How far out can a stock AR10 in 308 reasonably be expected to shoot accurately?

600 is not very far away. I am not a great shooter and on the long ranges, 600 is +/- easy with most anything reliable. Factory ammo from a FAL off a bag, not known for their precision. Not a problem getting every shot on an IDPA target. And I did that with irons back when I was younger. Handloading a quality large frame AR, you'll hit it all the time if you do your part.

You already shoot 300! Lots asking this sort of question have shot 25 yds, and sometimes 100. So you are halfway there. Literally. Twice as far. If your honest group is 5" then you can hit a 12" plate at 600 all day long

Now... it's not all equal of course! 600 is just getting to the point ballistics really matter, so if your velocity is off, you will miss a lot. Got a chrono if handloading, I assume? Wind calls are also critical. On at all windy days, without a spotter or a truly great eye for wind, pack it up. But still days or good spotters, I know folks who shoot pretty non-custom self loaders .308s to 1100. Or much further. Not every day, but sometimes.

I'd have to ask what you think is reasonably good. You state your 30-06 is capable of 1 MOA but that you consistently shoot to around 1.5-2 MOA. I would say it depends a lot on the ammo you try to use. How is the trigger? I have a HIGHLY modified 308 AR with a handload shooting 175 grain SMK that I shot an egg off of a golf tee at 200 yards cold bore at a PRS match. It's a 1:10 twist barrel also. I would have no problem going out to 600 yards with it. I'd probably limit my shots to around 800 yards.

If you do your part, you should be able to get reasonable results at 1000 yards with the right ammunition.

I can see three levels to the basic question:

1) How fundamentally accurate is the AR-10 design?
2) How accurate are PSA's specific renditions of same?
3) How accurate is your specific rifle?

As you've indicated, #3 is something you'll need to figure out. That will also involve ammunition variables plus shooter-induced idiosyncrasies, if any.

So feedback on questions #1 & #2 will provide the most relevant help. And this is point beyond which I can add nothing helpful.

Except perhaps that the AR-10 sure looked cool when I first spotted an inaccurate representation of one in a Jonny Quest episode when I was four years old. The bad guy couldn't hit anything with his AR-10, but since it lacked a front sight it's not too surprising:

GravelRider said:

I fairly recently bought the AR10, and am still in the process of working up a load for it, so I'm far from ready to hit 600 yard targets with it.

Click to expand...

It's a semi-automatic rifle man with a 20 round+ magazine capacity. The heck you aren't ready to tear up 600 yard targets with it.

While testing the Springfield Armory, Hakko Made, etched glass 308 trajectory reticle scope on my Armalite AR-10T with the matching Federal match load using the Hornady 168g HT BT match bullet. That rifle shot 3/4” at 500 meters on a KD range with targets every 100 meters out to 500. Now that was a stock AR-10T with their NM trigger and an was an Armalite not a DPMS design, they are different. However, it is enough accuracy to make an old M-14 w scope shooter, wish he had, had an AR-10T back in the day, out and about, in Indian country.
This is the Armalite AR-10 308 and 260 today

I can start out saying the right 308 rifle with good ammo will be accurate out to 600 yards. You mainly have to do your planning. A lot comes into play at 600 yards. If you can take wind into account and drop and knowing where cold bore shots hit then you can adjust for all that. Years ago I had someone make me a 358 Winchester barrel and he also made me a 308 barrel as well. I built 2 uppers and then finished my lower. I started shooting the 308 a lot and was getting good with it out to 300 yards. The range I was going to had targets out to 1000 yards. I decided to start practicing further out. I learned that cold bore on my rifle was about 2” off every time. I would adjust my first shot for this and it worked. Now I have a spot on our property that has a 550 yard shot. I took my ar-10 one year and hunted with it. I was using 180gr sst and had shot a lot of them through the rifle. After going back to my notes I was able to set up a target at 550 yards and take some shots in the off season and when it came to hunting season I was ready. I took a nice 7 point at 520 yards.

min the end all I can say is practice a lot and get comfortable with the rifle. If you can do that you can easily hunt at 600 yards as long as you put in the work on your end.

The capabilities of a rifle setup (including the ammunition) don't always equal the capabilities of the shooter. IF you can produce a 1 MOA group (approx 1") at 100 meters with that equipment, you THEORETICALLY should be able to achieve a 6 MOA (approx 6") group at 600 meters. The variables that come into play are the shooter's ability to apply the principles without error at a longer distance and the ability to compensate for any winds- both of which become more significant as distances increase. FWIW, Larue OBR AR10 type rifles with 16" barrels have won in the USASOC sniper competition at Ft Bragg several times in the past.

175 SMK's are a great medium/long range bullet. Come up about 10 minutes from your 300 yd. zero and you'll be on the paper at 600.

Sounds like you have a nice trigger on your rifle. You'll do just fine I imagine.

If we are not quantifying “accurately” or defining “reasonably”, I can just say “a long way”.

GravelRider said:

And I honestly don't have a ton of experience adjusting for windage. And I've found that most of my experience comes from shooting my 17 HMR out to 100 yards. Even a little wind sends that little 17 gr bullet off course easily

Click to expand...

You have a good start since you shoot the 17HMR. Start shooting that out to 200 yards will help making 600 yard shots with a 308.

There are three things that are important when it comes to the rifle itself; a good barrel, good trigger, and good optics. There are other things to look at when t comes to the rifle but those three is where to start. You also need to take the time to find the ammo your rifle shoots the best. The rest is on the shooter and his/her techniques.

I'm sure you will do just fine if you can consistently hit the 300 meter target with a M16/M4 and govt issue ammo.

GravelRider said:

I'm honestly and surprisingly very impressed with the stock trigger. I have a couple other PSA AR15s with triggers not even in the same category. I have a Geissele trigger on one of my AR15s, and this one is not that far off from it. It's certainly not as crisp, and a bit heavier, but that was actually the thing that surprised me the most with this rifle. For a sub-$1000 AR10, I was super impressed with the trigger. This being said, I know it could be better, but it's not something I'm looking to upgrade the first chance I get.

Click to expand...

I recently picked up a PSA10 as well. I had a similar reaction to the trigger. Very crisp, and reasonably light pull. It's not as good as the one on my tuned up 700, but it's a very good single stage. Definitely a step or two up from a normal GI trigger. Very pleasantly surprised.

I built my PSA PA10 in early 2016 so it is all Gen 1. I ended up installing a Larue MBT-2S trigger in it. Mine has the 20" stainless steel barrel. It has done well for me so far. About the only ammo that I tried that did not shoot well was the Norma Tac 150Gr FMJ stuff. That was a disappointment since that ammo shoots exceptionally well in my Savage Model 12.

GravelRider said:

I guess my starting goal of what I think is reasonably good is to hit a silhouette target at 600 yards. I'm sure as I get more into it, my goals will be set ever higher, as is usually the case with most things we seek out.

And yes, 1.5-2 MOA is probably honestly where I average at 300 yards. At 100 yards, I'm much closer to 1 MOA. I'm certain it's my small errors adding up at the longer range.

I'm honestly and surprisingly very impressed with the stock trigger. I have a couple other PSA AR15s with triggers not even in the same category. I have a Geissele trigger on one of my AR15s, and this one is not that far off from it. It's certainly not as crisp, and a bit heavier, but that was actually the thing that surprised me the most with this rifle. For a sub-$1000 AR10, I was super impressed with the trigger. This being said, I know it could be better, but it's not something I'm looking to upgrade the first chance I get.

And the load I'm working up is using the 175 gr SMKs under TAC powder. I've never used TAC powder before, so we'll see how it goes.

Click to expand...

A few things to consider for the long-range shooter:

Proper barrel break in procedure
Matching bullet weight and velocity to barrel rifling twist rate
Finding the powder to maximize accuracy for the bullet /velocity
Quality glass for the range you will be shooting
Practice, practice, practice

Smiles,

My AR10 is an older Aramlite AR10(T) pictured below.



I ran out of range distance at 500 yards but the rifle would shoot well beyond 500 yards. I generally loaded Sierra 168 and 175 grain match king bullets over AA2495 which worked well for me. The barrel is a free floated match barrel with match sights. I did play around with a scope and open standard sights:



I just suggest you work with different loads using quality components. Your rifle will likely do fine well beyond 600 yards and out to 1,000 yards. A matter of patience and practice.

Just My Take....
Ron

FL-NC said:

The capabilities of a rifle setup (including the ammunition) don't always equal the capabilities of the shooter. IF you can produce a 1 MOA group (approx 1") at 100 meters with that equipment, you THEORETICALLY should be able to achieve a 6 MOA (approx 6") group at 600 meters. The variables that come into play are the shooter's ability to apply the principles without error at a longer distance and the ability to compensate for any winds- both of which become more significant as distances increase. FWIW, Larue OBR AR10 type rifles with 16" barrels have won in the USASOC sniper competition at Ft Bragg several times in the past.

Click to expand...

1 MOA at 600 yards would be 6”. 6 MOA at 600 yards would be 36”

FL-NC said:

IF you can produce a 1 MOA group (approx 1") at 100 meters with that equipment, you THEORETICALLY should be able to achieve a 6 MOA (approx 6") group at 600 meters.

Click to expand...

I think you might have an error or two in there. 6 MOA at 600 yards is approximately 36”. 1 MOA at 600 yards is ~6”.

And not to get too pedantic, but there’s a difference in MOA between yards and meters. 600 meters = 658 yards, and a 1MOA circle at that range is 6.87” in diameter. So using the shorthand of 1” every 100 yards, at 600 meters you’re actually closer to the 700 yard value than you are to the 600 yard value. Granted, that difference is more important when making adjustments than when discussing group size.

But apart from that, I agree with your point that if someone can do a 1 MOA group at 100 yards, they should theoretically be able to do the same 1 MOA group at longer distance.



To the OP: assuming your rifle is reasonably accurate (for this case, let’s say the rifle is capable of 2 MOA or less) you should be fine out to 600 yards. I shoot an AR 15 (.223) at 600 and while wind can occasionally be an annoyance, the round can definitely reach the target with consistent accuracy. I also shoot a .308 bolt gun at the same distance with no issues as well.

Generally I think of the .308 as an 800 yard cartridge. It can make it to 1000 yards, but if I was going to be shooting at 1000 consistently (or going further) I’d want something a bit different. Assuming the accuracy of your individual gun is up to the task, you shouldn’t have any issues at 600 yards.

Learn your scope. With my set up, I’m shooting 180 gr sst from hornady. I’m pushing them around 2450fps if I remember correctly. Put into a ballistic app, it’s 95” of drop at 600 yards.

It will shoot accurately out to where the bullet goes transonic.

As to the rest, that's on you.

Around 5 is where technique and wind start to really get important. And my personal experience is that the difficulty feels logarithmic as you go farther.
I have 1 rifle for which 400 is a dawdle.
600 is starting to get challenging, but I can usually land a first-round hit.

I've gotten out to 800m, but getting the wind worked out was a challenge at that range. My spotter was saying I was practically scraping copper off on the edges of the plate, but my final tally was ultimately only 3 of 11 made contact on the 14" diamond.

I would be disappointed in any stock AR if it was more than a 2MOA rifle. Free floating the barrel and a trigger upgrade would be the things I'd go after first if the stock accuracy isn't acceptable.

But shoot it first! I typically get 1.5MOA out of my non-free floated, chrome bore ARs (with the excellent Larue MBT set) with non-match factory ammo. That's good enough for the ranges and targets I typically shoot at with those rifles that I'm not really interested in throwing more cash at trying to get smaller group sizes.

BSW

I have a Gen 1 PA-10, similar to what the OP is running. 18” 1 in 10” twist stainless barrel, with their fairly cheap furniture. Mine has not shown great accuracy, but most of my shooting has been with lighter bullets, 125 gr TNT’s, 155 gr Nosler CC BTHP’s. It seems to be more accurate at slower speeds, which makes long range more challenging. And given it’s 2-3 MOA at 100 yard accuracy, I haven’t been too motivated to launch the more expensive heavy match bullets from it, when they work so well in my Savage 10T bolt gun. But, given that I bought it a few years back for less than $600 delivered and it has been very reliable and fun to shoot, I plan on keeping it. Hope to take a coyote or two with it this winter, and the TNT with TAC is sometimes under 2 MOA on a good day, so it should be fun out to 300 yards or so.