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I'm on #2.

First was an M1A. Parts broke and SA was blowing smoke trying to hide a manufacturing issue. I forced them to give me a refund and the M1A is now off my list.
The second is, soon to be was, a Rock River LAR8. Shot fine but numerous feed and jamming issues. Additionaly FAL mags (metric or imperial) do not function correctly as advertised. It's going back to RRA to get 'serviced', and once it gets a clean bill of health from them, it's being sold.

I ain't having such good luck with 762 rifles. Neither the "typical" piston gun or AR-type have made it through 6 months of very light use without major issues. Now I'm left with the question: What's left?

1) It must be 308 Winchester. I have ammo and reloading gear for this round.
2) It should be able to be set up with a bipod for bench shooting. I have a heavy duty GG&G bipod
3) It must be able to be scoped. I have a 10x40 Mildot with an ARMS QD mount that I like and would rather not part with.
4) It should have a reasonable amount of accuracy. Modern rifles should all be 1 to 1.25 MOA nowadays.
5) It should be semi-auto, but not 100% necessary. I've just gotten used to it.
5) $1000 is expected and $1500 is too much for a base rifle w/o a scope or any fancy stuff on it.

I'm a fairly big guy, so as long as it's a reasonable weight/size, I'm OK with it being beefy. I'm not really a 'tacticool' kinda guy. At most I would mount a bipod at the range and perhaps a flashlight at home. I understand that you use a pistol to fight your way to your rifle, but I have my 1911's for home protection. Let's face it, a 308 is overkill for home. That being said, I suppose the visual of a rifle sure wouldn't hurt in some situations.

Anyways, the only remaining options I see are:
1) FN FNAR. I hear it's excessively complicated to strip/clean and that all parts are proprietary.
2) FN FAL. Which version?I have no idea. I think the SA58 looks about right, but they appear to be out of my price range.
3) Browning BAR. Not very 'tactical' and only 4+1 rounds, but I hear it's a good shooter.

Have I missed anything? Any input would be appreciated as I've shot/used/seen any of the above rifles.

What about the G3 cloned PTR 91. Also FALs are the Glocks of 7.62s. Very tough.
Not surprised the RRA let you down - they are not a great gun.

In your budget you can't get the offerings from the higher tier mfgs: FNs SCAR, LMT, Larue's OBR, etc.

markthenewf wrote:I'm on #2.

First was an M1A. Parts broke and SA was blowing smoke trying to hide a manufacturing issue. I forced them to give me a refund and the M1A is now off my list.

I'm just curious what happened to your M1A. Mine broke a hammer foot at 100 rounds. But my customer service experience was very different from yours. I sent them the fire control group on their nickel, and they replaced the broken hammer and had the fire control group back in my hands 10 days after I sent it to them. In fact, the original hammer was a MIM part, and I asked how much it would cost to have a GI forged hammer used as a replacement instead. They said "no problem" and used a forged GI hammer to replace the broken MIM hammer. Like I said, I had the parts back in very short order, and the rifle has functioned flawlessly ever since.

As to alternatives, the FNAR is intriguing. I almost bought one the day I bought my Springfield. I've always wanted a FAL. Maybe some day. The rifle I've found intriguing is the Kel-Tech RFB, but I've never seen one in person, so I have no first hand knowledge if they are that good. The boys at GunBlast.com really like it. http://www.gunblast.com/KelTec-RFB.htm

As an FNAR owner let me give you my impressions on the gun. Mags are expensive, no arguing on that point. The thing is heavier than it needs to be. As for it being difficult to strip: for the first few times it is, until you get the hang of it, be sure to use a gun smith screw driver set. As for proprietary parts, like most modern firearms they are, however it is based on the BAR (Hunting rifle) so you can expect someone to start producing after market stuff eventually.

I wouldn't trade my FNAR for any other 7.62x51 rifle, but I will not say it is the best gun out there for everyone. Additionally I have heard an unconfirmed rumor that there is a manufacturer looking into producing after market mag wells for the FNAR to allow folks with one to use different types of magazines namely FAL, DPMS, and FN SCAR mags. Knowing the rifle I can say that it is possible for someone with the right tooling to build such a part.

Andy - what sort of optics package would you run on an FAL? I have the urge to build a reach out and touch something rifle, and the FAL is at the forefront of my mind.


As a completely unrelated note, my LGS has a SAKO in 338 Lapua for just shy of $3K. Want.

Have you looked into a Saiga .308?

Check this out: http://www.remington.com/products/firea ... rifle.aspx" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


It's chambered in .308, 1 in 10 twist, it has picatinny rail on top for optics, only comes w/ 4 round mag but DPMS makes a 19 round mag thats compatible(for 25 bucks). It's a little over 1,000 at 1,200 dollars(BudsGunShop & GunBroker). I don't have any personal experience with this rifle but it's got some good reviews for it's accuracy.

I heart POF as well.

[quote="AndyC"]Gee, I'm a door-kicker, not a sniper - my preference is iron sights :mrgreen:quote]

I've always wanted a Remington 700. If you don't mind bolt-action it can be chambered in .308 as well.

I'm kind of in the same predicament except that I've never owned a semi-auto .308 but would like to purchase one. I have shot the following:

M1A
FNAR
Armalite AR-10

Of the 3 I've shot, I really like the M1A the best. Mainly because I love the sights. Only reason I don't buy one is because I don't like the options for mounting a scope AND I think they look funny with scopes (kinda like a lever gun with a scope). The FNAR is a nice functioning weapon but about as awkard as a fart in church. Like previously mentioned, it seems unnecessarily heavy and ergonomics don't work for me. The Armalite AR-10 I liked but I don't like that they can't use PMAGs. I wouldn't mind sticking with the AR platform (DPMS,etc) but I'm growing tired of the AR platform for some reason.

I like the idea of a FAL because I love reliability and I love the way they look. But like mentioned previously, it is more of a battle rifle than shooter (kinda like AK). My favorite .308 semi-auto has to be the FN SCAR Heavy. Although out of my price range, I doubt I'd waste money on another semi-auto because I don't think I'd be happy.

I have the DPMS LR-308 (an ar-10) use pMag 20 round magazines have shot over 150 rounds in a single session with no problems and have about 5000 rounds downrange. The remington sr-25 is just a dpms with cammo duracoat.

I will occasionally have trouble hand ejecting some rounds but never had any feed problems when shooting.