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Thread: DMR: My first 308 build

  1. #1
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    DMR: My first 308 build

    I've built several AR-15's, but this is my first adventure in the 7.62x51 flavor. From the time of my first part purchase (on the E&E), this build took about a year and 1/2. It didn't take me that long to buy the parts, it took me that long to commit to building one. I call my commit date, the night I bought my lower. That was Feb. 26th of this year. In that time to now it took me to make some decisions on what I wanted to do, wait for some parts to go on sale etc. etc. The reason I built this "DMR" Or LR-308, is that I wanted to push out beyond 600 yards and do so with more authority. I only briefly considered 6.5 CM and other calibers, but the Army in me says "commonality of round will rule the day" and also cost of round. Thanks to my buddies JWKnutson and Kain, I found some really good ammo buys from SGAMMO.com

    But here it is:

    Lower Build List:
    Aero Precision M5 stripped lower
    Aero Precision take-down and pivot pins
    Mixed LPK (Aero bolt catch, Armalite extended mag release, DSG Arms billet mag release button)
    Timney single stage 3lb pull trigger
    KNC Lightweight anti-rotation kit
    V7 short thrown ambi selector switch
    Hogue soft overmolded grip (with storage)
    Magpul SR25/MK110 Extended RE tube (A 10 position A5 tube)
    Sprinco Orange 308 spring
    KAK Heavy 308 carbine buffer
    Vltor Emod stock


    Upper Build List:

    Aero Precision High Profile upper receiver
    Ballistic Advantage 18" Premium 416R SS barrel, rifle gas. I debated a 20-24" barrel. Ballistically it's a better choice, but I was trying to find a compromise between maneuverability and accuracy/range. I have an 18" SPR and I'm comfortable moving with it. So that was the driving factor.
    AAC 51t Brakeout 2.0
    Ballistic Advantage BCG - There are other good 308 BCG's out there, but I have really learned to trust BA, they supply 98% of my barrels for my builds, but more importantly, I wanted the same manufacturer for my BCG as for my barrel.
    SLR 15" ION Lite MLOK rail - I spent MORE TIME trying to decide what rail to get (I even went to WEVO and asked them to help me lol) I am used to LaRue Tactical quad rails. Don't care what you say, they are solid as a rock. BUT, I wanted to try to go lighter with this build. As some may have read my 5.56 SPR vs. 308 DMR thread, my SPR weighed 14.4 lbs w/scope. Since I started build though, a friend PIF'd a KAC URX 4 MLOK rail to me for an 11.5 build I was working on. I totally dig that rail. I mean wow. It is an amazing rail. However, I did not have KAC URX money for this rail. I had seen several SLR's on 308 builds and decided to go that route. My first SLR rail was a 16" SOLO rail. It has picatinny at 3, 6, and 9. I installed the rail for mock-up and really did not like it. It was TOO MUCH rail. So I called Chase at SLR and he said send it back. I said, well I dinged it, when I was putting a scope mount on it. He said send it back anyway, if I can't re-anodize it, I'll take the hit. AWESOME. So I sent it back and bought the 15" ION Lite MLOK. Once inch makes a difference. (That's what she said)
    Magpul Type 2 rail covers
    Wilson Combat Adjustable Gas Block (the worst adjustable gas block I've ever seen and will be replaced by weeks end with an SLR Sentry 7. I had to stop and go shoot them an email about their adj. GB.
    Mech Armor TACOPS/Sniper AR-10 Charging Handle. I should do a review of these guys charging handles. I have a 7.62 Raptor, that I will test with my build, but the Mech Armor seems to action smoother. I've used them on builds I've done for others and on my own, they are pretty rock solid.
    Knight's Micro Front and Rear sight (Is there another? Well Troy and PRI, but I like KAC for this DMR.)
    LaRue QD LT-104 SPR scope mount (There are others, but I love the lock down of LaRue.
    Burris XTR II 5-25x50 scope (It was on my SPR, and found a better home on my 308!)
    US Optics rail mounted swivel bubble

    Accessories
    Atlas Bipod with ADM mount (Magpul aluminum 5 slot MLOK > Picatinny rail section)
    ShadowTech SS Loophole Rifle sling (A huge departure from my normal Vickers)
    Still in NFA jail: AAC 762-SDN-6 suppressor

    As of this moment, I do not have plans to rattle can paint this rifle a I do most of my other AR's. I am considering getting this rifle cerakoted. I've been talking to "my guy", but I'm not 100% sure yet. I am thinking of Magpul FDE. Nothing flashy or weird.

    Impressions:
    It is a much smoother shooting gun than I was anticipating. Not sure if it was smoother because of my buffer/spring selector, or has the gas block was adjusted, or maybe I was anticipating a little more kick. Either way, it was pure pleasure shooting. I was also prepared to experience issues with my gas/cycling. (From what I had read on the knowledge thread and other places.) I brought a Tubb's flat wire (for 308) and one of my green springs just in case) My first 5 rounds were single rounds in a 20 rd mag, making sure my bolt locked back at empty mag. I was thrilled when it did straight off - and each and every time. It appeared to cycle perfectly. For those who like to observe the cartridge ejection angle, it looked to be GTG. I moved from single round mags to a 3 shot cycle, but not too fast. After I did that, I did a 5 shot cycle. (If you're wondering why I did it this way, believe it or not, it's the BA recommended barrel break-in guide.)
    Towards the end of my shooting session, which was about 5 hours long, I did run through a couple of 25 round mags - just to see if something was going to get weird on me. Normally with one of my AR-15's I dump way more than one mag. But as most of you know, this ammo don't grow on trees, or money or something. It ain't cheap!. The fact that it ran smooth as silk start to finish, gave me some confidence, that I really had put together a good build. My build philosophy as I was taught, was to build a battle rifle. Build a rifle I would go into combat with and trust. That principle was taught to me, and that's still what I stick to. It keeps the frivolous down and the practical up.

    This is my first .308 in the AR platform, so I do have some training to do, working on my shot groups. As long as I can keep SGAMMO on my shortlist, I should be able to train sufficiently. I still have my 5.56 SPR, which will soon be receiving a Vortex Viper 2.5-10x32 scope to replace the XTR II that found a much better and suitable home on the .308.

    Now for the pictures. (Hopefully I didn't get too carried away.)

    In the shop, she's built:

    Charging Handle I mentioned

    Focus on Lower:


    Range modeling pics








    At the Range...


    Working on my zero

    Ammo for zero: Federal 175gr OTM || Ammo for functional testing: 147gr MEN (German ammo, and it ran flawlessly!)





    What's Next?
    Why a 308 SBR of course!!
    Last edited by RobertTheTexan; 04-21-17 at 14:40.
    "Texas has yet to learn submission to any oppression, come from what source it may."
    ~ Sam Houston

    “The liberties of our country, the freedom of our civil constitution, are worth defending against all hazards: And it is our duty to defend them against all attacks.”
    ~ Sam Adams

  2. #2
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    damn nice rifle! How do you like the Burris glass? I have been seeing the XTR II line for around 1K quite a bit, and with the features they come with, it seems like quite a steal price wise.

  3. #3
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    Nicely done Sir! Nice write up and Excellent shooting.

  4. #4
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    Quote Originally Posted by fallenromeo View Post
    damn nice rifle! How do you like the Burris glass? I have been seeing the XTR II line for around 1K quite a bit, and with the features they come with, it seems like quite a steal price wise.
    You know I wasn't 100% on board either. A family never had it, offered it to me for a great price which let me to check it out shooting one day. I bought t that day. It's a solid value even for the price you're seeing. Don't kid yourself though, this thing is a tank. Which is a good thing and if you are weigh sensitive a bad thing. I appreciate the solid ruggedness of the scope though. 34mm tube lets in low light and I really like the reticle. Mine has the G2B Mildot reticle and I really like it. It's the only reticle I would get if I were to buy another. I also like their customer service. Not sure how many people realize that Burris has their "Forever Warranty No questions asked. No repair or replacement charge, No receipt, no questions." I guess they saw the following Vortex had and ante'd up. I broke the scope caps off climbing in and out of a deer stand this year and filled out a customer support ticket last night and this morning they said they'd get them in the mail to me. Told em how I broken them, didn't care and I'm not even original owner.

    Don't mean to sound like a commercial because I'm not. There are much better optics out there, but I do not think there are a bunch of better optics at this price out there. If I had a grand and needed a good quality, hardcore scope, I'd buy it again.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
    "Texas has yet to learn submission to any oppression, come from what source it may."
    ~ Sam Houston

    “The liberties of our country, the freedom of our civil constitution, are worth defending against all hazards: And it is our duty to defend them against all attacks.”
    ~ Sam Adams

  5. #5
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    Quote Originally Posted by Jwknutson17 View Post
    Nicely done Sir! Nice write up and Excellent shooting.
    Why thank you good sir!


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
    "Texas has yet to learn submission to any oppression, come from what source it may."
    ~ Sam Houston

    “The liberties of our country, the freedom of our civil constitution, are worth defending against all hazards: And it is our duty to defend them against all attacks.”
    ~ Sam Adams

  6. #6
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    That is an interesting CH! How do you like it? Never seen it before. I was also considering one of those optics in the illuminated variant for a 7mm mag build that's about half way there. Good to see someone with first hand experience with it. That bubble level is pretty slick. Your thoughts on that?
    Philippians 4:13

  7. #7
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    Great job Robert! I like the look of it! Certainly appears that you built yourself a quality rifle.

  8. #8
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    Good looking rifle.

    You're welcome for the help with ammo, glad to see the rifle is shooting it well. Though this may be one of the first, if not the first time I've read a .308 AR build that worked pretty much out of the box. Impressive. How much does the set up come out to weight wise?(Sorry if I missed it, am running on fumes here.)
    "I don't collect guns anymore, I stockpile weapons for ****ing war." Chuck P.

    "Some days you eat the bacon, and other days the bacon eats you." SeriousStudent

    "Don't complain when after killing scores of women and children in a mall, a group of well armed men who train to shoot people like you in the face show up to say hello." WillBrink

  9. #9
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    Quote Originally Posted by Jwknutson17 View Post
    That is an interesting CH! How do you like it? Never seen it before. I was also considering one of those optics in the illuminated variant for a 7mm mag build that's about half way there. Good to see someone with first hand experience with it. That bubble level is pretty slick. Your thoughzts on that?
    Mech Armor TacOps Sniper Charging Handle
    Funny you ask about the charging handle. Here is quite a long story behind it. So a couple of years ago I met this older guy who's name was Van. Van lived in NH and was a Live Free or Die kinda guy. Long story short? Van loved the military and loved soldiers. His dad was prior service, I believe he was a sniper in the Army (I could be mistaken). Van started talking to soldiers coming back from deployments (or on the way) and he said that he heard that a common problem soldiers experienced on the field were broken charging handles, specifically the charging handle spring pin was shearing off. So Van took to the drawing board and designed the CH you see on my 308. The key differences are the spring pin is 42% bigger (addressing the breaking/shearing of the pin) and the spring is a 7lb SS spring.

    Now JWK I can't Validate the issues with the CJ, I have seen them break though. I was not deployed to see it through a high volume usage. Van was a good guy. He loved the military, loved soldiers and believed he truly made a part that made the weapon system better.
    This is what I can tell you from using it. More so on my AR-15 than my 308, because I haven't done much testing with my 308, but from and eye on the optic, actioning the CH is a more natural, smoother action with this CH, than with my Raptor. That thumb press lever just does some kind of 'centering' or balancing but the end result for me, was a more even, smoother CH pull to address a malfunction for example.
    I've tried calling Van several times lately but was unable to reach him, and the last time I spoke with one of his partners, his health was not good. So I don't know what that means, I do know that they will keep on making charging handles.
    They are Patriots and they have a good product. So I buy them. Sure I run a lot of Raptors,and I hate saying this, it's more because I like how they look. Truth is this ch functions as good maybe a little better better than the Raptor. At least in my opinion. When I ordered the one for my 308 a week or 2 ago the guy I was talking to (and trying to find out more about Van's health.) was a guy named Rick. He threw two handles in the box for me. He said one was a blem but I have yet to find an issue. I'll send you a PM. I do stay in touch with them. More so because I really just enjoyed talking to Van.
    On my AR-15's I use their CQB TacOps, it's not quite as wide as their standard TacOps CH. With the military/LEO discount, I pay around $65 bucks for the CH. To me, it's a good value. You can see how solid the thing is from the pics.

    And the last bona fides for me?

    Mark LaRue sells them. I know he doesn't always get a lot of love, but he builds good stuff and I don't think he'd sell a piece of crap, even if he didn't make it himself. He sells PRI GasBusters and the TacOps

    MechArmor who makes the CH says that Colt has stress tested their CH up to 10K rounds without a single failure and that they are on Colt's Preferred Vendor List. I don't know if that means anything or not.
    Apparently they work on an SR25 (just not older Gen 1's) I did tell Rick I was going to do a review and post it, so o need to get busy with that this week.

    I'm going to bet that you didn't expect to get a book for an answer! Lol sorry brother, there's just more to it than "oh I just decided to try it." (I cut out about 2 paragraphs lol)

    https://mechdefense.com/pages/professional-evaluations

    . USO Anti Cant Scope Level (swivel)
    As far as the level. I really like it. I had bought a USO level off the E&E, but when I got it I couldn't get it to tighten onto my rail. I contacted the seller who refunded my money but he said keep it. So I decided to ask USO about it because it seemed like a design flaw. USO got back with me and said yep, that was our first release of anti-can't devices, but that thing is at least 12 years old. I had told them how I bought it on the forum E&E. The the guys at USO said, send me your mailing address, we'll send you a new replacement. I even said back, "you know I bought this used from someone else."
    They said, but it's of no use to you, if you're going to have one, it might as well work. So they sent me their $90 (USO retail) anti-cant level.
    That's the story behind Joe I got it. This is what I like about it.
    With it on the right side of my weapon, i can actually look down at r and see the bubble without breaking my sight plane and sight picture. I found while shooting, my better groups came when I was using this tool along with my other tools in concert. My breathing, trigger control and ensuring my weapon was level, maintaining a good sight pictures throughout my shot group etc.

    So BLUF, I like it and plan on putting on on my SPR.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
    "Texas has yet to learn submission to any oppression, come from what source it may."
    ~ Sam Houston

    “The liberties of our country, the freedom of our civil constitution, are worth defending against all hazards: And it is our duty to defend them against all attacks.”
    ~ Sam Adams

  10. #10
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    Quote Originally Posted by Kain View Post
    Good looking rifle.

    You're welcome for the help with ammo, glad to see the rifle is shooting it well. Though this may be one of the first, if not the first time I've read a .308 AR build that worked pretty much out of the box. Impressive. How much does the set up come out to weight wise?(Sorry if I missed it, am running on fumes here.)
    I didn't post the weight, so thanks for caching that. It comes in at 13.5 lbs. that's just shy of a full pound lighter than my SPR.
    Wow... I knew it was lighter just in handling it. I need to weigh a loaded 25rd mag and 20rd mag. Maybe it weighs the same... I'll check that later.
    On my SPR the weight is in the PRS stock and rail. The DMR is using a much lighter rail and stock. Guess that offsets the larger receiver group.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
    "Texas has yet to learn submission to any oppression, come from what source it may."
    ~ Sam Houston

    “The liberties of our country, the freedom of our civil constitution, are worth defending against all hazards: And it is our duty to defend them against all attacks.”
    ~ Sam Adams

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