'Budget' 308 carbine build suggestions

[nuclear_shooter]

Been away from the hide all summer doing a summer fellowship. While this means I haven't shot a gun in over 2 months, it *does* mean I have some spare change. I toyed around with the idea of building an SPR or something in 6mmAR, but when I saw that Aero Precision had a 308 DPMS patter receiver set for only 288 bucks, I knew it was time to build that 16" 308 carbine I've been thinking about for awhile.

I'm trying to keep it fairly cheap. This will not primarily be a long range gun (though it might be fun to try it out at some point). What I'm looking for are suggestions on good, value parts. Since this will be primarily a carbine, I don't need top of the line parts in it. I'd like to keep it under 9 lbs and 1300 buck (no optic). I am flexible on the $, but I really would like it to be under 9 lbs.

Here is a tentative list of parts:

Aero upper/lower (already on its way)
Rainier Select 16" or Aero's 308 16" barrel (I can't find *any* info on this barrel so I'm hesitant to try)
MI SSKM 12" (I def want something in the 12" range, not married to any in particular)
AGL ACT trigger (is there a better option for ~100?)

The trigger and handguard are were I need the most help. For the handguard the only 'cheap' (around 200) options seem to be the troy or MI (I also considered the JP, but not sure how I feel about it yet). Trigger gets 'meh' reviews, but I really don't need something fantastic. Any thoughts or recommendations?

 

[jasonfaz]

I'd go with the RRA National Match for around $110 and the 12" Fortis Switch for the handguard over the MI. It's stupid light and very well built.

 

[502Chevelle]

Interesting that you say it won't be a long range gun, but you may try it at sometime, but you are going with a 16" barrel on your build. I have a 16" dpms, and it shoots very well, but my loads go subsonic at about 800 yds, so now that I'm shooting in PRS style long range matches, I've had to totally rebuild things. I've had to respend a lot of money, that with a little more fore thought would have been taken care of. Take a good look at what you really want to do before you spend your hard earned money, so when you do your build, you won't be short changing yourself for later.

 

[nuclear_shooter]

I'd go with the RRA National Match for around $110 and the 12" Fortis Switch for the handguard over the MI. It's stupid light and very well built.

I really like that handguard, will have to look into it more. I wonder how long their introductory pricing will last? As for the trigger, my only issue is I really want a fixed weight trigger. Is there something in a similar price you would recommend?

Interesting that you say it won't be a long range gun, but you may try it at sometime, but you are going with a 16" barrel on your build. I have a 16" dpms, and it shoots very well, but my loads go subsonic at about 800 yds, so now that I'm shooting in PRS style long range matches, I've had to totally rebuild things. I've had to respend a lot of money, that with a little more fore thought would have been taken care of. Take a good look at what you really want to do before you spend your hard earned money, so when you do your build, you won't be short changing yourself for later.

I understand (and appreciate) your concern, however I already have a dedicated long range AR in .260 Rem. The thing weights almost 13 lbs what with the 22" barrel, scope, and PRS stock. With this gun, I would like to primarily shoot offhand between 100 and 400 yards at steel. But I also think it would be fun to see how it does at 700-900 yards, just to see what its capable of.

 

[jasonfaz]

Fixed weight as in non-adjustable rather than adjustable? If so, the RRA is a non-adjustable two-stage trigger. They have a varmint edition as well that breaks about a half pound lighter than the NM version. Both are a pretty decent value for the sub-$150 price range. If you're looking for a single stage trigger Id suggest its worth the extra 60 bucks to jump up to your timney 3LB triggers. They are also very, very nice. Absolutely zero creep and no over travel. I'm a fan of two stage triggers and the RRA is, IMO, the best bang for the buck if the Geissele's are just out of the price range.

 

[nuclear_shooter]

Fixed weight as in non-adjustable rather than adjustable? If so, the RRA is a non-adjustable two-stage trigger. They have a varmint edition as well that breaks about a half pound lighter than the NM version. Both are a pretty decent value for the sub-$150 price range. If you're looking for a single stage trigger Id suggest its worth the extra 60 bucks to jump up to your timney 3LB triggers. They are also very, very nice. Absolutely zero creep and no over travel. I'm a fan of two stage triggers and the RRA is, IMO, the best bang for the buck if the Geissele's are just out of the price range.

Oh I guess I'm an idiot. When they say 4-5.5 lbs, they just mean that the actual pull will be somewhere in there and not that its adjustable between those values? Perfect.

 

[jasonfaz]

You got it....and yes...that is somewhat misleading. All of the RRA NM I have used break between 4 and 4.3 lbs. the RRA Varmint broke at 3.87 lbs. That said, there is probably some variance in pull weight depending of what trigger you end up recieving from which batch. My experience has been good.

 

[Luky]

If you want to do it on a budget, you could pick up a complete dpms upper for about $750. Spend your cash on a good trigger (I'm on my 3rd, a Geissele SSE-A that I should have started with). I have had pretty good luck with dpms stuff and you can always install upgrades later when you have more cash. Beware of all the proprietary .308 designs that are not compatible with each other. There are a good number of options for a dpms based .308.

DPMS LR-308 Flat-Top Upper Assembly 308 Winchester 1 10 Twist 16

 

[USACS]

Look at the new Geissele Two-Stage triggers. They're more "budged-minded" variants of the SSA and SSA-E.
Rock River 2-Stage triggers are not very durable. This picture is interwebz, but I've seen a similar one in real life.

 

[nuclear_shooter]

If you want to do it on a budget, you could pick up a complete dpms upper for about $750. Spend your cash on a good trigger (I'm on my 3rd, a Geissele SSE-A that I should have started with). I have had pretty good luck with dpms stuff and you can always install upgrades later when you have more cash. Beware of all the proprietary .308 designs that are not compatible with each other. There are a good number of options for a dpms based .308.

DPMS LR-308 Flat-Top Upper Assembly 308 Winchester 1 10 Twist 16

I though about going this route several times, but I always end up building myself so that 1. I can get everything I want first time around, no need to upgrade parts later and 2. I just don't like the way there uppers look, and really prefer 7075 T6 aluminum. I know it probably doesn't matter, but whatever. Its a moot issue anyway since I already got the Aero Precision combo set. It set me back $288, which I think will be hard to beat. Plus building is part of the fun for me anyway (or picking the parts out).

Look at the new Geissele Two-Stage triggers. They're more "budged-minded" variants of the SSA and SSA-E.
Rock River 2-Stage triggers are not very durable. This picture is interwebz, but I've seen a similar one in real life.

Ouch. I've talked to a few friends as well and everybody suggest not getting too cheap with the trigger. How does the G2S hold up to SSA? If I have an SSA-E in my .260 and love it.

 

[T3BEAR]

Have a look at the Midwest Industries LWK-Series handguard, 12" & 8oz.

 

[USACS]

According to the guys at Geissele, the G2S might have a slightly gritty feel initially, but after a couple dozen cycles, it smooths out and you cannot tell the difference between the two. The same with the G2SE.
I have a G2SE in the works for my MKM build.

 

[W&M]

I run the Geissele 2 stage DMR measured it at 2.5 lbs.

 

[W&M]

As far as distance, the Aero upper and lower are way tighter than you would think. No problem out to 1000 at a belly match today

 

[nuclear_shooter]

Have a look at the Midwest Industries LWK-Series handguard, 12" & 8oz.

I believe thats their 223 version. I'm doing the same one, but for 308. My only concern in the barrel nut, and if having the rail squeezing it will cause accuracy issues. Anybody have experience with this? Looking for 1" at 100 yards.

As far as distance, the Aero upper and lower are way tighter than you would think. No problem out to 1000 at a belly match today

Not so much worried about the accuracy as the 16" barrel. I think 155's can make it to 1000 but only just.

 

[T3BEAR]

I believe thats their 223 version. I'm doing the same one, but for 308. My only concern in the barrel nut, and if having the rail squeezing it will cause accuracy issues. Anybody have experience with this? Looking for 1" at 100 yards.



Not so much worried about the accuracy as the 16" barrel. I think 155's can make it to 1000 but only just.

Oops, I think the 308 version adds about 4oz .

 

[Trochlea]

I have two aero sets i recently assembled both got the gen 2 ss handguard. I like the fortis switch, but can't envision a time where I would need to pull the hand guard. Don't know anything about the keymod, but the non keymod hand guards are super slim, feel great in your hand and are solid. I would exercise caution with aero precision though, i had a terrible customer service experience with them and it took them 3 weeks of decent pestering and several missed shipping dates before they even sent out my sets.

 

[nuclear_shooter]

I have two aero sets i recently assembled both got the gen 2 ss handguard. I like the fortis switch, but can't envision a time where I would need to pull the hand guard. Don't know anything about the keymod, but the non keymod hand guards are super slim, feel great in your hand and are solid. I would exercise caution with aero precision though, i had a terrible customer service experience with them and it took them 3 weeks of decent pestering and several missed shipping dates before they even sent out my sets.

How was the accuracy of your setup?

My sets shipped about 4 days after I ordered. They had just finished up a sale so I thought it was pretty reasonable. I also got a small frame set to build an SBR with at some point soon.

 

[Trochlea]

I ordered july 1st and july 9th and just received them last wednesday. Did some function tests and general plinking, but it seemed fine. For the 308, i used a generic load of 41.4 gr of IMR 4064 under 175 smk in LC brass. I was able to hit repeatedly out to 550 yards, on 10 inch (I think) plates. Same for my father who was shooting with terrible form and one handed. So thus far, the accuracy has been just fine. It took about 3.6 mils to get to 550 yards, which is not that far behind the factory 6.5 cm ammo I was using.

As for the set, one used an ultramatch rainier arms in 308, 6.5 cm was a krieger. The fit on the rainier arms barrel was a little loose fit, Krieger was much tighter. I will do a load workup for both this week. Ill be doing a more thorough work up with the 4064 (I would prefer pp 2000mr but its what I have) this week. I'll let you know what i find.

 

[W&M]

I used Aero's M5 upper and lower, 22" 6.5 CM match barrel, Geissele 2 stage DMR. And yes, for doubters I worked the FCG over before installing then tuned it to 2.5 total weight. At 100 </= 1" was not problem Put three on paper, then walked it out. Shooting Hornady 140 AMAX. Barrell is still in break in, but still left a lot of bolt guys scratching their heads. Only gas gun out of 80 shooters. No BS!!! This combo will shoot with the GA Precision gun for a whole lot less money and instead of waiting a year for delivery you can be ringing steel in just a couple of weeks.

 

[nuclear_shooter]

Here is the finished product:



Not the greatest picture, but was having trouble getting good lighting. I ended up going with the 15" rail mainly because thats all I could get my hands on, and I got it for the same price as the 12" (the dealer made a mistake, ordered the 12" off their site, called to say it was a mistake, only had the 15", would give it to me for the same price as the 12", so I went with it). I'm actually really happy with how it came out and it should look good when I (eventually...) put a can on it. Pulled the scope off my 260 just for accuracy testing (will go with something different in the end). Came in just under $1700 by my math, that might not be taking everything into account. Will post groups when I finally shoot it (next weekend).

 

[jasonfaz]

Nice build. IMO, the longer handguards not only look sleeker but give you functional advantages like throwing your bipod further out, etc. That'll be a Bad A set up with the can...

 

[nuclear_shooter]

Nice build. IMO, the longer handguards not only look sleeker but give you functional advantages like throwing your bipod further out, etc. That'll be a Bad A set up with the can...

I wasn't sure how I felt about it when I made the choice, but I really like it now. I have really long arms so I get fully extent my arm and still grip it. Plus, I agree, it will look really good with a can.