Lots of love for AR-15 not so much love for AR-10?

[Prion]

It seems the AR-15 gets much love but when you move the platform up into .308 the love fades. Why? I was looking at an Armalite AR-10 yesterday and it looked really nice. I like my AR-15 a bunch and I like .308 a lot, what's not to like about the AR-10? Why do so many people put the Fals, PTR's, M1A/M-14's ahead of it?

 

[TIMC]

Mostly price and availibility, I love my AR-10 and have had it for quite a few years now.

 

[TexasRifleman]

Why do so many people put the Fals, PTR's, M1A/M-14's ahead of it?

Honestly? My opinion is that, to a large extent, the magazine costs kill the thing financially.

HK/PTR mags - 3 bucks
FAL mags - 10/12 bucks
M1A/M1 mags - $15


AR10 magazines - 40? 50? Some places are selling them for 70!

That adds a LOT of expense to a new owner. 10 magazines or so will cost as much as some guns.

That's what turns me off anyway.....that's a ridiculous price for magazines.

 

[gvnwst]

Mostly price and availibility, I love my AR-10 and have had it for quite a few years now.

Is it just me, or is that the same AR-10 that arthred is raffleing off on THR.us?

me thinks so:
http://www.thehighroad.us/showthread.php?t=405334
(are you arthred?)


To the OP, AR-10s are great, but since they are larger, and have to compete with M1As and such, they do not get as much attention. (which have "history" in them, making them more popular) Plus like what TR said, the mags are a LOT more than competing rifles.

 

[hak]

pick up boston's gun bible. he makes some good points - the folks looking for the Main Battle Rifle in .308, the gas impinge system get bad marks.

the ergos's are almost just right (if it had a charging handle on the left SIDE of the reciever- that would be better)

i felt like you, why not? so i did get one (LR-308 from DPMS in 2008) and i love it.

will the ptr/fal guys outlast me when my "eat where it poops" AR10 variant locks up somewhere south of 10,000 round stand off? yup, so i hear, but i don't have that many rounds

seriously, i've yet to have a malf even during break-in, so who knows, maybe i got lucky, but it's been great and accurate and fun and like your AR-15, lots you can do with it. would i like $3/mag prices like the PTRs, sure. am i glad i can and did change my ergos easily (stock, grip, scope, bipod) yup.

 

[Zak Smith]

You may find a number of threads in the archive which go into detail about the AR-10.

 

[TIMC]

Is it just me, or is that the same AR-10 that arthred is raffleing off on THR.us?

I hope nobody is raffling my rifle off!

Whew! I just checked my vault and it is still in there!

me thinks so:
http://www.thehighroad.us/showthread.php?t=405334
(are you arthred?)

I just checked the thread, he used a pic of my rifle as a reference but it is not the same rifle being auctioned. I am flattered!

 

[gvnwst]

Oh, i never noticed the "(photo credit TIMC)" thing, sorry! Bt cool for you!

 

[trigga]

there's nothing wrong with the ar10, i love it too but compared to an ar15, it's much bigger and feels different. it's just not the same for me. for .308, i'd rather go with an m14 or the h&k's. that's just me.

 

[TIMC]

Oh, i never noticed the "(photo credit TIMC)" thing, sorry! Bt cool for you!
__________________


No problem, the other rifle may be mine too. I bought a couple of raffle chances!

 

[Javelin]

My 7.62 SASS gets lots of love

 

[jpwilly]

Feeding them aint cheap but gotta love them 308's!

 

[R.W.Dale]

For me there's something Fundamentally "AR" that simply doesn't make it through the translation in size to the ar10 platform.

 

[JWarren]

I prefer my LR-308 over my AR.


-- John

 

[longdayjake]

My personal opinion? Once you have one black rifle of a particular type, its more fun to have a different rifle. It seems that most people buy the .223 first and then when they want to go up to the .308 they want to try it in a different style rifle. That was my case.

 

[ArmedBear]

Note that most of the buzz surrounding the AR here is about carbines.

A 20" HB AR-15 is fairly similar to an AR-10.

An M4gery? Not so much.

The interest in rifles seems limited -- and those who are interested in rifles may favor guns like the M1A.

Just some thoughts. I like the full-size AR.

 

[thebucket]

I like AR pattern rifles but if I were going to get a semi-auto .308 I'd go for a M1A. I think they look great and there's some good history behind the design. An AR-10 wouldn't be my first choice. I'd add an AR-10 after getting an M1A at any rate. Otherwise I think they're fine rifles.

 

[Ghost Tracker]

IMHO, the AR15 is 1st pick among .223 (5.56mm) autoloading rifles/carbines with fewer realistic, battle-proven alternatives. The AR10 is bumping heads with .308 (7.62mm) rifles that have seen successful service for multiple decades, in every world conflict, on every continent, by multiples of armies. So the FAL, M1A1, HK91 (Cetme), etc. are MUCH stiffer competition for the AR10 to face...than ANYTHING the AR15 competes against. I certainly have nothing against the AR10, but I would be willing to wager that the alternatives I've mentioned above have fired more rounds...by a factor of tens-of-thousands. That's a tough nut to crack.

 

[TIMC]

I went through the whole gambit of .7.62 rifles before sticking with my AR-10. I have owned the HK G3 Sporter, Fal L1A1,Romanian PSL, AK-47, M1A, Garand. I found the AR-10 to be much more accurate than all but the M1A which was it's equal but too heavy. The AR-10 was much easier to work with in the field for hunting and very easy to break down and clean.
I do still own the AK-47, Garand, and M1A which are all fun shooting rifles but for a meat getter I always turn to the AR-10.

 

[mljdeckard]

I agree about the lack of reasonably priced magazines.

I had an M-1A, but I found out quickly that I wasn't shooting it any faster than I would shoot a bolt rifle, so I switched back. Maybe one day I'll get into an AR-10, but it's not a priority.

 

[LogicGS]

I like my AR10 quite a lot. It was at least 50% cheaper than a comparable M1A, and a hell of a lot lighter.

I've got an A4 Carbine model with the 16" barrel, and it shoots every bit as good as any of the wooden stock bolt guns I've got.

I've got less than $1,400 in it, with 10 magazines and a Lepould scope, while a comparable M1A was damned near $2k, and impossible to lay hands on, even over a year ago.

The other posters are right, in that it does not handle exactly like an M4, the BCG is heavier and longer (which shifts the mag well forward), and a full magazine is a lot heavier than the 5.56 version, so the balance is shifted forward quite a ways compared to an M4.

But if you can get past that (as in, realize it's not an M4, and stop treating it like one), it's a dandy rifle.

I'm very happy with my purchase.