AR replacement

[Zane Rakes]

Ransom and I have had many chats about the XM-3 and there is little that cant be done with a 16-18" 308 with a 10X optic in a mag fed bolt gun.

Another of my wish list rifles would be a jungle Enfield in 308. but that isnt going to be cheap so I may just settle for original caliber.

AO6: whats your thoughts on the short barrels? Seems like velocity loss would be prohibitive down that short of a barrel, especially in the 6.5C or 308. However, I have no experience with that so looking to learn a bit.

zr

[AO6]

ZR,

I sent you a PM thats a deep rabbit hole which would derail the OP's topic.

Yes its a trade off but in this context we are discussing trading off "Black Rifles" for other options anyways.

For an alternative to an AR which typically have 14.5"-18" barrels in 5.56 with 55-62 gr ammo, the option of a 308 in 16"-18" still seems superior to me in terms of performance in the totality of the package (velocity/projectile weight/KE etc). You are getting less speed but more ass.

[robcollins]

AO6: whats your thoughts on the short barrels? Seems like velocity loss would be prohibitive down that short of a barrel, especially in the 6.5C or 308. However, I have no experience with that so looking to learn a bit.

zr

Here's an article summarizing velocities of a .308 cut from 28" down to 16.5" with varied bullet weights.
http://bulletin.accurateshooter.com/...barrel-length/

Some barrels are faster than others, but that gives a SWAG way to estimate the difference; a 20" .308 barrel will shoot *about* 100 fps faster than a 16" barrel, for example...

[eknopins]

Thanks everyone for the information. It was also my wish to provoke a little political discussion and I was not disappointed.
I do have a M1 Garand which I consider too heavy and long for this use.
I will have to choose to develop a Win. 94 Trapper in .30-30 or a Marlin 1894 in .357.
Another possibility is to further refine my Rem. 600 .308 set up as a Scout Rifle. I made some mistakes when I built this Scout as it weighs about 8.5 pounds. This may be the only Scout Rifle ever approved for carry by a Federal LE Agency but that is an old and long story.

[Ransom]

I shortened the stock up on my 358 blr and had barrel cut to 16" and ported it. Only regret is not doing it to a take down...

I do like AO6's idea.... With one addition.. You can convert it to 458 Winchester