Armalite AR103GN18

[Matt in TN]

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/

[TacticalFun]

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

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[Benito]

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.

[mic2377]

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.

[jpgm]

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

jpgm

[Matt in TN]

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:

[Ron3]

Interesting. The one stop I had with my low-round DEF10 looked like that. It too was during a competition.

It took a bit to clear. When I later inspected the rifle everything looked okay but the lube had been blown out (sooner than expected) and it was dirty and fairly dry.

I sprayed oil in the action liberally and it worked fine afterwards.

[Matt in TN]

Follow-up, just because I noticed in my handloading logbook I'm over 4,000 rds on this thing now. Still going strong and running like a very accurate sewing machine! I do clean the bolt every 500 rds or so and that seems to be the preventative maintenance that it needs, because it's never had those issues above again.

[Jsp10477]

Good to see the Armalite still running good.