle costs about twice as much as an AR-10 type rifle.

A Garand type rifle has more recoil than an AR, which gives it a slower rate of semi auto fire.

Some AR-10 long range rifles are lighter than a Garand type rifle, but the AR-10 bull barrel rifles weight about the same as a Garand type rifle.

There are no box magazines for M 14 type semi auto rifles for sale in this area at all, never. It is rumored that some are available somewhere, and if found might be cheaper than a DPMS magazine. The DPMS magazines are available and easy to find in this area. Even when found, FAL magazines are cheaper than M 14 magazines, and some AR-10 type rifles do use the cheaper FAL magazines. (That situation could be different in your area of America.)

A lot of the Garand rifle through semi auto M 14 type rifles do not come ready to mount an optic. A good optic is a big plus for long range shooting. AR-10 type rifles usually come with a rail on top which is a great platform to solidly mount a good optic. (Some AR-10 type carbines do not come with a rail, but a carbine is not a long range rifle.)

While all the rifles form the Garand to the semi auto M 14 type rifles are all good rifles, they can not compete against any AR-10 type rifle for long range defense.

The AR-10 type rifles are:

More accurate

Do not require accurizing

Rail for mounting an optic

Have a faster rate of semi auto fire

Are lighter (some models)

Cost about half as much

Have a greater availability of magazines and replacement parts

An AR-10 type rifle is the number one choice for a long range self defense rifle, and second place is not even close.

AR-10 Vs. AR-15

An M-16 is a good machine gun, but an AR-15 is not a machine gun.

Except head shots, the .223 cartridge usually requires multiple hits, which makes it a better machine gun caliber than a semi auto caliber.

The two problems with an AR-15 (even though they do work, there is a better choice) is the small bullet, and the weak recoil spring.

Because the bullet is so small, there is not much recoil to begin with, so the recoil spring has to be weak to match the recoil of the light weight bullet and bolt.

In an AR-10 (which is how it was meant to be to begin with) the bigger bullet and bigger bolt require a more powerful recoil spring.

The stronger recoil spring improves reliability, because it pushes the bolt with more force, plus the heavier bolt and carrier have more mass to push forward and fully chamber a round against resistance, such as grit.

The bigger bullet and higher velocity of a .308 round fired from an AR-10 has better penetration and take down, than a lower power AK round, and an AR-10 will feed more reliably than an AR-15.

Reliable

Powerful

Accurate

A good combination!

M110 SASS