Armalite AR-10 4ABF

aramlite

Can'tcomment on other brands, never owned one.
I have owned 7 armalites, still have the NM version.
Zero complaints from any of the seven.

Overall seems like a good rifle. Not finished as nicely as a S&W M&P15 series, but functionally seems A-ok. I bought mine for hog & deer, as well as for the occasional hunt for slightly bigger game out West or in Alaska where my brothers live.

If you got the B-series you need to use Armalite's magazines or converted M14 magazines. If you got the A-series you can use Pmag 308 or DPMS magazines.

They recently had a batch of the A-series where the upper receiver machining was mis-toleranced. If you slide out the rear takedown pin and attempt to rotate the upper receiver around the forward takedown pin. If you hear grinding & see aluminum flakes STOP, and send it back for them to correct the machining tolerance.... It'll fire ok with the machining mis-tolerance, but the receivers grind on each other when you try to disassemble.

cheers

clean

Claning any of the Stoner designs is not a problem.

This is my Armalite AR 10 rifle. I have had it for quite some time. I did not buy it for hunting. However, it does very, very well at match shooting which was the intended application. Needless to say the barrel and sights are not original. Before I bought something to build on I placed considerable time into the selection. I am not saying Armalite is any better than other .308 in the AR 10 family. I am saying I have been happy with what I have for a long time and never saw a reason to change. I still have my original barrel for that rifle that was never really fired. So personally, I like Armalite.





Absolutely follow up on what Jackal1 has shared as to recent Armalite problems. Do the simple test he suggested.

Ron

My new rifle model number is: AR-10A4BF. It appears this is an A version. Should I contact Armalite with the serial number of this piece and see if it needs work done for tolerances?

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I looked up Armalite's model number coding and it appears your model number is probably a B-series. The 'A4' in your model number designates a flat top upper receiver. You can check if you have an A-series by looking on your lower receiver underneath the Armalite Logo and see if it says: 'AR-10A'.

You don't need to send your rifle in for repairs unless there is an obvious problem. It is blatantly obvious whether or not you have the problem as soon as you attempt to rotate the upper for disassembly and the aluminum starts creaking from the stresses.

It isn't a bad thing if you do have a B-series model. You won't be able to use Pmags, but many people prefer the Armalite magazines for their smoothness in feeding. I've heard other people refer to their smoothness as 'ballbearing-like'.

Regarding your comment about other AR brands.... Armalite is not a bottom-rung manufacturer. I would say the Armalite AR-10 is one of the best for tinkering because you can find numerous parts for it that aren't available for some other AR308 pattern rifles made by other manufacturers. I also have to give a high-five to Armalite for giving out lots of tech support documents on their web page.

cheers.

I would put the armalite ar10 higher in the 308 pecking order than I would put the arm. M15 in the 5.56 pecking order. The ar10's have very reliable function, and do not use 6061 alloy in the receiver.

There's nothing wrong with the Armalite, after all, it's where the AR in AR10, AR15, etc. came from. How bad did it hurt your wallet in all this madness?

Armalite makes a mighty fine AR 10 rifle. I've had no issues with my AR10 SASS.

dvdcrr said:

I would put the armalite ar10 higher in the 308 pecking order than I would put the arm. M15 in the 5.56 pecking order. The ar10's have very reliable function, and do not use 6061 alloy in the receiver.

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Jackal1 said:

Overall seems like a good rifle. Not finished as nicely as a S&W M&P15 series, but functionally seems A-ok. I bought mine for hog & deer, as well as for the occasional hunt for slightly bigger game out West or in Alaska where my brothers live.

If you got the B-series you need to use Armalite's magazines or converted M14 magazines. If you got the A-series you can use Pmag 308 or DPMS magazines...

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I agree with the above. Though there are better choices in the AR-15 field, you really can't beat ArmaLite when looking for an AR-10, especially since they now have both the B version that uses M14 style magazines and the new A version that uses the original AR-10 mag like Knights Armament, Magpul and DPMS.

My first AR-15 had an ArmaLite upper and S&W lower. Later I got an ArmaLite stripped lower. The S&W is finished much nicer and has a much nicer flared magwell than the ArmaLite. The upper is long gone, replaced by Daniel Defense, BCM and PSA but I kept the lower. If I were buying an AR-10 style rifle it would be ArmaLite, probably the A version. I think you did very well, moonzapa!

I was about to buy a LW 20" myself right before the panic struck. I missed out. But I still plan to get one once the prices come back down to normal... maybe in 6 months.

moonzapa said:

I paid far too much for it, got the bid on it in Gunbroker. The final number exceeded $2k. Glad to hear that many of you have had good performance from the Armalite AR-10, it's very reassuring after spending so much denero that you have something to show for the green spent.

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That model runs close to $1600.00 on Armalite website, so you didn't pay double or triple like some rifles are going for on Gunbroker. That rifle use the Gen. 2 metal mags which are really good. Enjoy your Armalite AR10, you've got a good rifle.

Jackal1 said:

Overall seems like a good rifle. Not finished as nicely as a S&W M&P15 series, but functionally seems A-ok. I bought mine for hog & deer, as well as for the occasional hunt for slightly bigger game out West or in Alaska where my brothers live.

If you got the B-series you need to use Armalite's magazines or converted M14 magazines. If you got the A-series you can use Pmag 308 or DPMS magazines.

They recently had a batch of the A-series where the upper receiver machining was mis-toleranced. If you slide out the rear takedown pin and attempt to rotate the upper receiver around the forward takedown pin. If you hear grinding & see aluminum flakes STOP, and send it back for them to correct the machining tolerance.... It'll fire ok with the machining mis-tolerance, but the receivers grind on each other when you try to disassemble.

cheers

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Can you point out some documentation on this? I participate in several ArmaLite and 7.62 AR forums and this is the FIRST time I have heard of this.

From my experience ArmaLite has as good of fit and finish as any 7.62 AR on the market. I owned a LMT for awhile and while it was a very nice shooter it was not as nice as my Noveske/ArmaLite rifle.

ArmaLite offers there rifles in either mag pattern, the GenII M14 style or the old SR-25 style (Pmags)

Can you point out some documentation on this? I

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Just my personal experience with my particular rifle. When I talked to the factory they were already aware of the issue but they believed just a small quantity (as in a couple) of the A-series rifles might be affected. It did not sound like a largescale problem. I don't have any major complaints, Armalite took good care of me in fixing the issue. I'm a happy customer

Given the other options on the market I would still have bought the same rifle even if I knew ahead of time it might have a tolerance issue. I would have had it fixed by Armalite just like I did. Great customer service, no complaints from me. I encourage others to buy themself an AR-10 & enjoy it

I like mine. My Son says it shoots well.