I bought an early Larue .308 OBR with 20" barrel plus one of their first .308 PredatARs. I've had great success with both and have added an 18" and just recently a 16" PredatOBR to the family:
Very first group at 100 yards with the 18":
It's shooting tighter now:
I will freely admit that I'm just crazy about these rifles.
How does that old adage go? "Each barrel is a law unto itself." OK, so no doubt I got a good one in the 18". But, not every group I've shot with it is that pretty. That's on me, not the gun, I am afraid. Lots more look like this:
Or worse.
But, when I shoot these less than photogenic groups, I don't blame the gun. Reason: It's me - driving the gun inconsistently.
I'm reasonably confident these rifles will shoot well in terms of group size, so long as the shooter physically addresses the gun the same way every shot. How a weapon is "driven" has a remarkable impact on precisely
where it shoots. It seems like gas guns are especially fussy, much less forgiving than bolt guns in this regard.
As an example, a good friend shot my Larue OBR at 600 yards from the prone for his first time. He's a very accomplished shooter from other disciplines, and produced a nice, slightly sub-MOA group with M118LR, on his first try. With the same ammo, I struggled just to keep up, and shot five into the same size group, on the same target, under identical conditions, with the same ammo. But, my group was
18" left of his.
He fired from what I call an "old fashioned" bladed prone position, much like we were taught in the USMC in the seventies, the rifle shooting equivalent of a Weaver stance. My prone position is different. I prone out with my back aligned with the rifle, legs spread evenly, etc. As might be expected, his impacts were to the right of mine. All my buddy would have had to do is make an appropriate windage adjustment to have point of aim and point of impact coincide nicely.
So - I try to worry less about the gun and more about how I manage the gun, these days.
A 5.56 gas gun you can hold like a new baby and get great results. Managing a .308 gas gun properly is more like escorting a drunk to the door.
