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Thread: Armalite AR103GN18

  1. #1
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    Armalite AR103GN18

    I've been threatening to buy an AR-10 for years, but just recently a few things all came together at the same time and I broke down and ordered a "modern rifle" to see what I've been missing. Today was its first test run. When I was researching these, I couldn't find many good reviews - so maybe this will help the next guy thinking about buying one.



    In case you can't read it - that's 0.817" at 100yds with 155gr Nosler JHPBT bullets, and 0.644" with 175gr FGMM. Note that I've done absolutely NO load development yet (the 155gr load is my old FAL load), and I was shooting this with a 4x scope with heavy cross-hairs. Adjustable gas block, tuneable brake (I hate brakes, but the combination of these two made for a very soft and flat shooting rifle), free floated keymod handguard, Timney trigger, Raptor ambi charging handle, ambi selector, and adjustable Luth-AR stock - all straight out of the box. I did the barrel break-in, set the gas and tuned the brake and it was good to go. The only part I changed was the triggerguard - I put a Magpul on there because the stock one always digs into my middle finger.

    I then shot some VTAC drills from 100-300yds, and where I struggle with the FAL, with this thing hits were effortless and reliable. It really was like cheating. I only have about 75rds through it so far, but it ran like a sewing machine throughout - with 10rd, 20rd, and 25rd PMAGs. Next weekend I have a 3-gun match, so we'll see how it does with a little hard use. And we'll see if I can remember where the controls are on the clock!

    The bad news is that I have NEVER seen one of these in stock anywhere, so I ordered mine sight unseen after doing a bunch of research and hearing some good reviews from a couple shooters I trust. The good news is that "every dealer is an Armalite dealer" - go down to your local gun shop, have them call Armalite, and they can order one for you directly. Their website always shows out of stock for some reason - but mine came really quickly.

    https://armalite.com/shop/ar-10-3-gun-rifle/

  2. #2
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    Nice choice! I have 4 of these! A 16 and 18" 5.56 and a 16 and 18" .308. You will be very happy.

    Sent from my SM-G920P using Tapatalk
    i had the will power to not buy guns. I even bought a gun store and work for a company that manufactures the forging machines for said guns. I need help.

  3. #3
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    I picked upp my 2nd Armalite AR-10A a bit ago (yet to shoot it), and am eager to see what their SASS Gen 2 will be like (appears to be a .308/6.5CM with extended upper receiver that the rail threads into, + adjustale gas block).
    No experience wit the 3Gun versions, but glad to see they work well.

  4. #4
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    Yeah, I have a FAL too. I like it, but it doesn't hold a candle to how refined AR platforms are now. I have put together some franken-gun 308 AR's but this seems like a really nice system as a whole. For a slightly cheaper gun Armature quality seems pretty good.

  5. #5
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    Good looking rifle and great looking groups. Keep us posted on it's performance.

    jpgm

  6. #6
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    Well - it ran fine today through 5 different stages. It's going to take me a little while before I reach the rifle's full potential, as I can tell it still feels a little awkward in my hands (I've been shooting the FAL a LOOOONG time!). No complaints though, and good enough for top Heavy Metal and 4th overall. Here's a taste:


  7. #7
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    Nice shooting. It appears to be very controllable.

    jpgm

  8. #8
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    I've had a couple FAL matches over the last couple months, so am only now getting more time to play with this. With a fairly skinny barrel, I was curious to see if there was any POI shift as the barrel heated up - so I shot a 10rd group to really see what it was doing:


    And I had a different lot number bullet with some questionable powder throw consistency I wanted to check, so I did it again:


    Considering I'm using a 4x scope with heavy cross-hairs and I could probably use some work on my group shooting form, I'm pretty happy with this. The good news is that there is no stringing at all, the groups are consistent, and my perceived powder throw issue is not an issue at all.

    The really funny part is the 110gr FMJ carbine bullets I loaded up for 25yd bay stages that will save me 10 cents a round. They shot pretty well at 25 and 50 yds, so just for giggles I shot a 10 rd group at 100yds with them. It was pretty dang close to my 155gr zero, and at around 3 MOA is a whole lot better than I expected for those bullets! I'm still not sure what happened to shots 5 and 9. I'm not driving them very hard at all (load is below published minimum) so I don't THINK they overspun and exploded on the way to the target - but I also didn't see any other holes in a fairly large surrounding piece of cardboard.

  9. #9
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    And I'm still working on getting my speed up better and getting used to the new rifle, so I ran some V-drills at 7 and 10 yds today. This also shows how really controllable it is to shoot.

  10. #10
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    I just passed 500 rds, with no cleaning since the initial break-in. It's seen a fair amount of rain, a little mud, and zero pampering. Still running like a sewing machine.

    I'm a little new to the AR-family so I'm guessing at the typical wear points, but here's what it looks like so far:






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