I'm debating getting into a semi .308, just a hunting, light weight fun gun. Tossing the Aero 16" but this, although a wee bit more sure makes the weight threshold I'm after--8.5 with scope.
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I'm debating getting into a semi .308, just a hunting, light weight fun gun. Tossing the Aero 16" but this, although a wee bit more sure makes the weight threshold I'm after--8.5 with scope.
Can you confirm that this is a G2 clone?Quote:
Originally Posted by caporider
Not a clone, parts are proprietary to Mega Arms; but component sizes are similar to th e G2 series.Quote:
Originally Posted by KUSA
I just got off the phone with a Mega Arms rep. I asked a lot of questions about the Maten-SF, and I'm ready to share what I found out. I know there is a lot of interest in this rifle, but unfortunately, high interest has not seemed to have translated into appropriately high levels of information about the rifle itself being known. As I myself was curious, I got in touch with Mega directly to get to the bottom of this all.
Please keep in mind that because the rifle is still not finalized, these answers are tentative, and could change on the final product. Basically, Mega isn't done with the rifle yet, so keep that in mind. Nothing is 100% guaranteed yet.
My first question set was about rifle accuracy and the barrel. Here's what I was told:
1. The rifle will ship with a proprietary Mega Arms barrel. This does not mean the barrel will be incompatible with many standard AR barrel components, just that you won't necessarily be able to install it on a different .308 AR, or conversely, use other .308 AR barrels on the Maten-SF.
2. Mega does plan to offer addition barrels for the rifle in the future. A 20 inch and a 12 inch are currently being considered. While I did not ask specifically about it, I do know Mega makes 6.5 Creedmore barrels for the regular Maten, so I would not be surprised if you saw those eventually as well for the rifle.
3. The initial barrel offerings for the Maten-SF will be 16 inch and 18 inch. These barrels will be traditional button rifled barrels, with a 1-10 twist (ideal for shooting heavy .308 loads). The barrels will have a black nitride coating. While the Mega representative was unsure as to what profile the barrels had, I would not be too concerned about this because...
4. ... Mega will be guaranteeing these rifles and barrels to shoot 1 MOA or better. So no, Mega is not shipping these rifles out (at least initially) with some crazy accurate/heavy/expensive match barrel, but they are providing a very solid accuracy promise if you ask me. Honestly, I feel that if you aren't happy with a 1 MOA guarantee, then you probably should be looking at a bolt action, not a semi auto.
5. The rifle will be shipping with a single stage Mega tactical trigger. This trigger is adjustable. However, if you end up deciding you absolutely do not want to use this trigger, the rifle should accept other drop in AR triggers without issue.
My next set of questions was regarding the rifle's operating system.
6. Both of the initial length offerings with ship with your typical midlength gas systems.
7. The rifle will ship with an adjustable gas block from the factory. According the Mega rep, this block should allow you to comfortably fire both high pressure .308 and lower pressure 7.62, as well as adjust the gas system for suppressed usage. Basically, the gas block should have an appropriate setting for whatever type of shooting you plan to do with the rifle.
8. Not only does the rifle feature a proprietary barrel, but both the bolt carrier group and the ambi-charging handle are also model specific to the Maten-SF. This means you have to use the Mega BCG and charging handle. Personally, I don't mind this very much, because their is no real standard currently for AR-10 bolt designs, and I'm glad to see Mega was willing to go out and do their own thing in the name of making the rifle lighterweight and more compact.
After that, I asked about durability and reliability.
9. The receiver set for the rifles will be machined out of 7075 aluminium. That is the same stuff that your standard Mil-Spec forged AR-15 receiver is made out of. Mega isn't messing around when it comes to the receiver construction. The handguard, however, will be milled out of the more common 6061 aluminum. Since most aluminum rail systems are made from this material, I'm not really that worried about this though.
10. The Mega rep told me they where will in the process of testing the rifle, but so far, they've been beating on it pretty hard, and intend to beat on it some more, so I've got high hopes for the reliability and durability.
11. Mega's warranty is pretty simple: If something goes wrong with the rifle, and the fault lies with Mega, they'll fix it.
Following those questions, I then queried about accessories and attachment methods for the rifle.
12. The rifle will be shipping with some sort of muzzle device that is appropriate for a high end .308 AR. Mega isn't sure exactly what will be coming with the production rifle, but the rep said it was unlikely the actual production rifle would end up using the Surefire break they had on their 2016 Shot Show rifles. What I do know, however, is that Mega isn't likely just going to ship a "throwaway" A2 style flashhider with the rifle- the Mega rep told me the thing should be ready to go right out of the box, nothing else needed (well, asides from some sort of sighting system.)
13. The rifle will be compatible with numerous AR-15 components. I specifically asked about the safety selector, and I was told that while the rifle would ship with a tradition ambi 90 degree safety, the rifle would be compatible with aftermarket safeties that have a non-standard throw angle.
14. The rifle will initially ship with M-LOK only, but KeyMod is planned to be offered later on. The 16 inch barrel model has a 14 inch handguard, while the 18 inch barrel will come with a 16 inch handguard.
15. The rifle will most likely ship with a Mega branded Hogue grip and a Magpul stock.
16. What the rifle will come with asides from that from the factory is still being determined.
And, finally, I had to ask, and was pleasantly surprised to learn that...
17. Mega will ship these rifle from the factory in colors other than black. When I asked, I was told that they currently planned to offer factory Cerakote in tan, sniper grey, and OD green. Since I personally don't like all black rifles (what exactly is an all black rifle supposed to blend in with?), I'm glad to here Mega will be selling the rifle from the get-go in more useful colors.
Once more, I need to stress that because the rifle has not been finalized, the information I'm presenting here is what Mega has told me they know as of 2/16/2016. Things could easily change for the final production rifle.
See point #8. The BCG will be proprietary to the Maten-SF. Other components will be proprietary as well- basically, this rifle is not just a simple G2 clone.Quote:
Originally Posted by KUSA
That's too bad. There are so many "proprietary" setups that this just muddies the waters even more. It would have been nice if it were an improved G2 clone rather than a loose copy.Quote:
Originally Posted by Find ManBearPig!
To be honest, I'm not really sure how big of a deal this is. As I mentioned previously, there is no current "universal" AR-10 design the way their is for the AR-15. If Mega's proprietary design does in fact offer significant advantages over other AR-10 designs, then I think it may be worth it. Remember, this is a .308 AR that Mega has managed to get down to 7.2 pounds while still retaining a full featured rifle. If you look at the G2 rifles, the Mega manages to be lighter than any of them, despite the fact that it's coming out of the box fully kitted out and with a 1 MOA accuracy guarantee.Quote:
Originally Posted by KUSA
Besides, it's not like most components that people would actually end up worrying about won't fit. The rifle still takes many common AR-15 and AR-10 parts, and features a full length M-LOK or KeyMod handguard. As far as I can see, the only proprietary components that would be of any concern to me would be the BGC, the charging handle, and the barrel. If being able to use G2 parts in those areas was important to you, then I could understand why Mega's system does not appeal, but for me personally, that is not a deal breaker.
Hmmm. Nothing new here. Thank you for the update though. All of this info was gleaned at or shortly after SHOT.
I'm curious as to exactly how proprietary the bolt/BCG really are. I find it hard to believe MEGA completely ground-up redesigned their own BCG.
I definitely will not be buying one of these things now if the proprietary thing holds true. Aftermarket will be nonexistent for it.
I built a high-end 7.5lb 16" 308. - .3lbs off this. It'll do me just fine.
Don't get me wrong. I think this is a great looking rifle that deserves closer inspection. I just think it would be nice to see a trend towards a standard. The G2 design in my opinion is a worthy base for that.Quote:
Originally Posted by Find ManBearPig!
Yes, I agree that there likely will be little to no aftermarket for the rifles proprietary bits... then again, what aftermarket component would you need to buy for it? The only one that immediate comes to mind is different barrels, but as I said before, Mega does plan to offer additional barrel styles for the rifle later on down the line.Quote:
Originally Posted by Brahmzy
As for building your own rifle, while I have no doubt your own 7.5lb high end .308 is a fine rifle, could you buy something similar to yours from a factory, with a warranty and an accuracy guarantee? As far as I can tell, the Mega is the lightest complete factory .308 available.
I agree, it would be nice if there was some sort of universal standard in .308 AR's. However, I don't think we will see that happen until either one .308 AR standard comes along that is just so good, it completely takes over the market, or the US military adopts their own definitive, widely used .308 AR standard.Quote:
Originally Posted by KUSA
Why, so you can install the non-existent DPMS after market parts into a Mega Machine rifle?Quote:
Originally Posted by KUSA
For those that aren't familiar with Mega Machine's quality and precision machining, I would place them in the same peer group as Seekins, who I have extremely high regards for.
I've worked on guns from both, using their billet sets and matching handguards, and they are superb specimens in the billet AR world from functional, aesthetic, and innovative perspective.
I can't see any reasonable situation where I would want to install a DPMS product inside the SF MATEN. That makes absolutely no sense at all when looking at the bolt carrier group and the charge handle.
It appears to already have a GII ejection port door. Additionally, it has the ambi features that Mega is known for, like ambi bolt release and ambi mag release, which the GII does not have.
There is zero reason to want back-compatibility with the GII, especially since there is no internal component support for the GII other than extractors last I checked.