ArizonaShooting.ORG

Hello all,

I have a friend who asked about buying and/or building a <$3000 long range rifle with less than 1 inch MOA. I only shoot .308 with my DSA Fn-Fal 20 yr old rifle so I ain't much help. He prefers semi-auto so forget bolt and would like something less than 10 pounds in weight. SO what suggestions do you have?

First: caliber?

second: base model manufacturer or premade?

third: redo on the trigger? different barrel?

finally: shoulder stock? He is 6'4 so he has quite a reach so I was thinking six positional stock

What do you all say?

I've had great success with a Larue in .260. While the owner may be 'quirky' his products are well made and perform.

He could buy their complete rifle for over $3K or buy their Ultimate Upper kit for $1192 then buy their lower for $199. Add on their suppressor for $399 if he likes. The upper kits come in various calibers, he could pick 308 or 6.5 CM. They also come with all furniture ad lower arts kit.

Kit is here: https://www.larue.com/products/larue-ul ... upper-kit/
Lower is here: https://www.larue.com/products/larue-billet-lowers/

I tried to add photo's directly in this thread but this forum doesn't like wide photo's I guess. I added links to photo's instead.
Mine isn't the kit but it's the same thing at a cheaper price.
I added a Magpul PRS stock to mine:
https://imgur.com/0Gr1s7j

10 shot 11" spread at 1K yards. I have not been able to duplicate it:
https://imgur.com/xwcJSfW

Factory ammo at 100 yards. I now use my reloads:
https://imgur.com/saaqQ1g

No personal experience here, but a friend of mine does/did shoot competitively long range here in AZ for some time. His bolt gun was 6.5C.

His auto competition gun was an AR built on Specialized Dynamics parts that shoots 6.5G through a 20" barrel. Has match hits beyond 1100yds. Multi adjustable stock. He is about 6'3".

Define "long range".

The 6.5-08's (.260 Rem., 6.5 Creedmoor, 6.5x47 Lapua, etc...) and other 6.5 cartridges (6.5 Swedish, 6.5 SAUM) are going to rapidly surpass the capabilities- drop, wind deflection, kinetic energy) of .308 Win. after 400 yards or so, and the gap between them only opens as the range increases, so .308 is nowhere near the best long range cartridge. .30 cal. cartridges shine in the heavier bullet weights, ~190 grs. and up. Unfortunately, the cartridges that can drive those bullets at acceptable speeds are usually magnums, so that means long action for a bolt action, and usually precludes their use in a semi-auto (although there are boutique ARs in magnum cartridges- $$$$$). 6.5-08 cartridges have less recoil, too, which makes for less shooter fatigue and easier to spot hits (or misses).

I assembled a 6.5 Creedmoor AR on an Aero Precision receiver set and handguard, Faxon 20" barrel, Patriot Valley Arms Jet Blast brake, SLR adjustable gas block, Vortex Viper PST 2 5-25x and Defender scope covers, Warne 20 MOA mount, Magpul MOE pistol grip and STB stock.

Shoots sub-MOA groups with Hornady 140 and 147gr. ELDM, and the stock gives me plenty of length-of-pull for my monkey arms.

M1A chambered in .260Rem

lew covered it, but an Aero build in 6.5 Creedmoor if semi auto is mandatory.

Bergara B14 HMR if bolt action is acceptable.

Figure $1000 just for the optic.

70 cents per round for Hornady.

If he's open to building it, an LR308 using a top quality barrel (like Lilja) in 6.5 Creedmor with a matched bolt should should do it.

underw0rld wrote: ↑December 21st, 2018, 4:45 pm M1A chambered in .260Rem

Yeah, if you like mounting optics to be a pain in the ass. Or, get a Sage stock if you need to hang stuff on the rifle and make it into a heavy pig.

Racewin wrote: ↑December 24th, 2018, 1:17 am If he's open to building it, an LR308 using a top quality barrel (like Lilja) in 6.5 Creedmor with a matched bolt should should do it.

I have not found a matched bolt to be at all necessary or desirable. As long as it's a quality bolt that is headspaced properly, the rifle will shoot well. From what I've gathered, 9310 steel is all but mandatory in large-framed AR bolts, preferably nitrided.

If he's buying and off-the-shelf large frame AR the best options I can recommend are a JP or a Seekins in 6.5 Creedmoor. Both will shoot great, need no fiddling, and are good companies.

If he's really interested in long range, a bolt gun works better and is easier to shoot accurately.

Delfuego wrote: ↑December 26th, 2018, 8:58 am If he's really interested in long range, a bolt gun works better and is easier to shoot accurately.

Disagree. Shooting a semi-auto (especially in a 6.5 cartridge) takes a couple other minor considerations-hand position on the pistol grip and follow through, mainly- but either can be shot well at long range.