Finally... a .308 AR, PA-10.

[wyntrout]

Well, money has been kind of tight, but I did it. I went ahead and ordered a completed lower from Palmetto State Armory on May 30th, and picked it up at the FFL on June 4th. This was going to take a few months, I figured, because of other expenses... a lot of dental work for us both.

I finally ordered a completed upper on July 25. The upper came in today, August 2. I had requested a manual or whatever could be downloaded, so they sent me a .pdf file of a kind of scanned faded copy of the PA-10. It could definitely be a little better for the pictures, but I did manage to look through it before the upper arrived.

Wow! I've BUILT my first AR... as some guys love to say. With free shipping and $20 to my FFL dealer, it cost me $620! I remember going to the big local dealer prepared to spend $1,200 4 or 5 years ago... and prices starting at twice that for a cheapie! It has been a while!

I took the Bushnell TR-25 with half inch or so quick-on/off riser mount and put it on the assembled rifle. With a quick cheek weld, I was looking down the sight and it seemed a good position.

I had bought an Osprey Global bore sighter for .308($20) at the gun show this weekend, as well as MagPul magazines... one each in 10, 20, and 25-round capacity, with the last being windowed(Total $63 OTD). I also bought 4 20-rd boxes of Aguila 150 grain FMJBT for the range. So I have enough stuff to at least shoot the rifle.

I took the rifle with the bore sighter installed or loaded to the back porch, which is screened, and tried to put the red dot over the bore sighter dot at maybe 20 yards... not sure... daylight and seeing the dot through the screen, in addition to the dot on the screen.
I think I can hit a sheet of paper at 25 yards, which is probably what I'll be doing when I get to the range... 25 yards max.

I've looked a lot and read a lot of reviews on PSA and their AR's. I felt pretty safe in going with them for my .308.

The rifle is pretty barrel heavy and weighs about 9.5 pounds with the red dot sight. I loaded and weighed the mags, too.

10-rds: .532 lbs
20-rds: 1.014 lbs
25-rds: 1.694 lbs

So the rifle and a 25-rd mag loaded brings the weight to 11.2 pounds or so before any other accessories are added!

Now I really have to sell this MechTech/Glock21SF Carbine... still unfired... to pay for the new rifle and some accessories... at least 10 mags and a case of ammo, plus some other accessories! There's a gun show August 18/19 that we need to get a table and see what I can liberate!

Well, a few pictures:

Closer to my lower:



Wynn

[Bawanna]

That 25 yard range indoors? They let you shoot 308 in there.

Most of the ranges around here (there aren't many) allow 223 but not much bigger. Some allow members that take a class or something to shoot bigger.

That looks like a sweet AR. Got a detective/sniper/swat guy at work building one. I'm sure it's gonna be over 3500 before he's done. First cabin all the way. Hope it shoots or he's gonna be one unhappy camper.

[wyntrout]

Yes, but no steel or armor-piercing ammo. I need to look up the ballistics and see if I can figure something out to set it up for 100 yards at a 25-yard range.

There's a big range on the other side of town and I know really know anything about it... how easy it is to shoot there... rules and such... plus 25+ miles away.

I have my 10/22 and this rifle now, so I really need to get over there and sight them in for at least 100 yards.

I can't believe how heavy this thing is... hard to hold it up for more than a very short time! I have a cheap, light-weight rifle rest... all plastic, but I'll take that to the range.

I need to look into some kind of scope, though. I would like something like 1-4 or 5, or 6x... variable... and NOT expensive.

The Bushnell will do for a while, but it's short range.

I was looking for ballistics and checked my ammo. It's 150 grain FMJ Boat Tail.

I just noticed that the lower ad is a little different from mine... the stock, anyhow. I grabbed the wrong one. It was the same price, though, shipped free.

PSA Gen2 PA-10 MOE EPT Lower With Overmolded Grip - 516446483

[yqtszhj]

You’re gonna like that. The weight helps soak up the recoil too. One word of advise, watch that collapsible stock if you shoot from a rest and make sure it’s locked in good before you pull the trigger or it gets ugly. Don’t ask me how I know but I have a scar where it collapsed on recoil. Yours may be ok because it looks a bit nicer than what I had.

When you get ready to do some addons here’s what I added to mine that is a real return on the investment:
1. Miculek muzzle brake - https://www.midwayusa.com/product/10...eel-parkerized. . This tames the recoil to less than a .223 AR but be advised it blows the hat off anyone standing beside you. The one above is priced high as I think I only paid about $30 for mine shipped.

2. A Limbsaver slip on recoil pad. May not be needed but makes it more pleasant when bench shooting and for me gives a little more length of pull because I’m too darn tall.

I also changed my stock to a AR15 A2 style just because I like them better for bench shooting.

Between those 3 items I can shoot mine and spot my impacts on the backstop through the rifle scope at 100 yards it shoots so soft.

Enjoy that new rifle. The .308 is nice in my opinion.

[wyntrout]

Thanks, yqtszhj. I'll watch for a deal on a muzzle brake. I can imagine that would help. That's a MagPul stock and grip, so I just need to make sure it's locked. I've read that the recoil is a bunch more than a .223. I got it for defense and won't be shooting it much, especially indoors!

[wyntrout]

Bawanna, the 25-yard range is a rifle range. They have another 15-ft range for pistols and .22LR.

When they were upgrading the pistol range, we had to use the rifle range for pistols and it's really noisy with AR's and large bore rifles indoors!

[kramm]

You might want to think about quick detach BI-pod set up. They work well when shooting from a bench, or pron position. I have one on my AR10. It's the berries in my op.

[CPTKILLER]

Have fun with it.

[gb6491]

Nice rifle Wynn

[wyntrout]

Thanks! I do seem to have one problem. The bolt catch worked the first few times, but now it won't hold the bolt back. Only an empty mag holds the bolt back and pushing the mag release button and the tiniest movement of the mag lets the bolt slam into battery. I'm not sure that a new bolt catch assembly will fix the problem. The "lugs" on the bolt catch don't have a chance to catch the rotating bolt's face. The bolt lacks about 3/16ths moving rearward enough, if I'm guessing how the process should work.

The lady who took my call in customer service wasn't knowledgeable about the mechanism and we got cut off while she was checking for someone to give me an immediate answer. I just don't think another bolt catch assembly will be any better. I don't think the rotating bolt is moving rearward enough.

It's Friday and I doubt I'll get a real person this late.

I just sent them this picture of the bolt and bolt catch with the charging handle pulled all the way to the rear.

[Barth]

.308 Winchester

I've got Precision Armament’s M4-72 Severe-Duty Compensator on my .308.
Gun has almost no recoil at all
http://www.thetruthaboutguns.com/201...le-brake-test/

[jeepster09]

I have the Burris Scope 1-4 on mine sighted in at 100 and like it a lot.

[wyntrout]

Thanks, guys and gals, for the kind words and advice. I'm going to need all kinds of goodies, but have to go slowly with the money.

We're going to vend at the next gun show here, the smaller venue, and I hope to liberate a little cash from all of the stuff I bought at higher prices. I got confused over the buy high, sell low, or something like that.

I want to get the bolt catch not holding the bolt back taken care of before shooting the rifle. It has been a long time since I fired a large bore rifle, though some will say that not large bore... just .308. The last rifle I shot was my 1022 and that has been a few years. I had a Mini-30SS when we first got here, but sold it. i wouldn't mind have a new one. CDNN had the black Tactical version for $699. I saw one at the last show for $950 or $900 cash. I like stainless, though.

We've been in this house 21 years on the 14th this month and it was only a year old when we bought it. Taking care of it interferes with my hobbies... mostly sitting here and chatting on Facebook with my friends and defending freedom and our way of life!

Well, I need to get moving here. got to get on the treadmill this morning and then an MRI across town mid afternoon. My PSA went up from 3.9 to 6.8 and I need a "special" prostate MRI that's only available in a few places... the one I'm going to or there's one in St Augustine. I've already had the "roto-rooter" and had a benign growth removed, so I thought this episode was over.

This getting old sucks! I don't feel old, but I keep needing repairs... and my short time memory drives me nuts sometimes. At least I generally remember my wife's name! I thought that I was in pretty good shape and have been proactive the last few years with supplements and this year with the treadmill and some exercise.

Wynn, still a young 72.

[Barth]

This getting old sucks! I don't feel old, but I keep needing repairs... and my short time memory drives me nuts sometimes. At least I generally remember my wife's name!

Baby always works friend

[wyntrout]

Terms of endearment do work... Honey, Darling, Sweetheart, Dear, and Baby, though I don't use Baby, really. I do use her name abbreviated to Des' for Desiree.

PSA is going to send me a shipping label to return my PA-10, but I don't know if they want both the upper and the lower or one part. I got a message from customer service yesterday and replied with that question, but I haven't had an answer on what to return, yet.

I would rather they check it out before I fire it.

I need to get a table reservation for the next gun show here. Maybe I can get enough money to buy some more accessories for the PA-10.