Battle Rifle Advice Wanted

self ^ | Tuesday, November 9 | self

[Mulder]

I'm looking to purchase a battle rifle next year in .308, and can't decide what I want to get.

I love the AR-15 rifles in 5.56mm, but have heard some bad things about reliability of the AR-10s. Also, the recoil is apparently more from this rifle than the other 308 semi-autos. But the AR-10 does have the advantage of having the same manual of arms as an AR-15.

Another consideration is the Springfield M1A Scout. The M1A was ranked #1 by Boston T. Party in his "Gun Bible", and has a lot going for it.

Finally, there is the FN-FAL. I don't know too much about this rifle, but a lot of folks seem to like it.

I want to mount either an Aimpoint or 4X ACOG to it, and setup it up as something I can use out to 300 yards or so. Of course, since it's .308 and can really reach out there, I want something accurate enough so that if I decide I want a semi-auto precision rifle, I can just put a Leupold scope on her, and be set.

Also, I really like the pistol grip and collapsible stocks on the AR-15s, and would prefer that furniture on my battle rifle as well. I *think* someone makes them for M1A, but aren't certain. So that is another consideration.

Thanks in advance!

[IGOTMINE]

I own an AR-10A4 with an ACOG atop it. The optic is sweet...there have been reliability issues with the rifle. I ran 300 rounds through the gun a few nights ago without a bobble, so maybe they're ironed out. (A trip back to the factory and some new magazines seems to have worked.) I'm still a long way from trusting that rifle the way I used to, though.

M1A's are dandy, but they are very poor optical platforms. A flattop AR is unrivalled for that role. Rather than an ACOG you might consider an M1A Scout or SOCCOM with a forward mounted optic. If you MUST have 3 or 4X magnification, Schmidt and Bender makes a DANDY 1-4x scope that would mount as well as anything on an M1A receiver.

[Jeff Head]

If I could afford an M1A (meaning convince the wife, LOL!)...I'd buy it in a heart beat.

But, I have the FAL and love it. Good solid weapon. Can't go wrong.

[Mulder]

EOTech is way better than an Aimpoint. Much better unrestricted field of view, and the circle/dot reticle is MUCH faster than the single dot of the Aimpoint. Aimpoint is 25 year old technology, EOTech is state of the art for 1X mag sighting. Nothing is faster for multiple moving targets, nothing.

I've got an Aimpoint on my AR-15 now, but am intrigued by the idea of the EOTech.

My only reservation is reliability. IIRC, Pat Rogers over at tacticalforums.com said that a lot of folks that took his classes with EOTech optics had reliability problems during the class.

[Mulder]

If I could afford an M1A (meaning convince the wife, LOL!)...I'd buy it in a heart beat.

No wife to worry about. LOL!

I figure I'd better get all the guns and gear I want before a chick comes along that I really like.

[Joe Brower]

Mulder,

As the owner of 'em all at one time or another (M-14, HK 91, CETME, AR-10), I can without reservation recommend the FAL. I currently have settled on a DSA SA58 medium contour (metric pattern), and this rifle, if you want a 7.62 x 51mm, is overall without peer.

It carries well, is incredibly reliable, points well, mags are plentiful and cheap, ammo is plentiful and cheap, and it, most incredibly, it shoots 2" groups at 100 meters with anything I feed it, from cheapo CAVIM to Match ammo. (I'm still trying to figure that one out!)

If you want a .30 caliber, the FAL, particulary the DSA, is the way to go.

[ol painless]

No contest. Get an M1 from the CMP. "The best battle implement ever devised." G. Patton

[AppyPappy]

Mauser.

[Mulder]

If you want a .30 caliber, the FAL, particulary the DSA, is the way to go.

How easily can you mount optics?

[Joe Brower]

"How easily can you mount optics?"

Very easily. DSA makes a top reciever cover with an integral Picatinny rail. Put whatever you want on top of that with a quick-release mount (in case the optic gets broken and you need to quickly discard it to revert to the iron sights), and you are good to go.

In just the last five years, DSA has evolved the FAL platform far beyond its original concept.

[Atlas Sneezed]

HK91-A3 with collapsing stock.

---

That A3 stock is a meat grinder. Most who buy them shoot them, remove them, and replace the A2 while the A3 sits in the drawer. I like my friend's wide rubber butt pad from the belt-fed version as a replacement for the narrower hard plastic pad of the A2. Keep the butt in place, and cuts perceived recoil by half.

[Cloud William]

I'll probably just get the Aimpoint.

Consider the Trijicon Reflex II sight with the 12 MOA triangular reticle. You can either use the large reticle for rapid target acquisition up close or use the upper tip of the triangle as a precision aiming point for distance work.

[sonofatpatcher2]

Re: "In WW 1 Sgt,York killed 32 Germans & captured 136 up close & personal with a Sprigfield 1903 5 shot bolt action 30.06 rifle."

In the Gary Cooper film, his York used a Springfield. In reality it was a P17 Enfield 30-06 York used...

[yarddog]

If all you care about is performance, there is nothing I have ever seen which can beat the HK-91. I have owned several and they were all 100% reliable and really unusually accurate, in fact they would beat most bolt actions.

The only down side is they feel a little clunky to me.

I personally want very very much one of the commercial FN's which were imported by Gun South. I looked at one in the store a few years ago and was drooling over it but couldn't afford the $2000 price tag. Maybe they are cheaper now. The same store had an FN (was it the FNC?) sub caliber in .223 at a very reasonable price. (I think it was only $400) I wish I had bought one because they disappeared pretty quickly.

[dljordan]

I just sold two Colt 5.56 "poodle shooters" and am going to use the money to buy an M1A. There's a lot of open space here in Northern Colorado.

[hubno]

The P-17 or Enfield P-14 is the rifle you say York was issued.
Two of my uncles were drafted after York and they were issued the 1903 Springfield.
In a company picture there are 3 P-17's and the rest are 1903's.
York also used a .45 auto,
I have fired both of these rifles and prefer the 1903.

[gedeon3]

FN-FAL.

[erinjohn]

Self Ping

[yarddog]

I have read a couple of times from people who should know, that it was a 1917 Enfield. My Daddy was issued a 1903 Springfield in WWII. He was in the Combat Engineers and later got a Garand.

[Chode]

i guess my using an old USMC shooting jacket most of the time has saved me from those problems...

have you used any of the new recoil buffers out there??? looking for someone to say if they are worth it or not.

[hubno]

i was trained with the 1903 in 1943-44 in the Army.Got a M-1 in 1945 but I stayed stateside.In Korea we had the M-1 but I transferred to Navy carrier service.
I wrote the York insitute for Yrok's tifle info.