Colt LE 901 or equivalent.

[LSP972]

Anybody have any time behind this one? Trooper 224's beautiful FAL re-kindled something I've been mulling over for a while… I want a bigger-caliber general purpose carbine. One like his, assuming I could even find one, would be no doubt priced beyond either my means or what I would be willing to pay.

I am aware of other folks producing .308 AR carbines, but I'm not familiar with any of them. If you know of one as good as the Colt, I'd be interested to hear about it. There are some makers I want no part of, period; but I'll keep an open mind.

Thanks.

.

[DocGKR]

Nyeti does. I think he just got another one recently.

The KAC ECC and K2 are nice, as are the LaRue's (if you can find one). The LMT shoots very well, but is heavy for GP use. The Colt 901 and S&W M&P seem to be better than many others.

[shane45]

Hard to beat a SCAR17. Low weight, folds, reliable, easy to clean....

[DocGKR]

Breaks optics, hard to get mags, let alone parts...

[Archimagirus]

I love my 901. It is a little heavy to be honest. I wish I had a class or more rounds through it, but the limited time I have been able to devote to it, it is soft shooting and way more accurate than my humble skills allow it to express.

[shane45]

Doc, I have not had a problem getting parts or mags. In fact you can get all the mags you want, 10 or 20's on midwayusa right now. As for the breaking optics thing, well.... I'm really not sure I believe it. I have had lots of Optics on my SCARS (I'm on my second 17) and I have had none of them fail. I realize this is a small sample and my optics are all good quality, but I haven't really run into anyone else with a 17 that has experienced failures either. Aimpoint, Elcan, ACOG, USO, and I think I even had my Hendsolt on there. No issues.

[Sigfan26]

I still lust for a 901!

[elsquid]

Anybody have any time behind this one? Trooper 224's beautiful FAL re-kindled something I've been mulling over for a while… I want a bigger-caliber general purpose carbine. One like his, assuming I could even find one, would be no doubt priced beyond either my means or what I would be willing to pay.

Another option is a PTR-91 GI, and a wood stock set. Add a bunch of inexpensive surplus magazines. About a grand or so.

-- Michael

[RevolverRob]

The DSA FALs are expensive, but nicely put together. A good friend of mine has had six of the frickin' things in various flavors and helping him blow through ammo is (was) one of my favorite past times. The DSA guns always functioned nicely and were nicely accurate for the ~1500 rounds I've fired through his. Full disclosure - I have no idea about the DSA beyond that limited experience, and mine might have been colored by crates of free ammo to shoot. FALs are pretty heavy, but I found the 18" guns were always well balanced and easy to carry and shoot, even for my small size (5'7"), but still not as handy as an AR.

-Rob

[DocGKR]

shane45--I've seen big boxes full of broken optics from Mk17's...