.308 Battle Rifle

[tywest]

Pick up a few and see what feels good to you, an Ar10, M1a "prefer Fulton Armory", Cement, Fal, Just really depends on the money you plan on dumping into it as any AR10 or M1A can end up being the price of a ten year old car that you would drive daily to work, as well as the ammo you plan on shooting, whether it is grade, or not. One good thing about a fal, is its generally going to be able to eat machine gun ammo and over powered surplas that a M1a just can not handel, FAL food is usually that for a reason. Granit correct me if I am wrong.

No nato surplus should be overpowered, should all be loaded similarly and lower than commercial 308 loads

 

[spencer60]

No nato surplus should be overpowered, should all be loaded similarly and lower than commercial 308 loads

Yeah, I've always found the 'hunting' 308 to be the barn-burners.

Some of the milsurp can have harder (machine gun?) primers though. I've had a few issues with some that came off belts-links, but that was in an old Mauser with 40 year old firing pin spring. Primers haven't a problem with any reasonably new rifle I've tried.

 

[militaryrednek]

i loved loved loved my socom 16 i used to have. one day, i will have another. put it in a Sage EBR stock and made it even better. stupid accurate and IMO, felt better and lighter than a AR10. ate everything i fed it, from battlepack ammo to factory hunting loads. i would take a socom over a ar10 any day of the week and twice on sundays for a "Battle Rifle" in .308.


saw some post about optics with a m1a1, heres what i did.
with a eotech


with a scope, using Sages rail mount that replaces the stripper clip guide (no need for it on a M1A1). badger ord high rings.


in the original stock with a eotech on top

 

[Retread]

Navy Garand. Cool, rare, and will always be so. Clips, clips, clips, clips...

 

[Xcaliber]

no they are not interchangable w/saigas but promag makes a metal 20 roundbox for them out of M14s mags that work just fine for $25. CSSpec makes better quality mag for it, at $50. the VEPR barrel is reasonably thick. I would NOT buy ANY 308 in a 16 inch barrel. why would I want to disable the advantage (velocity) of the round? a 308 from 16 inches is not going much faster than the good 'O 7.62x39.

This is probably the best deal going right now on a high quality, highly reliable .308. However, you may want to check on the cost of magazines. I do not believe Vepr .308 magazines are interchangeable with Saiga .308 magazines. If it were me, I would purchase the model with the 16" barrel. I believe I've read that Saiga claims the 16" .308 are more accurate than the Saiga 20" due to increased stiffness.

 

[user 71]

no they are not interchangable w/saigas but promag makes a metal 20 roundbox for them out of M14s mags that work just fine for $25. CSSpec makes better quality mag for it, at $50. the VEPR barrel is reasonably thick. I would NOT buy ANY 308 in a 16 inch barrel. why would I want to disable the advantage (velocity) of the round? a 308 from 16 inches is not going much faster than the good 'O 7.62x39.

Must see some velocity tables before I believe this.

 

[Constitution Hour]

Here, table is on page 23. http://honors.usf.edu/documents/Thesis/U82488180.pdf

 

[spencer60]

Must see some velocity tables before I believe this.

Just read an interesting article about how velocity and barrel lengths aren't joined at the hip these days with the powders available now. It was either in Shooting Times or Guns & Ammo.

Of course mil-surp won't be using these powders, so you would still lose velocity from a shorter bbl. But if you handload it sounds like you can get full velocity out of 'short' barrels these days.

 

[T-Roy]

no they are not interchangable w/saigas but promag makes a metal 20 roundbox for them out of M14s mags that work just fine for $25. CSSpec makes better quality mag for it, at $50. the VEPR barrel is reasonably thick. I would NOT buy ANY 308 in a 16 inch barrel. why would I want to disable the advantage (velocity) of the round? a 308 from 16 inches is not going much faster than the good 'O 7.62x39.

400 feet per second, that translates to a huge difference in energy. Plus the slug is 30 percent heavier. I'm with you that's 16 inches isn't the optimal weight for a 308, but it still smokes the AK around

 

[Xcaliber]

I thought it was common knowledge but you do realize that velocity is GAINED while the powder burns INSIDE the barrel right? a 16" barrel does NOT allow efficient burn, resulting in huge fabulous fireballs. these fireballs are the powder burning OUTSIDE the barrel where it does absolutely NOTHING to help push the cartridge. a 308 is most efficient at between 20-24 inches of barrel. just like a mosin nagant is most efficient at 27-30 inches of barrel. those lengths allow most propellent burn INSIDE the barrel, where it counts.

Must see some velocity tables before I believe this.