Recommend me an 18" semi-automatic 5.56

S

spofny

Private
Minuteman
Jan 4, 2019
26
10
#1
Need advice on semi-auto 5.56 rifle. Probably it's going to be the only 5.56 I get due to restrictions on amount of rifles you are allowed to own in my country. :rolleyes:

- needs to be 18" due to restrictions. It can of course be longer but I'd rather have it at 18 since I intend to suppress it..
- needs to have good enough precision for hunting. I want to be able to lay down a roe at 300 meters if I do my part.
- needs to be able to handle high volumes of fire when plinking
- needs to be reliable

I'd also rather it be a complete rifle. So no building..

Budget.. Well, prices are absurd in Sweden, so if I want even something decent I need to pay up.. Some examples:

Ruger MPR: 1500 USD
Daniel Defense MK12: 3300 USD
Daniel Defense M4 V7 PRO: 3200 USD
Aero Precision M4E1: 2000 USD
Diamondback DB15: 1400 USD
Stag Arms Model 3G Elite: 1900 USD
JP CTR-02: 3900 USD
Armalite M15 3 Gun Rifle: 2500 USD
DAR-15 SPR: 3400 USD
Schmeisser AR-15: 2700 USD
Grand Power GP R15: 1900 USD
Desert Tech MDR: 3500 USD
S&W M&P 15 Competition: 2900 USD
Sig Sauer MCX Spear-LT: 4500 USD

I'm leaning towards Daniel Defense. I'd rather not pay much more than that. But are there cheaper alternatives that have the same quality or shoot as well? Or more expensive alternatives that are worth it? Like way better accuracy or piston system that is worth thousands of dollars etc?
 
#2
Quite a "Patch Work Quilt" you have laid out.

The "unknown" to those in America is what your restrictions are..... ?
Something that is 1) suppressed, 2) accurate to 300 meters and 3) enough knock down power to bring down a deer is sounding like a bolt action.
Are you needing a follow up shot on a deer ? If so, become a better hunter.
If I were limited on the number of weapons I could own, by the Government, I would buy from a local manufacturer in case I needed a replacement part.
What did you have for breakfast ? How is the weather in your town ? Who is the Prime Minister of Sweden ?
 
Last edited:
#6
ok , yes pick one buy it enjoy it , learn what you liked and what you did not like after a while buy another rinse and repeat what I like may or may not be your cup of tea and you can't really go wrong with buying a gun you have to start your hoarding somewhere might as well be with that list you picked . but I would make sure which ever brand of gun I got that I could get mags for and not just 5 or 10 shot mags 20's should do you well get a bunch of them and ammo you will never go wrong with buying more ammo than you ever thought you will need ( you will need it ) this is not a law but just my opinion and it is what it is . best of luck getting a gun .:unsure::LOL:
 
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#11
spofny said:
Need advice on semi-auto 5.56 rifle. Probably it's going to be the only 5.56 I get due to restrictions on amount of rifles you are allowed to own in my country. :rolleyes:

- needs to be 18" due to restrictions. It can of course be longer but I'd rather have it at 18 since I intend to suppress it..
- needs to have good enough precision for hunting. I want to be able to lay down a roe at 300 meters if I do my part.
- needs to be able to handle high volumes of fire when plinking
- needs to be reliable

I'd also rather it be a complete rifle. So no building..

Budget.. Well, prices are absurd in Sweden, so if I want even something decent I need to pay up.. Some examples:

Ruger MPR: 1500 USD
Daniel Defense MK12: 3300 USD
Daniel Defense M4 V7 PRO: 3200 USD
Aero Precision M4E1: 2000 USD
Diamondback DB15: 1400 USD
Stag Arms Model 3G Elite: 1900 USD
JP CTR-02: 3900 USD
Armalite M15 3 Gun Rifle: 2500 USD
DAR-15 SPR: 3400 USD
Schmeisser AR-15: 2700 USD
Grand Power GP R15: 1900 USD
Desert Tech MDR: 3500 USD
S&W M&P 15 Competition: 2900 USD
Sig Sauer MCX Spear-LT: 4500 USD

I'm leaning towards Daniel Defense. I'd rather not pay much more than that. But are there cheaper alternatives that have the same quality or shoot as well? Or more expensive alternatives that are worth it? Like way better accuracy or piston system that is worth thousands of dollars etc?
Click to expand...

I'd you want to buy American, buy BCM SPR or if you can tolerate buying only an upper, buy a White Oak Armament 18" SPR.
 
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#12
Can you own LMT? If so just get one Mars-l rifle and multiple barrels. With that setup you can go Di or piston as well and have a very flexible/dynamic platform. It would also allow you to go from 12.5” to 20” 5.56 barrels and barrel swaps take 30 seconds.

They’re going new for $2200 usd so it looks to be in your price range
 
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#13
LMT Mars is about 4500 USD here. Like I said: Prices are absurd in Sweden.

It is good advice to buy local. For me that is Germany, and that means DAR, Schmeisser and Stag I guess.. But I am going to look some more on that Armalite as well.

I am intrigued that no one recommends DD though. How come? :)
 
#14
spofny said:
LMT Mars is about 4500 USD here. Like I said: Prices are absurd in Sweden.

It is good advice to buy local. For me that is Germany, and that means DAR, Schmeisser and Stag I guess.. But I am going to look some more on that Armalite as well.

I am intrigued that no one recommends DD though. How come? :)
Click to expand...
FN?
 
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#15
seekinsprecision.com

DMR

<p>The Dedicated Marksman Rifle (DMR) is Seekins' do-it-all hammer. Designed for the rigorous and rough lifestyle of competition and duty use, this rifle Just. Won’t. Quit. This lower receiver offers ambidextrous controls maximizing efficient manipu
seekinsprecision.com seekinsprecision.com
 
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#18
Hehe roger that. They get hyped up pretty much on forums and I'm new to this AR thing so that's why I asked.

I haven't seen any Seekins or Centurions here, nor FN's but I think that perhaps I could get ahold of the latter via EU import. Lots of papers to fill out though... But I have looked at the FN 15 DMR3 and it looks to be a fine rifle, would you agree?

Lots of people recommending JP. Maybe I should save up some cash and cry once.. :)
 
Last edited:
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#19
spofny said:
Hehe roger that. They get hyped up pretty much on forums and I'm new to this AR thing so that's why I asked.

I haven't seen any Seekins or Centurions here, nor FN's but I think that perhaps I could get ahold of the latter via EU import. Lots of papers to fill out though... But I have looked at the FN 15 DMR3 and it looks to be a fine rifle, would you agree?

Lots of people recommending JP. Maybe I should save up some cash and cry once.. :)
Click to expand...
Centurion is smaller, very high quality and accuracy and built by a guy that was a SEAL and worked with Crane.
DD is overhyped, hell the small DOD contract was only because Centurion couldn't fill the orders due to size
BCM, reliable but accuracy isn't the strong point
JP is very good but you don't get anything over the Centurion except costs you more
FN is FN which is to say you can't go wrong
LMT-top shelf, find a 18" ss barrel and you are done.

I've owned or own these rifles and in order I'd go LMT, CA, FN, JP, BCM (will never buy DD due to their support to restrict 2A rights)
 
#21
Noveske 18” SPR Barrel Accuracy Evaluation





noveske_SPR_011-1439090.jpg






Noveske’s 18” SPR barrel is a stainless-steel barrel that has a medium contour and a 0.750” diameter gas block journal. The gas block journal for this barrel is designed for Noveske’s low profile gas block and the journal is only one inch in length; standard length gas blocks will not work with this barrel. Fortunately, Noveske’s pinned and set-screwed low profile gas block is included with the barrel (as well as an intermediate length gas tube.)





noveske_spr_barrel_on_blud_background_02-1439093.jpg








noveske_stripped_18_inch_SPR_barrel_with-1439095.jpg








The Noveske SPR barrel employs an intermediate length gas system which eliminates the short-stroke issues that are sometimes encountered in cold weather with some 18” barrels that utilize a rifle length gas system. The barrel extension has “M4” feed-ramps. The barrel has a 1:7” twist rate and polygonal rifling (not a polygonal bore.)







polygonal_rifling_side_by_side_23-1439096.jpg








noveske_polygonal_rifling_05-1439088.jpg








The chamber found in this barrel is Noveske’s proprietary Noveske Match mod 0 chamber that “was developed to fire MK262 Mod 1 on AUTO in hot environments." I installed the SPR barrel in a Colt M4 upper receiver and free-floated the barrel with a LaRue Tactical 12” handguard.







noveske_spr_with_bipod_and_scope_11-1439094.jpg








I conducted an accuracy (technically, precision) evaluation of the Noveske 18” SPR barrel from my bench-rest set-up following my usual protocol. This accuracy evaluation used statistically significant shot-group sizes and every single shot in a fired group was included in the measurements. There was absolutely no use of any group reduction techniques (e.g. fliers, target movement, Butterfly Shots).

The shooting set-up will be described in detail below. As many of the significant variables as was practicable were controlled for. Pictures of shot-groups are posted for documentation.

All shooting was conducted from a concrete bench-rest from a distance of 100 yards (confirmed with a laser rangefinder.) The free-float hand-guard of the rifle rested in a Sinclair Windage Benchrest, while the stock of the rifle rested in a Protektor bunny-ear rear bag. Sighting was accomplished via a Leupold VARI-X III set at 25X magnification and adjusted to be parallax-free at 100 yards. A mirage shade was attached to the objective-bell of the scope. Wind conditions on the shooting range were continuously monitored using a Wind Probe. The set-up was very similar to that pictured below.







benchrest_rig_9mm_002-1439087.jpg








wind_probe_2016_01_framed-1439099.jpg








For this evaluation, I used one of my standard match-grade hand-loads topped with Sierra 55 grain BlitzKings. When fired from my Krieger barreled AR-15s, this load has produced ½ MOA 10-shot groups at 100 yards.







005_match_krieger_with_55_blitzkings_and-1439085.jpg








Three, 10-shot groups were fired in a row from the Noveske SPR barrel from a distance of 100 yards with the resulting extreme spreads:

0.812”
0.732”
0.873”

for an average 10-shot group extreme spread of 0.81”. The three, 10-shot groups were over-layed on each other using RSI Shooting Lab to form a 30-shot composite group. The mean radius of the 30-shot composite group was 0.28”






noveske_spr_barrel_10_shot_group_02_JPG-1439092.jpg








The 30-shot composite group . . .





noveske_spr_30_shot_composite_03-1439091.jpg







molon_signature_005-1357735.jpg






N.B. - - This barrel was purchased prior to the untimely death of John Noveske.





….
 
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#22
spofny said:
Need advice on semi-auto 5.56 rifle. Probably it's going to be the only 5.56 I get due to restrictions on amount of rifles you are allowed to own in my country. :rolleyes:

- needs to be 18" due to restrictions. It can of course be longer but I'd rather have it at 18 since I intend to suppress it..
- needs to have good enough precision for hunting. I want to be able to lay down a roe at 300 meters if I do my part.
- needs to be able to handle high volumes of fire when plinking
- needs to be reliable

I'd also rather it be a complete rifle. So no building..

Budget.. Well, prices are absurd in Sweden, so if I want even something decent I need to pay up.. Some examples:

Ruger MPR: 1500 USD
Daniel Defense MK12: 3300 USD-expensive for what you get
Daniel Defense M4 V7 PRO: 3200 USD-expensive for what you get
Aero Precision M4E1: 2000 USD-mid grade
JP CTR-02: 3900 USD
Armalite M15 3 Gun Rifle: 2500 USD-mid grade these days
DAR-15 SPR: 3400 USD
Schmeisser AR-15: 2700 USD
Desert Tech MDR: 3500 USD
S&W M&P 15 Competition: 2900 USD-mid grade...dang, can't believe only 300 less than a DD
Sig Sauer MCX Spear-LT: 4500 USD-have one, not accurate to start but after recrowning the barrel very good.
Click to expand...
All of those look high priced as you said. I removed a few I would not touch, others I don't know about.
As others have said add-BCM(more of a fighting rifle), FN(more of a fighting rifle), LMT
 
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