That's one of the things that has me wary of Armalite, even though their overall reputation seems to be that they are reliable and their price point is attractive. I feel like I'd be getting a cheap razor but paying through the nose for the razor blades...Originally Posted by Tamara
J.Ja
Owner/President of Titanium Crowbar, LLC
I recently picked up a LaRue PredatAR, and at 7.75 lbs w/o optics, it comes in under many 556 AR's. It is sub-MOA capable, if that matters and you are capable of producing those kinds of results.
Like Tam mentioned, lack of industry mag standard in the 762 versions can make for finding reliable mags a pain in the ass. The LaRue mags are great........but made by those monks in Tibet, from Unicorn Tears.......at least for what they cost, it would appear that way. PMAGs will function but don't drop free. I strip my mags anyway, but I prefer it be a technique of habit due to worst case scenario vs. a requirement for every single mag.
Also the price on the Pred's are comparable to well built smaller/custom builders 556 or 68 versions.
I am a big fan of the Pred.
I also like aspects of the SCAR. Some factory support, parts availability issues, and quirks I don't care much for, but over all, it is a fine rifle as well. Sub-MOA capability, and is very reliable.
Making comparisons to FALs or M1/M14 variants is not really fair to the latter rifles. The modern designs, materials, better ergonomics, service life, hard use capabilities, reliability, and accuracy of the SCARs and the well built AR's have long eclipsed the capabilities of the 762 rifles of old.
You can get much more of what you want with a kind word and a gun, than with a kind word alone.
If you're going to use the gun for whomping pigs in close brush, I <3 this as an option. I've shot a bunch of rounds out of this rifle at various writer's events, and I'd take it over all the AR10s that are at the same price point of ~1000 bucks. For a hog gun that's good out to 150 yards, put an Aimpoint or Trijicon Reflex sight on the Scout Rifle and you're in serious pig-murder business.
Looking around at the AR15 options out there per Al's suggestion, came across the Colt SP901. It's priced about the same as a good AR10, with the option of throwing on a 5.56 upper.
Does anyone know anything about this? This is an attractive option to the AR 15 with a 5.56 and 6.8 upper, for roughly $300 - $500 more.
J.Ja
Owner/President of Titanium Crowbar, LLC
If the question involves ARs, Colt is usually a correct answer but no one has any data on that rifle yet, Jmjames. Are you not planning to train with this upcoming purchase?
Personally, I'd grab the 7.62 PredaTAR.
#RESIST
Things just changed for me now that I saw it is only $2500 as opposed to the $3500 I thought it was.
Think for yourself. Question authority.
I thought it was the same as well. Maybe that's the list price?
J.Ja
Owner/President of Titanium Crowbar, LLC
It's a lot more money than my needs justify. I'm not planning on seriously training with it for any kind of gunfighting or anything like that. I mean, a 700P LTR is what I had originally settled on before the cleaning thread made me re-think the AR's that I had previously written off. After some of my experiences lately (my 1911 that had a hard time returning to battery and stovepiping, my PSL/FPK with failures to feed), even a "range gun" needs to have some baseline reliability for me, but I also don't need top-of-the-top for what I'm looking at doing either. If I get the time and resources and access to a super-long range facility on a regular basis, I could probably justify $2,500 on the rifle itself.
J.Ja
Owner/President of Titanium Crowbar, LLC
A couple of years ago I happened into one of the local shops and they had a "used/ unfired" DPMS LR-308. I inquired and subsequently couldn't resist the $800 OTD quote I was given. My particular gun is the 24" SS bull barrel variant, and I really don't have any complaints with it at all. BUT... I have never run it hard or abused it and I don't have a significant round count on it either. A friend of mine bought the same rifle to take through our local LE sniper school which is a tough week on both the rifles and the shooters. His DPMS came through without a hitch, and seemed like pretty much any other AR as far as maintenance went. As long as it was sufficiently lubed it works as it was supposed to. He was running DPMS mags only. I have a mixture of DPMS and Pmags for mine, and all of them work well.
Lastly, one day I decided to see what kind of accuracy my rifle would do... I shot this string of 6 targets one after the other, no delay or barrel cooling allowed between groups. Range was 100 yards and ammo was Federal GMM 168 gr BTHP's. (I topped mine with a Leupold VXIII 2.5-10x50)
Obviously the accuracy level seems acceptable for anything I could ever expect to do with this rifle. With all of that said, the most often used precision rifle in my safe is my 16" Remington 700P.
I really, really like the 7.62 SCAR except for one thing: The very first shot I fired out of one, my support hand thumbnail got broken clean down to the quick. Stupid %&^*$ reciprocating charging handle!(I still kinda want one, but we're back to the "compressed unicorn tears" thing...)
It makes you realize how outside the norm the AR platform is in that, with its absence of exposed gas tubes or reciprocating parts, you can park your support hand pretty much anywhere on the gun you want to without it biting or burning you...
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