any suggestions on a ar-10 .308 barrel length

[daddyusmaximus]

I put one together not long back using the following parts, and it worked out very well for me. Depends on what you want to do with yours though. Mine is a small-ish, light-ish, (for a .308) patrol carbine. It's for defensive combat use, but only for close distances of around 300 yds and in, as I live in wooded, farmland area.

Receivers... Aero Precision with their LPK
Barrel... BA Hanson 14" with pin-and-welded Warcomp
Rail system... Midwest Industries
Scope... Primary Arms 1-8 with the ACSS reticle
BUIS... Troy with tritium
BCG... Lantac enhanced
Recoil system... JP Captured
Trigger... Geissele SSA-E
Furniture... Magpul CTR stock, MOE grip, MVG M-LOK
Weaponlight... Surefire M300 Scout Light
Leftover ambidextrous safety that I can't remember where I got...
Leftover scope mount... same deal... just happened to work out well.



Biggest thing to worry about is that there isn't a single standard like on the 5.56 sized guns. With them, due to the "mil spec" standard, (the fact that the military uses the platform) all the manufactures use the same dimensions. My .308 is of the DPMS style, so I had to make sure every part I selected was going to work with that style. Takes some research, but it's doable.

[Wake27]

Dude you seriously need to read the rules and do some searching here.

[26 Inf]

I'm not a mod, just trying to point you in the right direction.

Well, if you were a mod, you probably wouldn't take a two month break. Hadn't seen you on LF either, semi-worried you'd gone the way of the whale.

[sjc3081]

16" or 20".
Anything in between is not worth the other negatives.
Ammo selection and barrel quality/profile will mean way more in performance than barrel length.

Jack can you please explain about 18” barrel issues.
I was looking at this 18”
https://www.brownells.com/rifle-part...8%2bWinchester
I need to know so I can make an informed choice.

[ABNAK]

16" or 20".
Anything in between is not worth the other negatives.
Ammo selection and barrel quality/profile will mean way more in performance than barrel length.

Your opinion is as good as it gets with this platform. For some reason I have always pictured an AR10-ish weapon with a 20" tube. I would certainly go no lower than 18". To me, M4's and similar are perfect for 5.56, with good rounds you're probably whacking the bad guys quite well. But if you require (or want in my case ) a 7.62 weapon my in-grained sense tells me 20", like a regular "infantry rifle".

As always, YMMV.

[mark5pt56]

merging with your other thread, keep them together instead of polluting each section.

[RobertTheTexan]

Well, if you were a mod, you probably wouldn't take a two month break. Hadn't seen you on LF either, semi-worried you'd gone the way of the whale.

No bud, I’m still fighting the good fight. Although I wouldn’t mind moving to some little cabin in the literal middle of nowhere, but that’s not in the current deck of cards I’m playing with. Work has been insane, juggling multiple fulltime projects at the same time has kept my nose to that grindstone and my eyes focused on little else. Shoot, aside from an AR I built for the milkman this past week, I haven’t even had any time to spend in the shop doing the things I love to do. Work is still a bear, hence the 03-0400 hr posts. I hope you and your family are safe and well during this strange and interesting time.


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[RobertTheTexan]

looking at building my first AR-10 debating on barrel length. I'm looking at anything from 18' to 24 I'm wanting to use it to semi long range shoot and also hunt. any suggestions?

My last build used a 16” Rainier Arms Ultramatch Mod 2 SS barrel w/ Rainer adjustable GB (Rainier branded Superlative Arms). I’ve had longer SS barrels, BA’s 18” heavy profile 416R in a precision gun and the 16” groups as tight as the longer barrel did. I prefer the 16” over 18”. I snagged a Troy carbon fiber MLok rail and for a large frame AR it’s pretty light. The 16” barrel gives it a nice sense of maneuverability which is really nice whether your in a shoot house (hunting stand style) or other close quarters and the accuracy is no joke within the distances I often shoot at (under 700 yds) If you’re set on a custom build I’d recommend Aero M5 receiver set. They are really well made and I’ve had zero issues over the last 4 builds. There are other quality receiver manufacturers, some are machined to Armalite pattern or specs and some are machined to DPMS specs. I’ve had both and without there are more parts available for the DPMS platform than Armalite, but that has nothing to do with quality of parts. Manufacturers such as LMT, LaRue, Noveske and KAC are all Armalite patterned rifles and the cream of the crop.
Daddymaximus already commented on the importance of sticking with one pattern vs. the other and that’s not a suggestion, but a requirement.
You’ve already done the first important step, a requirement in my book and that’s defining the purpose of the rifle, although you could tighten that up a little. But the point is to let purpose drive your choices.
Back on parts, another good point regarding Aero receiver sets is that it’s not hard to find them on sale for less than $300 throughout the year - for the set, upper and lower. Folks can say what they want about Aero’s quality. The fact is the material they is is no different than tier 1 companies and way beyond 50 builds (AR-15/308) using at a minimum Aero lowers, I have never had a spec issue either in fit or finish, so they have more than proved themselves.
Accurate barrels I’ve used are the Rainier Arms Ultramatch Mod 2, and Ballistic Aadvantage 416R SS barrels. I’ve also shot 308 AR’s with Criterion barrels and they were also absolutely dead nuts accurate. I would suggest setting your budget because that’s going to impact your rifle more than anything. The benefit of doing a custom build is that you can pick up parts as you go. There are some good rail options out there from on the higher price side like SLR and Troy to medium priced rails like 2A Armament lower priced rails by Aero. There are some brands I would steer clear from, Ive had to return Midwest Industry rails, but never an. SLR or Troy. Another thing to keep in mind is the DPMS upper profile. High profile DPMS upper are more prevalent than DPMS lower profile which is usually found on DPMS brand uppers. I just did a 308 remodel that had a DOMS low profile upper and finding rail options was a huge pain. When we say DPMS pattern we are not talking about the brand of upper. That may have been obvious by now but I thought I’d point it out. As far as the rest of the rifle, I would use an A5 length buffer tube w/ a carbine buffer and a good spring mainly because because I prefer adjustable stocks and an A5 buffer system on a 308 is by far a better option than a carbine buffer system. You’ll need a good trigger and my go-to Is LaRue Tactical MBT-1S or 2S (single stage or two stage). The rest as far as butt stock, pistol grip, and optic are really user preference. I would also budget in a quality set of BUIS like Magpul Pros or Troy folding BUIS. I’ve been using Magpul Pros more and more because I appreciate the low profile and the front sight adjustment is easy to adjust. Optic wise, I think depending on the type of hunting you do and semi-long range shooting you plan on doing will drive your optic magnification. I have a Burris XTR II 1.5-8 with a CQ Mil reticle which I’m extremely happy with.
Lots to think about when doing a custom build. I would suggest you read the many threads we have on 308 builds, challenges and what works and then focus on picking up quality parts that have worked consistently for others . Let me know if you have any specific questions, I’m more than happy to help.


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[Merle]

Get a matched receiver set from a reputable company and a handguard that matches the same height and you'll be good. DPMS high is the most popular which is the same height as Armalite. I agree mostly with what the last poster said ither than KAC, Larue, and LMT being Armalite oattern. The only thing they have in common with Armalite is the slat cut on the receiver and the receiver extension tube length. Armalite uses a totally different rhread pitch on the upper. They also supposedly use their own bolt and barrel extensions. KAC, LMT, Larue, and LMT are more of a hybrid of Armalite and DPMS is more accurate. Also make sure you use the Armalite/Vltor A5 length receiver extension, not the DPMS/AR15 extension. That way you can use a standard carbine length buffer instead of the bastardized short DPMS buffer.

[Pappabear]

16 inch will do anything you need done! By the time you add a decent brake it will be long enough.

And add a suppressor, makes the 16 ideal IMHO. ESPECIALLY if you not going long range. I own a 16 & 20 in 308.

PB