7.62x51 NATO | .308 Rifle Recommendations

rkwjunior said:
I've done a bunch of research on 308's, hands down, go with the SCAR. Lightweight, insanely reliable, recoils slightly more than a 5.56, super accurate, Ergonomics mimic the AR. it really is the best Battle rifle going. The only disadvantage is Mags, you have to stick with the FN Mags or buy an aftermarket lower to accept Sr-25 mags/pmags. Youtube is ur friend, tons of reviews from reputable people, everyone raves about the gun. Problem is the 17's have gone up in price, the black ones are $2500-2800 and the FDE is $3000-3400, if u can find one.
I got one on Layaway.

I've shot an HK91 and a PTR, both are heavy and recoil heavy, In my opinion, nothing great about them, i sold the HK, and i don't miss it. I hate also the no bolt hold open.
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I presume no preban mags for us sloths here in MA? Seems to be a newer rifle....
 
M1911 said:
I've got a FAL. I never will understand the why people think it is such a great rifle.

It is seriously nose heavy. The trigger is crap. The sights are crap. The adjustable gas system that fans love to point to as being the best thing since sliced bread is just another failure point that you can screw up if you don't adjust it properly. In fact, if you don't adjust it properly you can completely jam up the rifle to the point where you need a gunsmith to get it running again.

A box stock M1a has a far better trigger and much better sights than a FAL.
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This.
The FAL has a lot of sex going for it, but that's it.


I'm not a fan of the .308 in the AR, either. I've had one (DPMS LR308). Very accurate rifle but awkward to handle.
 
M1911 said:
I've got a FAL. I never will understand the why people think it is such a great rifle.

It is seriously nose heavy. The trigger is crap. The sights are crap. The adjustable gas system that fans love to point to as being the best thing since sliced bread is just another failure point that you can screw up if you don't adjust it properly. In fact, if you don't adjust it properly you can completely jam up the rifle to the point where you need a gunsmith to get it running again.

A box stock M1a has a far better trigger and much better sights than a FAL.
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This may be true of a full-length G1 or L1A1, but put it in a para configuration, and everything changes.

A 16.26" Para FAL, with the lightweight lower and A2 style rear sight is pure sex.

No...It's like a jar of win fell into a bucket of sex, then promptly spilled over into a vat of awesome.
 
I've got both a M1A Loaded and M&P10, more often than not I find myself grabbing the M1A for a range trip. Aside from the factory mags on the M&P10 there's absolutely nothing wrong with it, I've just had a weird obsession with the M1A ever since I first fired one as a teenager at a fun shoot in Hanson. Had I in fact been more patient I'd have picked up a M1A Scout instead of the M&P10 simply for mag commonality, that and the only thing better than one M1A is two. The great thing about the M&P10 though is mine loves the cheap(as far as .308/7.62 goes) Privi battlepack ammo.
 
jpk said:
None are cheap......typical FAL is approaching 2k

M1A can be had from springfield for ~1500 and up.....if you're going to spend that much you might as well buy one from LRB and be done with it

AR10 is well over 1k

May not be 7.62x51 but you cant go wrong with an M1 Garand and you can get one from CMP for around 1k ready to go
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Entry level LRB will run 2200$ but you get a forged receiver and bolt. Plus every LRB rifle the bolt is,lapped to the receiver. Get into their accurate rifles and you quickly get north of 3k.
 
bigblue said:
Kind of a bitch to mount a scope to reach out to 700m isn't it thought?
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I only know one person who has successfully mounted a scope on a M1a. He hunted down a original brookstone matched with a leupold scope.
LRB makes a receiver with one piece Scope rail mounts forged right into the receiver.

I bought a m14 parts kit from the cmp few years back. After researching all my options I was finding myself at the 3k end of a final finished piece. Someone offered me insane money for my parts kit (Obama sales II) I could not refuse.
 
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That's pretty much what I found in my research as well. Great rifle, would love to own one, but in the grand scheme of things has a serious flaw. My eyes can't reach out past 200m without some help.
 
Im surprised im hearing people say the ptr is heavy. I guess shooting my m1 has made other rifles feel really light to me.
 
After reading all these posts, I'm still seeing the SCAR as being the best candidate. The price is high compared to the ptr and a lower grade AR10, but I think ur getting alot, a little bit of all the benefits of the old school battle rifles. FNH I think hit a home run, what more could u want?
 
The only way a SCAR 17S is worth it would be half MOA accuracy and I just don't see that. $3500 gets you a lot of bolt rifle.
 
bigblue said:
The only way a SCAR 17S is worth it would be half MOA accuracy and I just don't see that. $3500 gets you a lot of bolt rifle.
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I don't think we are talking about competition accuracy here, I think we are talking battle rifles.?,Sure u can buy a more accurate gun, but can u get the whole package like the scar.?
Check out youtube, some have put down great groups, it has amazing accuracy for a 16" carbine.

$3500 is the very top end for a scar, you can find them for $2800., they were in the 2300-2500 dollar range, but they've grown scarce.
 
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jpk said:
I have to take arfcom with a grain of salt when asking AR forum members to compare a battle rifle in 7.62 to a plastic space gun.

The other thing to consider is whether we're comparing something like a Springfield M1A to a SCAR or are we comparing an LRB/Mil Spec rifle to a SCAR

Springfield makes ok guns but they are well known for having QC issues with their M1A's hence the warranty
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Pretty sure that thread and most others on Arfcom compare issued rifles or civilian M14's to the SCAR.
 
jpk said:
I have to take arfcom with a grain of salt when asking AR forum members to compare a battle rifle in 7.62 to a plastic space gun.

The other thing to consider is whether we're comparing something like a Springfield M1A to a SCAR or are we comparing an LRB/Mil Spec rifle to a SCAR

Springfield makes ok guns but they are well known for having QC issues with their M1A's hence the warranty
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Well not sure if u read any of their opinions but some of them were oldschool military men that had experience with the m1a. And I'd rather take a non biased opinion from a general forum vs an FN forum or an M1a specific forum. If I sent u a link to an FN forum I'm sure that would have to be taken with a grain of salt to?.

And i I take offense to calling it a "Plastic space gun", that Is the old school bias taking over, u can't let that obscure your view of the overall performance of both platforms.
 
When I write "issued rifle" that refers to rifles issued to active duty service units. Does Springfield Commercial provide those?

You do need to drop the "plastic space gun" bias: A wood stock neither makes a rifle more reliable nor more accurate.
 
AR-patterned rifle in 308 is probably the most logical choice in terms of cost, accuracy, reliability, and parts availability.

I do want a FAL and an HK91-pattern gun too at some point though [smile]
 
jpk said:
No one is providing M1A's/M14's any longer and havent for decades

Same with M1 Garand, FAL and others if I am not mistaken

The select fire version of the SCAR is a different animal than the commercial version as well so its again an apples/peas comparison because no one can purchase a version that is comparable to the few that HAVE made it into service in SF and the Belgian mil

But several companies including Smith Ent have been contracted to do armory/refurb work on the M14's that Clinton somehow failed to destroy
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Then who mfg's the M25?
 
jpk said:
No one is providing M1A's/M14's any longer and havent for decades

Same with M1 Garand, FAL and others if I am not mistaken

The select fire version of the SCAR is a different animal than the commercial version as well so its again an apples/peas comparison because no one can purchase a version that is comparable to the few that HAVE made it into service in SF and the Belgian mil

But several companies including Smith Ent have been contracted to do armory/refurb work on the M14's that Clinton somehow failed to destroy
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Other than select fire, what is the difference between civilian scars and issued scars.?

The glock is a plastic space gun, it has endured for 30 years with no signs of stopping. Please don't tell me that's different.
 
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jpk said:
long discussion on that over on fnforum

biggest diff is that the bolt/carrier are different....aside from the lack of fun switch
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The carrier is differmt due to the fun switch, it has some extra cuts, etc etc. for tht reason, that's it. Same with an Ar, the bcg is slightly different to acomadate the select fire option, everything else is the same.

The space gun bias is still in plane sight. I'm taking ur opinion with a grain of salt after ur "plastic space gun" comment, and this is a general forum.

Apples and pease is like comparing the ACR to the Scar. It's a cheaper version. The Springfield is the cheaper version of a custom m1a.
 
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mac1911 said:
I only know one person who has successfully mounted a scope on a M1a. He hunted down a original brookstone matched with a leupold scope.
LRB makes a receiver with one piece Scope rail mounts forged right into the receiver.

I bought a m14 parts kit from the cmp few years back. After researching all my options I was finding myself at the 3k end of a final finished piece. Someone offered me insane money for my parts kit (Obama sales II) I could not refuse.
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Well now you "know" two, although I haven't shot it scoped for quite some time because I just like the irons that much more. Plus the scope is as about as basic as one can get, just a leupy 3-9x40 sitting on some cheap ass $40 rings. While I'd "like" to get a NF/S&B/U.S. Optics just because I really have no need for any of them on the BRP 100yd range. SA still offers(last time I saw) the M21 for anyone willing to spend the loot for it.

23682290442_e59c783ce8_b.jpg

Please excuse the quick and dirty shitty cell phone pic, my new cell is coming in later today.

Was it a PITA to scope it? A little, but only because I took my sweet time getting it done not wanting to spend a ton of scratch doing it. I waited and got the stock, not drilled, elsewhere with the riser for $60(IIRC) because I didn't want to drill my birch stock and I didn't want to be bothered with lacing up and removing a riser all the time if I wanted to shoot irons. In the end it would have been easier to just get another M1A but I didn't want to spend the money on another at the time because I was spending heaps feeding this one. [laugh]
 

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