(308) Budget 1500

I have to agree with those that recommended an AR308 of some form. I've owned an FAL, M1A and AR308 and only kept the AR308. Mine's a tack driving sewing machine in the form of a POF P308 but a little out of your budget. You really couldn't go far wrong with a rifle from DPMS. I'd stick with 18" to 20" for barrel length though. Something like this.

http://www.dpmsinc.com/308-MK-12_ep_96-1.html

I used to work for Remington so we could buy DPMS ARs really cheap. I was always impressed by how accurate the .308 Win variants were. I can't remember one that wouldn't shoot 3/4 moa or better at 100 yards with Remington Premier Match 168gr ammunition.

That .308 MK12 noted above would fit the bill nicely. Adustable stock, free floated, and a nice trigger out of the box. A little more than you're hoping to spend, but a very well balanced do it all rifle.

PSA PA10 with a Nikon P308 scope and Bushnell TRS-25 red dot offset mounted. You would even be able to pick up the Plano Weather Guard case within your budget.

Just as an aside, I've started building a DPMS-pattern large frame AR. BUT, I've decided i want to make it a 16" .358 Winchester. Should be an awesome deer and elk rifle for the mountains, and one hell of a pig thumper.

Only tangentally related. Sorry. Lol

That's a great project ... the .338 Win is a really useful cartridge for bear country too. I have a 450 Bushmaster which is a real thumper as well!

You'll be doing yourself a disservice if you don't pick a PTR-91. Look how cool:



They offer one that looks like the above (minus the wide forearm) called the PTR-91 GI model. For a more accurized off the bench option, they sell several models with heavier target barrels for not much more. These can be very accurate with the right ammo.

MCMXI said:

That's a great project ... the .338 Win is a really useful cartridge for bear country too. I have a 450 Bushmaster which is a real thumper as well!

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Not .338......358. It's a round that gets no love much of the time, as it came out during the start of the magnum craze, and there's not a lot of wiz-bang new tech bullets available. But it has some key advantages:
1.Whille ammo is hard to find, brass isn't; .308 bras can be necked up in one step.
2. It's crazy efficient: 180gr at 2600fps up to 250gr at 2200fps from what is basically a standard .308 case. And very low velocity loss from shorter barrels, due to a high caliber/case volume ratio.
3. It loads 1:1 in standard magazines. None of this "20rd mag will hold 8rds" malarkey. Also uses standard .308 bolt face, gas tubes, etc.

I love the .358 win and doing an AR10 to shoot one is pretty damn cool

Sorry for the threadjack, but it does bring up one more key advantage to the AR308 in the OP's quest....modularity. Buy a good AR308 and, if the urge for a flat shooting long range rifle hits, build a 6.5CM or .260Rem upper. Need a big thumper? .338, 358, even .45 caliber options. No extra regulatory crap, just a new upper, barrel, maybe bolt. 2 pins, and done.

I have no idea what i would be getting into if i built my own, i will do my research. If you have recommendations on what you would purchase building your own with a 1500 budget? Optic of course will be bought in a few months.

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What you get in building your own is exactly what you want without wasting money in the form of buying a complete rifle and later changing out parts. The difficulty comes in knowing what you want to begin with; most of us end up reconfiguring or building other rifles as our needs or desires evolve.

Having said that, at the very least, you save the FET paid on complete firearms when you build your own. If you do so with a complete upper, you honestly do not need any special tools for assembling the lower (receiver extension nut can be installed without the special wrench). Putting one together will also help give you a better understanding of the platform.

As I mentioned before, if one of the PSA rifle kits offers what you're looking for, they cannot be beat for value. You get the rifle kit, then a stripped lower (that's the actual gun, the part that has to go through an FFL), and put it together. The rifle I showed, had I opted for a more basic lower and just used the included M4 style stock and grip, could have been put together for ~$900 including shipping and transfer fees. The rifle kit cost me $737 shipped, and PSA regularly has "blem" lowers for $75. Add $10 shipping on the lower plus FFL transfer fee (typically $20-$40). Last time I saw it in stock, that kit had gone up $80 from what I paid, but still a screamin' deal. The MI handguard alone is a $200 piece.

Alternately, if you don't like the offerings in full kits, you buy an assembled upper of your choosing (be sure to know whether it includes the bolt carrier group or not), and then either buy an assembled lower, or a stripped lower + lower build kit.

One of the reasons the AR is so popular is the ability of just about anyone to assemble from parts or reconfigure with minimal knowledge, experience and tools. The barrel extension design means that there is no messing with headspace when installing/changing barrels. They are plug-n-play. That is the biggest hang-up with most other designs, including the FAL, M1A and G3/CETME; barrel changes require more equipment and much more knowledge/experience to be done and done correctly.

ive had a PTR-91, great rifles, if youre into HK91s, G3s, then get a PTR and you wont be disappointed, theyre the only other rifle id consider "ak reliable"

another option is a zastava M77, you can get a stock adapter for it that'll allow you to take the lame thumbhole stock off and put on any stock you want, even including side folding adapters, buffer tubes for AR stocks, anything you want, you can convert it into a proper .308 AK

My semi auto 308 is a M1 Garand that was rebuilt by the armorers at the Civilian Marksmanship arsenal in Anninston, AL. Beautiful rifle, all refurbished to new condition and accuracy exceeds that of those in 30-06. Cost is right at 1,000 dollars now. Put "odcmp" in your seach engine and check them out and see if you meet the eligibility requirements.

Driftertank said:

Not .338......358. It's a round that gets no love much of the time, as it came out during the start of the magnum craze, and there's not a lot of wiz-bang new tech bullets available. But it has some key advantages:
1.Whille ammo is hard to find, brass isn't; .308 bras can be necked up in one step.
2. It's crazy efficient: 180gr at 2600fps up to 250gr at 2200fps from what is basically a standard .308 case. And very low velocity loss from shorter barrels, due to a high caliber/case volume ratio.
3. It loads 1:1 in standard magazines. None of this "20rd mag will hold 8rds" malarkey. Also uses standard .308 bolt face, gas tubes, etc.

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Sorry about that but I meant to type .358 Win ... hence the bear comment. And I agree, it's a much overlooked cartridge and would make an awesome AR358. Hopefully you'll report back.

If you're looking at AR pattern 308's do yourself a favor& look at the SiG 716

Over the last 25 years I've owned 5 different makes ... The Stoner SR-25 is the king of the hill but so is it's price. I've owned Stoners, Armalites, DPMS's ... Hands down the SiG is the best bang for the buck. I opted for the 716 DMR model because when I added in the options I would have added to the patrol model the investment was the same but I got a match barrel with the DMR ... It's a heck of a gun! This is an old pic and people give me static about my scope mounts being backwards, but it shoots sub-moa so I just let them snicker, it works for me.



The HK & clones are good solid weapons but they are 60+ year-old technology, not as accurate but they are heavy and they are also AK reliable ... Horrible triggers but that can be fixed with a trigger job or PSG trigger pack ... Same goes for the M-14, but keep a spare op-rod

I have a DPMS GII and have over 1k rounds though it. It's been a 100% reliable. With 150 grain soft points that I load it shoots very well.

I put 4-12 scope on it to start with and it worked well, but just seemed like to much scope for it. I looked at a lot of red dots for it as well, but I wound up putting a vortex 1.75x-5x scope on it. With the generous eye relief, it's a great combo.

If you really want to lighten it up while you carry it, swap the 20 round mag for the 10 round mag and just keep the 20 near by.

For the money I would say it's hard to beat.

I also looked at the Ruger and the Smith and Wesson. Both were also very appealing. Especially since the smith came with a 18" barrel instead of the 16". But I would imagine that if you want it for "just in case" while at work, the 16" barrel would be about perfect.

If I were buying one today it would be the M&P AR10 with the pencil barrel. They are light to carry and awesome to shoot.

Look into the Desert Tech MDR. If nothing else you'll see some sweet rifles on their site. I think they are a little outside of that budget though, but I still recommend them.

An accurate .308 semi auto? I thought the obvious choice was an FNAR?



This is what I would buy! I think they are guaranteed 1moa out of the box?
https://www.fnamerica.com/products/autoloading-rifles/fnar-heavy/

i used to be a huge HK fan and really liked my PTR a lot, but if i pick up another 308 rifle itll probably be an AR-10.. the PTRs weighed too much, claw mounts sucked, and the fluting DID have an effect on my brass

Not sure if your armament quest is a actually job related, or you just mentioned it as a but about yourself. If you're shopping as a means to provide maritime security, i think my top choices if I were in your position would be either a DPMS pattern AR308 in 18-20" medium barrel with freefloat handguard and adjustable carbine stock, or an M1A Scout Squad in a USGI fiberglass stock. * * *

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My semi auto 308 is a M1 Garand that was rebuilt by the armorers at the Civilian Marksmanship arsenal in Anninston, AL. Beautiful rifle, all refurbished to new condition and accuracy exceeds that of those in 30-06. Cost is right at 1,000 dollars now. Put "odcmp" in your seach engine and check them out and see if you meet the eligibility requirements.

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Sort of agree if the real purpose of the OP's exercise is to obtain a reliable .308/7.62 semi-auto for on-board maritime security.

I too was thinking of something on the "Old-School" platform as well - an M1A, or if he could find one, a CMP M1 Garand in .308. I have one and it's an awesome shooter. Should make it easy enough to repel boarding attempts by pirate raiding parties while soaking up that Mediterranean sun ...

justin22885 said:

i used to be a huge HK fan and really liked my PTR a lot, but if i pick up another 308 rifle itll probably be an AR-10.. the PTRs weighed too much, claw mounts sucked, and the fluting DID have an effect on my brass

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What don't you like about the claw mount? I love the claw mount on my HK91! The claw mount I use to scope my 91 is the quickest detachable mount I have ever seen. Mine always returns to zero for me.

My only real gripe about my 91 is the serrated chamber really messes up the brass. Even heavy LakeCity brass.

If I bought another .308 semi auto it would be an FNAR! I always loved the sporting BAR's and I love the accessories FN added to the sporting BAR.

Now that someone mentioned a .358 win AR10, it's bored into my brain and I can't stop thinking about how cool that would be. I already have a BLR chambered in it, 100 cases and the dies to reload for it.........thanks a lot THR!

miladsyarif said:

Cooldill, looking into the rifle now the PTR-91 GI looks like the G3 platform.
http://**********.info/251/o.png

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You won't regret it. This model with the metal lower, integrated rail, and paddle magazine release, all highly recommended, is on sale at Atlantic Firearms:

https://www.atlanticfirearms.com/co...rifle-paddle-mag-release-detail.html?Itemid=0