I can’t believe for the money they charge they use Green Mountain Barrels. They should really go back to rock creeks
For what they charged (remember I purchased these during the Onozo years where guns where a true commodity and commanded great prices. I would have thought POF would have used AT LEAST, White Oak, or Rock Creek, or Dawson Precision, or FNH, or how about even Kreiger or Bartlein LOL? Now the latter two are really grasping at straws.....Having said that, I have been able to produce MOA groups of three rounds with FGMM 168’s in my POF 308’s; however as a shooter my preference is a (5) round minimum or preferably (10) round group.....when shooting with my abilities, The tendency for me (we are talking about two different POF 308 rifles) was as the barrel heats up, I would tend to get a flyer so and my group would open up. YMMV....
POF manufactures a muzzle break that works to perfection as long as your outside. Its GREAT however it is also INCREDIBLY OBNOXIOUS and very very loud.to other shooters (I MEAN THAT SINCERELY). I won’t shoot my POF’s if there are shooters next to me on either side. They work incredibly well at directing muzzle blast / gasses out but good GOD are they loud and VIOLENT. You will get some MAJOR eat shite and die looks if you run off a string of 10 rounds of 308 in quick succession while some poor sod next to you is shooting his .22 LR single shot LOL....
IMHO POF-USA are fun rifles to shoot and at one time IMHO they used to be the best in class for materials that comprised their AR manufacturing. They used very fine barrels (Rock Creek) and what I consider to be the gold standard of AR 15 and AR 10 triggers manufactured by Geissele. I highly recommend the installation of the Geissele SSA or SSA-E Trigger for the POF 308 and the Geissele SD3G for the POF 415 (5.56).
Why POF went away from the absolute best AR triggers on the market and superb quality barrels MAY be related to the sad story of Hogan Rifles.
(a Guess)....Unfortunately the owner of
POF ‘s brother stole the POF ideas and years of research/ work. POF thus became embroiled in an ugly law suit / patent dispute with the now defunct HOGAN rifles. Fortunately justice eventually prevailed. However, this horrible protracted law suit certainly did likely cause financial damage to the company. Often, defending and fighting these lawsuits takes years and costs lots of dollars. Thus due to a multitude of factors, POF had to drastically cut costs while at the same time embarking on a Strategy to grow the company as years had passed in legal disputes while potentially losing millions of dollars.
POF needed to acquire funds quickly to expand so they could recoup all those years of lost revenue. They invested millions in advertising/ marketing and growth. Additionally, POF was motivated by cutting costs and maximizing profit in order to gain back the millions lost due to the Hogan lawsuits. Thus, Green mountain barrels and in house POF triggers came to be.
What once started as a man who believed he could build the best AR in the world enabled POF to be born. This brand grew a loyal following as their innovations combined with top quality materials produced some really, really fine rifles capable of shooting with the big boys of the ar-15 and ar 10 world.
IMHO POF should focus less on fancy marketing and beautiful photos and instead get back to their roots of quality components, innovation and drive. At one time I thought they were (when they used Geissele triggers and Rock Creek Barrels) on their way to the top tier of the gas gun firearms market. However, due to exigent circumstances, and bean counters, their quality Control has been affected.
POF-USA.has tremendous amounts of potential; the question is which route will they take? Bean counting with a growth model in a difficult ar market or a steadfast focus on high grade military capable weaponry without compromise?
Time will tell.....
Doc David
Alternative thoughts and ideas are encouraged.
??????????CHEERS