**OT** EBRs

[Blaine]

My local pusher is hot on Rock Island Armory EBRs......Are they a quality deal? I personally liked the Armalite Semi-Auto M16 clone in 308, is that a good choice? I'm not rambo, so this will have to be a reliable and highly accurate arm, not just flashy looking. The bull barreled models were interesting. Yes, a bull barrel 308 with good target glass would tickle me pretty good

[Hobie]

From another forum...

Everyone should have an AR15.....the problem is that they are like Mr Potato Head.... modular.... you can have it anyway you want....

Contrary to popular belief, the AR15 is a mature weapon system that has been sorted out years ago. There are a couple of weak links in the newer style guns the high speed guys like.

No muss no fuss...here you go...can't lose this way...

First, get the standard 20" GI profile barrel, do not be talked into a HBAR or the shorter lengths. The 20" barrel/gas system works fine and that is the way that it is.

The 20" will give you more velocity and be easier to shoot in the local matches. Short rifles are handy and tacticool but they do give up power and MAY be less reliable. The HBAR is very unhandy....

Make SURE that you get a 1/7" twist chrome lined barrel. Nothing less unless you want to get several different rifles to shoot different kinds of ammo. The 1/7" will allow you to shoot all ammo on the market including the real heavy bullets needed for long range performance. Get the chrome bore...some say it loses some accuracy but it is very difficult to prove...it will extend the life of your barrel a whole bunch..

Get a flat top style rifle with the fixed front sight base. With a carrying handle you can shoot your DCM matches and it will be MUCH better at mounting the optic of your choice.

All the good mainline manufactures are very good...being a spec rifle there is little difference between them unless you go real cheap or real high dollar.

The black rifle homos all go for the Colt guns but the Armalite rifles will generally out shoot them at half the cost and with a lifetime warranty. All good ones are good.

Get many magazines...10 for 100 bucks now...this will not last...

Get a high quality optic...I like ACOGs but others like the red dot jobs...just don't go cheap...spend as much on the optic as the rifle....there is a BIG difference...

Get more ammo than you can carry by yourself....

That should just about do it.

and

Any of the current commercial ARs in standard format will do what you want.

Colt's have a screw pivot pin on the front so it's hard to use standard uppers, but it's not a killer.

If you're going to stay with iron sights, the current A2 type of sights will do you just fine. Most people can't outshoot them. If you can, there are small diameter aperture rear and small pin front sights out there to replace them.

If you're going to add a scope, get the detachable carrying handle railed upper, this lets you get the scope lower to the rifle. Then pick whatever scope/optic you like.

You will probably not find 1/7 twist barrels from rifle manufacturers anymore, everybody likes 1/9 which actualy will work just fine for anything smaller than 75 gr boolets anyway.

Like the man said, buy bunchees of magazines and ammo by the case.

and

Rock River has the best deal for a good DCM-specific gun. Armalite used to make one, and may still do it, and that would be a good second choice.

However the modularity of the AR gives you a lot of other options. You can buy just about any AR type gun, and when you get ready to shoot DCM you just buy a DCM-specific upper to add to it. For other uses you could get a flattop upper to complete the trio. At least for now, all parts other than the lower receiver can be mail ordered. So once you get the basic gun you can add to it later.

I've been thinking for over a year about getting an EBR due to the coming storm. However, like CSM Plumley in We Were Soldiers, I'm thinking if I need one there will be plenty on the ground. So, I've been going back and forth.

[Jeff Quinn]

If a good .308 would tickle you, get ready to laugh your *** off. This is the most accurate rifle that I have ever owned. The review was not about the rifle, but in testing the BORS, the rifle proved to be extremely accurate.

200 yard group. Yes, 200.



DPMS LRT-SASS .308



More pics of the rifle here:
http://www.gunblast.com/Barrett-BORS.htm

[mescalero1]

I have a shorty with collapsible stock, it travels well, shoots well, no problems.
Also have a Daewoo ( better rifle, in my opinion ) does all things well
I use 20 round mags, like them better.
It is probably prudent to get one.

[Hobie]

I have a shorty with collapsible stock, it travels well, shoots well, no problems.
Also have a Daewoo ( better rifle, in my opinion ) does all things well
I use 20 round mags, like them better.
It is probably prudent to get one.

Buffboy was telling me just this week that he regrets selling his Daewoo. That's two votes for the Daewoo!

[mescalero1]

Unless you have really held it & shot it, you really begin to appreciate it.

[Old Ironsights]

I sold my Bushmaster M4gery.

It was small, accurate, and... boring.

I suppose I could have gotten a .450 upper and made it "interesting" but why?

I'll use my .357. I've got more ammo and it's easier to reload.

If I REALLY need an EBR I'll pick one up dropped by some tacticool wanabee who wet his panties when the bullets started flying.

[2ndovc]

Love my M1A SOCOM 16!!

Also have a Colt Sproter light wieght that I've been realy pleased with. Both carbines go bang EVERY time i pull the trigger and I've kind of abused the AR.


jb

[Buffboy]

I have a shorty with collapsible stock, it travels well, shoots well, no problems.
Also have a Daewoo ( better rifle, in my opinion ) does all things well
I use 20 round mags, like them better.
It is probably prudent to get one.

Buffboy was telling me just this week that he regrets selling his Daewoo. That's two votes for the Daewoo!

Yah, I regret it, that critter would take mixed mil brass, bulk 55gr bullets, any dang safe load and put it all under an inch for the whole 30 round mag. Mine had the 1-7 chrome lined barrel. Still, I tripled my money on it and shot it 15+ years.

Then a year later I got the deputy job and start thinking another black rifle would be darn handy. So a month ago I traded my EAA Witness for a Rock River Car Lower and put a mid-length 16" H-Bar 1-7 chrome upper(only thing they had, on hand, in 1-7 chrome, 1-7 is not easy to find right now unless you lay out big bux) from http://www.mapartsinc.com/ on it.

It won't run on some of the loads the Daewoo did well with. I doubt it will ever equal it in reliability or in accuracy with about anything. I'm still fussing with it and it may never get sub minute, but it's showing great promise for a shorty AR.

It will probably go to Mitchell gunshow with me in a couple weeks just on the off chance there's a Daewoo laying on a table. I'm not likely to trade it on something else though.

[O.S.O.K.]

Here's my fav .308:



This started as a sporter Saiga - I did hte pistol grip conversion - really easy. A great 308.

This is also a good choice 308-wise:



Both of these are super reliable, 1 to 2" MOA depending on the ammo.

They are also reasonably priced.

For the FAL, be sure to get one that's metric-metric - that is, metric receiver, metric kit for the build. That's what mine is.

[Grizz]

one rattle can flat black + one marlin = EBLR for cryin' out loud..,

[Andrew]

If I REALLY need an EBR I'll pick one up dropped by some tacticool wanabee who wet his panties when the bullets started flying.

Yep. That is, if I don't do the same.

[mescalero1]

Buffboy,
From the sound of it you must have got yours about the same time as I got mine, shortly before the original ban.
Paid $319.00 for it , brand new in the box.
I remember my friend John and myself laughing ourselves stupid over it, he went to order one; all gone

[Rexster]

I am not highly experienced with the AR, but have to agree that the short-barrel platforms have limitations, especially if using iron sights, due to the extremely short sight radius, and the balance in the case of the pencil-barrel versions. My pencil-barrel Colt AR15A2 Govt Carbine, that I used at work, was 100% reliable, but practical accuracy was just not there, and the Knight Armament M4-gery suffered the same sight limitations, with the added insult of the front sight mount being contoured in such a way that a sight adjustment tool will not fit into the "valley," making front sight adjustment/replacement more tedious. At least the Knight's heavier barrel balances better. I sold the Colt to a co-worker, and bought an 20" HBAR upper for the Knight.

Just to be clear, I am fully aware that skinny barrels and short barrels are both perfectly capable of good mechanical accuracy; it is the short sight radius and muzzle-light balance that make them less accurate when shooting while standing on your hind legs, as may well happen in an emergency. OTOH, the shorter barrel makes for a bit more maneuverability in a constricted space. Perhaps the "Dissipator" concept, 16" barrel with the same sight radius as the standard 20" upper, is a good one.

FWIW, the M14/M1A and Mini-14 platforms have three things I prefer, sights mounted lower in relation to the bore axis, a longer sight radius, and what is, to me, a lefty, a more ergonomic and ambidextrous safety. Notably, lever rifles share the lower sights of the Garand family of weapons; no need to remember to allow for sight height offset at extreme close quarters.

[jeepnik]

Looking for a .308. Quit fooling around, get one of the Springfield MIAI's. Whether you go for the full size, or one of the abbreviated versions (I have the Scout Squad), you will have a rifle that, unless you are very, very good, will out shoot you. The Scout Squad is what we should have had instead of the "Mattel's Wonder". Plus it actually works when you pull the trigger.

[mescalero1]

Perhaps I should have mentioned that my shorty is a flatop with a low mounted 2.5x scope on it, fast aquisition for my eye.

[Hobie]

RIFLE magazine seems dedicated to these this month. Blaine, there's an article on the Remington R25, .308 AR in there...

[Buffboy]

Buffboy,
From the sound of it you must have got yours about the same time as I got mine, shortly before the original ban.
Paid $319.00 for it , brand new in the box.
I remember my friend John and myself laughing ourselves stupid over it, he went to order one; all gone

Yup, just shortly before GB1 did the ban. IIRC, I traded a Remington 760 in 300 Savage and $170. I know the dealer made money on the deal.

The guy I ordered mine from ordered two, he kept the other one NIB after the ban came on, he sold it after almost 12 years for $1400. Considering the current big(expensive) push for a piston gas system for the AR it's wild that the Daewoo had an adjustable piston gas system and sold for about half of an AR in those days. I wish they'd start bringing them back into the country but with the current election flux I imagine it's not likely.

We think a lot alike, the Daewoo always wore a 2.5 scope. My new AR(a flattop) is now wearing that same scope. I'm curious that you have a low mounted scope, I had to use some tall see through rings to get my scope high enough from the receiver that it was comfortable to look through. With regular(high) rings I had to crawl too far down into the stock to see through it.

To get back to Blaine's original question, the Rock River rifles have always enjoyed a good reputation. I haven't seen anything to argue that it is not deserved.

[mescalero1]

Mine is low, just off the flatop and I weld up fine to it.
You are right about the thing being close to perfection

[Idahoser]

If you buy the part with the serial number by itself (the stripped lower) you pay the special extra tax only on the cost of that part. The other parts are easy to add. I built my own two and made them the way I want them, and that was from zero knowledge from info freely available, and ordering parts online. Cheaper than any built rifle, exactly what I wanted, and you know how to work on it afterward.

[2ndovc]

one rattle can flat black + one marlin = EBLR for cryin' out loud..,

Here's one for ya Grizz!

[Old Ironsights]

If you buy the part with the serial number by itself (the stripped lower) you pay the special extra tax only on the cost of that part. The other parts are easy to add. I built my own two and made them the way I want them, and that was from zero knowledge from info freely available, and ordering parts online. Cheaper than any built rifle, exactly what I wanted, and you know how to work on it afterward.

Actually, if you have some simple machineing skills you can buy an "80% kit" and build your own non-searilized lower... Totally legal so long as you never give it away/sell it.

[kimwcook]

My current EBR is a Rock River LAR-15 lower and RRA upper with a chromed moly bbl. in 1-9. It was put together by Gunsmoke Enterprises years ago. I've never had a problem with it. It has an Aimpoint M4 red dot, Surefire light, 3 thing. collapsible buttstock, 3 point harness w/quick disconnect and a GG&G BUIS rear sight. It gives me a warm feeling to know that's with me when I'm out and about.

[2ndovc]

Slick AR!

That knife looks interesting!

jb

[GoatGuy]

As I understand, Rock Island Armory firearms (1911 Browning design semi-auto pistols) are made in the Phillipines and imported by Armscor and marketed under the Rock Island name. RIA also markets a "Ar15" which I understand is also made in P.I. The RIA 1911's have received favorable comments from their owners and deemed a good value for the price. Don't have much info on the EBR's so marked. However, they shouldn't be confused with Rock River Arms which are manufactured in IL, and which are highly regarded by their owners.

[Hobie]

Also be careful about over-accessorizing...