308 Rifle question

[mr_dove]

This question is out of pure curiosity.

How many magazine fed 308 rifles are there in CURRENT production. Many of the popular battle rifles are either surplus or just based on an old design. FAL, M1A, HK, etc.

I always like to look at pictures of new rifles coming out but the majority (maybe all) are 223 rifles. Nothing in 308 that I recall. The Sig 556 is 223. The Beretta RX4 is 223. I'm pretty sure the new FN Scar is 223 too.

Is there nothing NEW in 308?!! FAL's and M1A's are all fine and good but there seems to be no innovation in the area of 308 rifles.

 

[Nightcrawler]

There's an FN SCAR, the heavy model, in .308. Pre-production only right now, I believe.

HK is making a version of their gas-piston AR-type in .308, the HK 417. Only one prototype in the States now.

The FAL IS in production, in the US, by DSA. The M14 type is being made by Springfield Armory. They don't have military contracts (not major ones, anyway), but they ARE in production.

As for innovation...well, most of the "new" .223 rifles aren't that much different than the old ones. Sig's 556's claim to fame is that they mated an ugly CAR-type telescoping stock to a Sig 550 frame. Lah-de-freaking-DAH.

The truth is, we're at sort of a firearms plateau right now. Innovation these days is evolutionary, not revolutionary. Better aiming devices are the big thing right now, and modularity has superceded integral. (Weapons now have quick-detach optics and such instead of ones built in.) But the heart of the system remains the same.

Frankly, I'm pretty excited about trying the FN SCAR-H.

Now, someone's going to post on here that .308 rifles are so obsolete and that's why nobody's making them anymore. Really, since most militaries in the west (and by extension, police agencies) are married to the .223 right now, that's where the makers are going to focus.

As for "based on an old design"...

-The AR-15 is an old design, too. 1958 vintage, I believe. The direct-impingement gas system dates back to prior to that.
-The G36 is just an AR-18 in a polymer frame. 1960s design
-The Sig 550 is just a Kalashnikov redesigned into a different frame. 1940s vintage.

Nothing much new under the sun...

 

[ugaarguy]

You are correct NightCrawler, the direct-impingement system dates at least to the French MAS 49/56 family of rifles, maybe older than that. It's sad to think the AR-15/ M-16's closest relative is a French rifle. These are the only two major battle rifle families in the world I know of which use this system. I like my AR-15 for plinking and fun shooting. I wish I could use my FAL when I deploy.

 

[MCgunner]

You are correct NightCrawler, the direct-impingement system dates at least to the French MAS 49/56 family of rifles, maybe older than that. It's sad to think the AR-15/ M-16's closest relative is a French rifle. These are the only two major battle rifle families in the world I know of which use this system.

I have an Egyptian Hakim that uses the system, based on the Swedish AG42 design (1942), itself a gas impingement action. Also, the Egyptian Rashid carbine in 7.62x39 was just a scaled down Hakim.

That ol' Hakim is a danged reliable, accurate battle rifle, but I've never seen a battle rifle any bigger, longer, or heavier. LOL! With its bayonet attached, it's one heck of a pike. Alexander could have formed he phalanx with those things.

 

[Henry455]

Do not forget RRA new .308 Line:

http://www.rockriverarms.com/item-d...ge=r308mid.gif&CFID=12655023&CFTOKEN=83332165