What are you favorite semi-auto .308's?

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hartzpad

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I had a Hesse G3/HK91 clone that I never got to run reliably, but it worked about 95% of the time and was a lot of fun with 7.62 NATO surplus ammo. Now that I have 5 AK's in 7.62x39 and I don't like .223's, I'm starting to get the .308 bug again for some long distance fun (200-500 yards) as well as normal fun shooting at less than 100 yards. Right away I wanted to get a Saiga in .308 because they are so cheap to convert, but figured I should also look at some others. FAL, another HK clone/PTR-91, Robarms VEPR .308, or maybe an AR in .308 (too much money though). I'd like to set my price as $650 and under which limits many of my choices to some HK's and mostly Saigas and VEPR's. I do not own a bolt action rifle, so I would also consider a Remington 700 in .308, but if I get a bolt action .308 I'll feel like I have to shoot only factory or match ammo instead of surplus .308.

Which .308's do you like and why?
 
Sold my Saiga.

Magazines seems to be the only real problem with this rifle. I had ONE mag, and found NO OTHERS for sale anywhere. The gun shot about 2" groups at 100m with good ammo. 16" barrel. Great shooter, AWFUL trigger, very reliable. Sold it for $30 more than I paid for it, because people seem to think the supply is drying up.
M1A, every time, all the time, is the best .308 rifle, and the best Battle Rifle in the world. Period.
Now, if they only made it in .260....
 
I'll second the M1A thing, with the exception of the M24--the uberSniper variant. I have 3 mags for my Saiga, and yes, the trigger does suck. Gets a lot of looks from dudes at the range, though. But, the price was right--mine was a gift :D .
 
I love my tanker M1 Garand in .308, but what I'm drooling over is a BM-59. Someday, when I have 2 grand to spare...
 
Strangely enough I think I am more fond of my CETME than all other .308's I have. Even the M1A.

Go figure.

(I still want to dig up some .223/.308 Saiga's, but I am holding off until that new importer gets started).
 
I wouldn't say that the M14 is the "best", but they are very good.

I have a CETME that has served me admirably, if you do get one, I would go to Perro's CETME forum first and find out all of the do's and don'ts of CETME buying, i.e. checking to make sure that CAI did their job and that it is a serviceable and reliable rifle.

As an avid Kalashnikov lover, I doubt you could go wrong with a Saiga, and even though I don't have one, I have read nothing but VERY god things about them and their phenomenal accuracy, and as an added bonus you get the famed Kalashnikov reliablity. Also, if you don't like the trigger, there is a large and growing community of Saiga owners who have lots of trigger mods.

I think that you might look into getting something like an AR-10 if you are interested in *very* accurate long distance shooting. I know DPMS makes a great .308 Ar and they can be had for less that $900 or so. I know that is a little bit more than you wanted to spend, but if you save up for just a little longer, I think you would be very pleased with the rifle, and there is a sh|tload of things you can do to the rifle, up to and including the point where it can become one hell of a long distance accuracy rifle (like the Knight's Arms SR-25, just for about 1/3rd the price).
 
FN-FAL...I like the M1A but mags are and they are.....much more expensive.
 
Only 1 I have is a Saiga .308 which works great, other than what was mentioned above - the crap trigger and lack of mags, particularly the utter lack of 20 round mags, which were *supposed to* have been forthcoming, but we'll see.

I'm looking at the Saiga to "tide me over" until I can afford either a good M14-style, FAL, or better yet, a good Stoner/AR style, like the Bushy .308.
 
I've only shot a CETME=(...

But in order of ," Sex Appeal", I would have to say the M14, and the FN FAL are almost interchangeable. Next would have to be the G3, 'cause, well, just look at the thing, finally the .308 AR. Which would be higher on the list if I thought it was as reliable as the 5.56 one :eek: . All my speculation but you asked,lol...
 
I've got two, and I love them both.

Springfield M1a, Loaded. I just shot two 1" groups at 100 yds. this weekend with Federal Gold Match. Since it was $16/box, I saved the other 10 shots for my 700 PSS.

Springfield M1 Garand, rebarreled to .308 w/ a Wilson barrel. It was made into a parade rifle, complete with deep glossy blueing and nickel plated barrel, gas tube, and bolt, so I took the liberty of swapping out the worn .30-06 barrel with a new .308, and it shoots great and looks purdy!
 
L1A1. It was either that or my friends French MAS converted to shoot 308. I have not shot any other semi-auto rifle in 308. :(
 
Thanks for all the replys. I love the idea of an AR in .308 but I haven't been able to find much info or reviews on them. Do they have a bolt hold open, same mag release as AR-15, etc.? Can they shoot surplus 7.62 NATO ammo or only commercial .308?

As of now it is between some type of FAL (para would be cool but $$$$), AR in .308, VEPR AK in .308 and possibly a Saiga. I don't think I want to do the HK thing again when the FAL seems to be slightly better with a BHO, etc. I would find a used Saiga .308 to converty in a second if someone finally made some 20 round mags for it. If Robarms comes out with their VEPR .308 20 round mags soon (they are supposed to) I will pick up a VEPR. If I could get a 16-18" barrel FAL or any FAL with a para buttstock in my price range I would jump on it.

All of these uncertainties will slowly be eliminated as I handle each rifle and make my decision. I think I'll do the gun shop loop and handle a few .308 MBR's today.
 
My Armalite AR-10 runs fine with the assorted surplus ammo I have shot through it.

Shot all the others and owned many of them, guess I would otherwise go with a DSA FAL since I could configure it more to my liking.

Either you spend the money now or you will spend it later...

But a cheap FAL is more likely to be fixable.
 
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