The great .308 debate

[LRRPF52]

And that price point is why I chose to build. No doubt the DD will be a fine rifle, but piecing one together is much chepaer and a great learning experience.

DD is actually testing their guns in high volume, to ensure that a working product is available to the consumer.

After you get done finding parts that will actually fit together with the DIY route, you then have the uphill battle of chasing reliability, let alone accuracy. I've seen several people who tried to build a $1200 gun end up having to return their BCG's for being faulty, barrels for having a tight chamber below the SAAMI minimum, LPK major components that didn't fit or broke, shave receivers so BCH change handles could work, deal with headspace issues, only to find out after an additional $800 of expenditure, that the primers are not well-supported, cratering and piercing is normal, and the guns still don't run.

Not counting time to the range and back, range fees or ammo, wear and tear on parts that many places will only replace rather than full refund, and we're well over $2000.

I think DD's approach is to take care of all that headache in advance with their engineering, testing, QC/QA, and CS departments so the customer has a working solution out of the box. I'm no DD fanboy, and I think I own only one DD product that I don't really like, but this is just how I see this, having watched this AR10 market for decades now.

[Bang4Buck]

I think you nailed it when you said people tried to build a $1200 308 AR gun. You're not going to get quality at that price. I got high quality parts and followed sage advice from people who have built a 308 before and so far, zero issues for me. Plus I got exactly what I wanted to get in in the rail, trigger, stock, etc.... None of the 308s made by FN, LMT, or Larue were pieced togther the way I wanted. I was under 2k excluding glass and got a match barrel, SSA-E trigger, keymod rail, etc... I'd hate to drop big money on an AR only to realize I wanted a different trigger, rail or grip after I got to shoot it.

[hotrodder636]

I disagree with some of what you said below. I used an Aero receiver set, a Rainier UM barrel, Geiselle trigger, MI FF keymod rail, Syrac gas block (I have listed my parts before) for $1200. It shoots sub-MOA and has had no issues with over 500 rounds of 175gr GMM and M118Match ammo. It can be done...if you have a quality parts list AND you are able to find everything on sale except the gas tube and pivot/takedown pins. Maybe I got lucky but I think not.

I think you nailed it when you said people tried to build a $1200 308 AR gun. You're not going to get quality at that price. I got high quality parts and followed sage advice from people who have built a 308 before and so far, zero issues for me. Plus I got exactly what I wanted to get in in the rail, trigger, stock, etc.... None of the 308s made by FN, LMT, or Larue were pieced togther the way I wanted. I was under 2k excluding glass and got a match barrel, SSA-E trigger, keymod rail, etc... I'd hate to drop big money on an AR only to realize I wanted a different trigger, rail or grip after I got to shoot it.