Ruger SFAR small frame 308, 6.8 pounds

[MAHLMAN]

That's to be expected. People love to lie on the internet, especially if they can profit from it.

A bit Freudian here I would say as a keyboard warrior's profit might not be monetary but it does exist. Why else would they persist in their diatribes rants and raves? I can only imagine how the conversation started and proceeded with you and Slash if indeed it ever happened to begin with.

 

[MadDuner]

I deal with customers, purchasing agents, experienced and inexperienced end users of the products my company makes - all day everyday. It doesn’t take long to decipher which of them are a “glass half full” vs those that are “glass half empty.”

Shit happens.
Things break.
They have unreasonable expectations.
Or they don’t understand how something works.
People get pissed.
People deal with daily stresses differently.
This is communicated through the phone, or emails, or texts.

The “glass half full” folks are usually able to resolve whatever the problem is, (info, warranty, or parts) and move on.

The ”glass half empty” folks seem to continue to have trouble..... and no matter what, it’s always somebody else’s fault.

That’s just how people are wired.

 

[doubloon]

And even "glass half full" or even "glass mostly full" people run into real issues and get pissed when manufacturer turns a blind eye or deaf ear.

I put myself in the glass mostly full category. I've owned a few Kel-Tecs, a Sig Mosquito, a finicky Kahr or two, a P220 22lr conversion and more that have all performed not optimally out of the box and I spent many hours getting them all to run "acceptably".

I've also had quite a few products, some firearm related and some not, that fail to meet expectations on an exceptional level like the SFAR or the DeLonghi coffee pot that shit the bed all over my counter after 2 short weeks of use. These products either get returned, or trashed or sold to some schmuck who thinks the manufacturer is a golden goose that never takes a crap and will likely use the product once then put it under glass to look at and brag about like the Sig Mosquito.

Big names and small names alike produce some percentage of shit products even in their top end lines and eventually some percentage of that shit gets past QA and into consumer hands because nobody is perfect. But people have always and will always curtsy at the altar of their pet manufacturers and shout "Blasphemer!" at anyone who dares to receive a product with a genuine issue.

 

[MadDuner]

And even "glass half full" or even "glass mostly full" people run into real issues and get pissed when manufacturer turns a blind eye or deaf ear.

I put myself in the glass mostly full category. I've owned a few Kel-Tecs, a Sig Mosquito, a finicky Kahr or two, a P220 22lr conversion and more that have all performed not optimally out of the box and I spent many hours getting them all to run "acceptably".

I've also had quite a few products, some firearm related and some not, that fail to meet expectations on an exceptional level like the SFAR or the DeLonghi coffee pot that shit the bed all over my counter after 2 short weeks of use. These products either get returned, or trashed or sold to some schmuck who thinks the manufacturer is a golden goose that never takes a crap and will likely use the product once then put it under glass to look at and brag about like the Sig Mosquito.

Big names and small names alike produce some percentage of shit products even in their top end lines and eventually some percentage of that shit gets past QA and into consumer hands because nobody is perfect. But people have always and will always curtsy at the altar of their pet manufacturers and shout "Blasphemer!" at anyone who dares to receive a product with a genuine issue.

All very true.
We've all received shit products before. Stuff we thought would be better. Then we work through the problems and decide if help is needed or whether we can figure out something on our own.

But we all know people that are unhappy with absolutely everything. Cannot be happy with anything. And that will shit on anything they can - simply because it's their true demeanor.

The tough part from our (reader, fellow forum user, potential future customer of said product, or manufacturer) perspective, is knowing which guy has a piece of hardware with a legitimate issue that can be helped - and which guy simply cannot be helped by anything or anyone - because that's how they are wired.

 

[MAHLMAN]

I make and sell audio tweeters. In the box everyone gets a before install flyer that says if you have ANY problems or questions contact me and I will make it right.

There is the rare person that will not call with a problem and immediately goes to bad mouthing on forums or online somewhere. One in particular comes to mind. I see his comments and email him about what was going on and reminded him if he was unhappy I would refund his money upon getting my goods back just like the flyer in his box said I would. He said that was to much bother and kept on complaining. Fortunately I have so many happy customers that the rare bad egg does not effect anything.

It was a $288 item and he would rather whine and complain online then get his money back. Others do not read the "read before install" flyer packed in the top of the box where they can't miss it. Yet others do not read cautions in my listings where I state possible problems to check for before ordering so you get the right part. All the info is there and spelled out but it is more fun to just dive in and whine when things don't go right then to read up on what you are doing so things will go right.

"But we all know people that are unhappy with absolutely everything. Cannot be happy with anything. And that will shit on anything they can - simply because it's their true demeanor."

Truer words were never spoken.

 

[doubloon]

The tough part from our (reader, fellow forum user, potential future customer of said product, or manufacturer) perspective, is knowing which guy has a piece of hardware with a legitimate issue that can be helped - and which guy simply cannot be helped by anything or anyone - because that's how they are wired.

Si ... you almost have to have some personal history sometimes to get to the truth. Assuming either way isn't necessarily the best course of action.

 

[MadDuner]

Si ... you almost have to have some personal history sometimes to get to the truth. Assuming either way isn't necessarily the best course of action.

I deal with sight-unseen people daily.
I do my best to help all of them - however I can.
It doesn't matter if they bought a $10k generator or a $200k generator.
But it usually doesn't take very long to figure out whether the guy on the phone actually wants to fix the problem... or is the problem.

 

[BCP]

I make and sell audio tweeters. In the box everyone gets a before install flyer that says if you have ANY problems or questions contact me and I will make it right.

There is the rare person that will not call with a problem and immediately goes to bad mouthing on forums or online somewhere. One in particular comes to mind. I see his comments and email him about what was going on and reminded him if he was unhappy I would refund his money upon getting my goods back just like the flyer in his box said I would. He said that was to much bother and kept on complaining. Fortunately I have so many happy customers that the rare bad egg does not effect anything.

It was a $288 item and he would rather whine and complain online then get his money back. Others do not read the "read before install" flyer packed in the top of the box where they can't miss it. Yet others do not read cautions in my listings where I state possible problems to check for before ordering so you get the right part. All the info is there and spelled out but it is more fun to just dive in and whine when things don't go right then to read up on what you are doing so things will go right.

"But we all know people that are unhappy with absolutely everything. Cannot be happy with anything. And that will shit on anything they can - simply because it's their true demeanor."

Truer words were never spoken.

I had my own business in California for years & some customers are just fucking hopeless.

 

[doubloon]

Equally true some businesses never want to address one-off issues and would rather write them off and keep their head buried firmly inside the echo chamber that is their own ass or an ARF fanboi thread.

 

[Bendigo78]

The handgaurd screws are 10-32 socket cap screws with 5/32 hex.

 

[TonyTheTiger]

I wonder if the people assembling SFAR's are the same ones editing their photos for advertising.

 

[AXMC]

I wonder if the people assembling SFAR's are the same ones editing their photos for advertising. View attachment 8232939

 

[lash]

I wonder if the people assembling SFAR's are the same ones editing their photos for advertising. View attachment 8232939

Well that is for those offset sights of course…

 

[MadDuner]

I wonder if the people assembling SFAR's are the same ones editing their photos for advertising. View attachment 8232939

Somebody left a layer turned on when they saved the image to .jpg.

 

[TonyTheTiger]

Somebody left a layer turned on when they saved the image to .jpg.

I don't know what any of that means, but how does that make it all the way to print without anyone noticing? I was just barely pointing my face at the opposite page and that stuck out like a sore thumb.

 

[MadDuner]

I don't know what any of that means, but how does that make it all the way to print without anyone noticing? I was just barely pointing my face at the opposite page and that stuck out like a sore thumb.

The marketing people weren't doing their job correctly.
These companies mostly use marketing companies for their ads and packaging.
Marketing companies are completely full of "Liberal Arts Degree" people, which means they most likely don't know what it's supposed to look like to begin with.

 

[MAHLMAN]

they most likely don't know what it's supposed to look like to begin with.

The picture is a perfect example of what things look like to liberal arts druggies. Everything is kind of fuzzy when you live that way.

 

[Bendigo78]

Today went well enough to test some hunting loads in the Sfar. Still have issues with the first round sometimes going rogue but less than previously. I think the left and right deviation is on me but it gave me a couple loads to work on. Setting it up for 300yrd and in hunting with 125grn ssts. Kinda like a 7.62x39 AR +500fps and much less drop.

 

[LRRPF52]

Trying to put .308 Winchester into a sub-7lb carbine reminds me of when they put AIM-7 Sparrow BVR missiles on the F-20A Tigershark. Can you do it? Sure. Should you do it? No

It’s just too much for such a tiny airframe. It’s fine with wingtip AIM-9s, but not AIM-7s hung under the wings. For take-off and recovery, there was maybe 12” of clearance from the missile fins and the runway, and that was with perfect wings-level, no rolling deviation from crosswind.

I think if Ruger chambered this in .243 Winchester and pyramid-tested that with a few specific loads, it might be good-to-go. Everybody has heard of .243 Winchester, recoil would be much lighter, great for slaying Bambi, plenty of ammo availability, win-win-win.

.308 is just too much for this size of a frame, especially for smaller-torso’d people who are like that F-20A trying to sling AIM-7s. There are already enough companies who can’t get a large frame .308 to work.

 

[MadDuner]

Trying to put .308 Winchester into a sub-7lb carbine reminds me of when they put AIM-7 Sparrow BVR missiles on the F-20A Tigershark. Can you do it? Sure. Should you do it? No

It’s just too much for such a tiny airframe. It’s fine with wingtip AIM-9s, but not AIM-7s hung under the wings. For take-off and recovery, there was maybe 12” of clearance from the missile fins and the runway, and that was with perfect wings-level, no rolling deviation from crosswind.

I think if Ruger chambered this in .243 Winchester and pyramid-tested that with a few specific loads, it might be good-to-go. Everybody has heard of .243 Winchester, recoil would be much lighter, great for slaying Bambi, plenty of ammo availability, win-win-win.

.308 is just too much for this size of a frame, especially for smaller-torso’d people who are like that F-20A trying to sling AIM-7s. There are already enough companies who can’t get a large frame .308 to work.

What’s interesting is that the brake on the SFAR is so effective - that the felt recoil is less than other heavier large frame .308s.

 

[Bendigo78]

.308 is just too much for this size of a frame, especially for smaller-torso’d people who are like that F-20A trying to sling AIM-7s. There are already enough companies who can’t get a large frame .308 to work.

It works fine. It was executed poorly with terrible quality control. A different chambering wouldnt change that.

 

[MadDuner]

I took mine out yesterday.
I shot poorly.

But I did make a side-by-side ammo comparison with it.

It likes the Hornady 169gr SuperFormance.

 

[AXMC]

I took mine out yesterday.
I shot poorly.

But I did make a side-by-side ammo comparison with it.

View attachment 8235173

View attachment 8235174

View attachment 8235175

It likes the Hornady 169gr SuperFormance.

What were the other 2 loads?

 

[MadDuner]

What were the other 2 loads?

Saltech Swiss M80 147gr Milsurp and Malaysian M80 147gr Milsurp.
I should have shot some TulAmmo through it, because it probably would have been the same as the M80 rounds.

 

[AXMC]

3/4 moa with 168's ?
I think that's very acceptable performance from this system!

 

[MadDuner]

3/4 moa with 168's ?
I think that's very acceptable performance from this system!

I am happy with the results with the good stuff.
But I would like to find less expensive ammo that it wants to perform with also.
I think the orange dots are 1.5" diameter - so it's more like just over 1 moa yesterday.

I know my shooting wasn't all that great yesterday, but I had other things I was attempting to do at the same time.
I was in the desert - so I could run and get my heart rate up first.
Anybody driving by thought I was insane....
But they didn't want to argue with a guy in full kit that runs 50 yds up, then 50 yds back - then shoots a 5-shot string.
I wanted to know how badly I shot with a heart rate at 130-150 bpm.
The answer is: pretty bad!

In the interest of full disclosure, and the ugly truth….
Here’s what the rest of my test looked like.

 

[doubloon]

the ugly truth

My experiences with OTS ammo are nearly identical with every rifle I own. As long as I can find a a couple three OTS loads that will shoot well then I'm not worried about the rifle. I'll work up a load for it if I want more than hunting accuracy out of it or shoot it in any volume but as long as there's a few "goto" OTS loads it's happy with for the occasional hunting trip I can live with it.

If I can't find a single OTS round that shoots well in a rifle then I sell it.

 

[Scott037]

I am happy with the results with the good stuff.
But I would like to find less expensive ammo that it wants to perform with also.
I think the orange dots are 1.5" diameter - so it's more like just over 1 moa yesterday.

I know my shooting wasn't all that great yesterday, but I had other things I was attempting to do at the same time.
I was in the desert - so I could run and get my heart rate up first.
Anybody driving by thought I was insane....
But they didn't want to argue with a guy in full kit that runs 50 yds up, then 50 yds back - then shoots a 5-shot string.
I wanted to know how badly I shot with a heart rate at 130-150 bpm.
The answer is: pretty bad!

In the interest of full disclosure, and the ugly truth….
Here’s what the rest of my test looked like.

View attachment 8235207

Try winchester 168 bthp m118lr

 

[MadDuner]

Try winchester 168 bthp m118lr

Hopefully it's a little less expensive to run - and I can save the Hornady for precision stuff instead of just plinking with an AR.

 

[AZgeek]

Been down this same load development road with my AR10 and FN FAL. I found the Hornady 155 BTHP to be the most accurate in both guns. My M1 Garand's absolutely love them! I found almost all 147gr ball ammo to pretty much suck out of my guns. 168 gr bullets were a tad better than 147's, but not by much.

 

[Bendigo78]

I think the ruger has finally settled in and I've got a load for it. A 125sst two tenths under max load. Probably 2950fps.

 

[doubloon]

I think the ruger has finally settled in and I've got a load for it. A 125sst two tenths under max load. Probably 2950fps.
View attachment 8244467

I'd take that all day ... still tearing up brass?

 

[OddBall]

Trying to put .308 Winchester into a sub-7lb carbine reminds me of when they put AIM-7 Sparrow BVR missiles on the F-20A Tigershark. Can you do it? Sure. Should you do it? No

It’s just too much for such a tiny airframe. It’s fine with wingtip AIM-9s, but not AIM-7s hung under the wings. For take-off and recovery, there was maybe 12” of clearance from the missile fins and the runway, and that was with perfect wings-level, no rolling deviation from crosswind.

I think if Ruger chambered this in .243 Winchester and pyramid-tested that with a few specific loads, it might be good-to-go. Everybody has heard of .243 Winchester, recoil would be much lighter, great for slaying Bambi, plenty of ammo availability, win-win-win.

.308 is just too much for this size of a frame, especially for smaller-torso’d people who are like that F-20A trying to sling AIM-7s. There are already enough companies who can’t get a large frame .308 to work.

Looks like those drop tanks(?) have even worse clearance. Was that intended to be used as a sales pitch for longer patrols without air-to-air refueling? The coolest F-20 was that experimental one NASA played with that had forward swept wings and vectored thrust.

 

[Gtscotty]

I think the ruger has finally settled in and I've got a load for it. A 125sst two tenths under max load. Probably 2950fps.
View attachment 8244467

That'll do pig. I'd be tempted to try subbing a 125gr Accubond or 130gr TTSX into that general load range to see if it likes other similar weight bullets around that speed.

I picked up some of the new AAC 150gr FMJ loads to try out in my SFAR to see how it likes them as a plinking round, but haven't gotten out with them yet.

 

[Bendigo78]

I'd take that all day ... still tearing up brass?

No. The brass looks great coming out. I dont know what change to the rifle affected that but its smooth now. The brass that did get torn up wasnt too bad as the wet tumbling took the burr off the case head.
I would bet that the brass issues were tied to overpressure issues from some tight spot in the barrel. The final finish lapping bullets cleaned up the majority of the issues. No more fouling issues. No more scrubbing blueberry syrup for a week. No more copper glitter. No more wandering zero and group sizes.
I may put the factory gasblock back on it and put the barrel shims back in.


It still ejects forward to 1 to 2 oclock suppressed but runs fine unsuppressed without gas adjustment and I dont notice gas to the face. As long as cases come out and rounds go in, it's good enough.

I'm currently working over all my 308 brass to get it consistant. On the second batch of 700 now. Wet tumble, anneal, size, trim, chamfer, and sort. All the 125sst rounds are loaded in Remington brass. A max load of varget is almost flush with the case mouth.

 

[Bendigo78]

That'll do pig. I'd be tempted to try subbing a 125gr Accubond or 130gr TTSX into that general load range to see if it likes other similar weight bullets around that speed.

I picked up some of the new AAC 150gr FMJ loads to try out in my SFAR to see how it likes them as a plinking round, but haven't gotten out with them yet.

The Sst has worked well for us (on whitetail) and I have family that works for hornady. So I'm sitting on 15-20k of random blems. The majority of my whitetail shots will be 100-300yrds which I think fits well into the performance of the bullet. Under 100yrds may get gruesome. I shot the biggest bodied whitetail I've ever seen with this load at 200yrds and it worked perfectly.

 

[doubloon]

It still ejects forward to 1 to 2 oclock

Good to hear.

Common "wisdom" says it's still overgassed but if it's locking back and cycling reliably then the remaining primary concerns are *maybe* premature wear on the bolt and the locking lugs and problems down the road and maybe heavier than necessary recoil.

I'd take it as a win if I get my rifle to the state you're at, we'll see when I find time to get back to the range.

 

[Bendigo78]

Good to hear.

Common "wisdom" says it's still overgassed but if it's locking back and cycling reliably then the remaining primary concerns are *maybe* premature wear on the bolt and the locking lugs and problems down the road and maybe heavier than necessary recoil.

I'd take it as a win if I get my rifle to the state you're at, we'll see when I find time to get back to the range.

I'd say the two biggest problems with this rifle are handgaurd clearance and chamber/bore issues. A carbide cutter in a dremel and lapping bullets fixed my issues. It's just hard to start there with a new rifle. I've yet to see a production barrel not benefit from lapping bullets.

The Sfar isn't an easy rifle to shoot from a bench. Even on my better posted groups the flyers to the right are because I didn't have enough shoulder into the stock. It took 400+ rounds to learn that.

Tuning the ejection is the latest fad to hit black rifles. Nobody cared until the competitive shooters started tuning them to shoot flat. 25 years ago the rifle either worked or it didn't and there wasn't a rash of broken bolts. 99% of shooters won't shoot enough to break one bolt if they only shot one rifle. I'm curious to see how rugers special steel holds up though. Hell back then if you had ftf, fte, accuracy issues, or failure to ignite primers you'd get 10 posts saying there was too much lube on your bolt. I bought into it until I went to a machine gun shoot and they were pouring lube into a m16 bolt from a coke bottle between strings of fire.

If I cut the life of the bolt from 10k down to 4k rounds, honestly I'll probably never see it because I don't shoot 308 that much.
I'm just happy that the rifle runs with and without the suppressor without having to fiddle with stuff.

 

[AXMC]

Well I'm happy with mine. I made a few upgrades to my 16", namely a Superlative adjustable gas block, Triggertech AR10 Single Stage Diamond, and Area 419 Hellfire Match brake.
Have the Superlative open 6 or so clicks and am running an H2 buffer. Functions perfectly. Brass has faint ejector swipe, but I can't catch it with a nail. Wanted to see what it could do in the accuracy department, so I took off the Razor 1-10 and mounted an Athlon Ares ETR 4.5-30 in a Spuhr 4616. Sighted it in, then shot a couple 5 round groups. 1" on one and 4 shots in 3/4" and a called flier opening up the other to 1 1/4". Shooting Australian Outback and Federal GMM, both with Sierra 168 MK's.

 

[doubloon]

Well I'm happy with mine. I made a few upgrades to my 16", namely a Superlative adjustable gas block, Triggertech AR10 Single Stage Diamond, and Area 419 Hellfire Match brake.
Have the Superlative open 6 or so clicks and am running an H2 buffer. Functions perfectly. Brass has faint ejector swipe, but I can't catch it with a nail. Wanted to see what it could do in the accuracy department, so I took off the Razor 1-10 and mounted an Athlon Ares ETR 4.5-30 in a Spuhr 4616. Sighted it in, then shot a couple 5 round groups. 1" on one and 4 shots in 3/4" and a called flier opening up the other to 1 1/4". Shooting Australian Outback and Federal GMM, both with Sierra 168 MK's.

nice results, this is the path I'm on with my 20" I hope to get it to perform as well as this

 

[S_R]

First wood walk

 

[Bendigo78]

Was getting rifles ready for deer season this sunday and the sfar began having issues getting the fired brass out of the chamber. It would leave the round sitting on the mag follower backwards with the bolt locked back. We took the bolt apart and cleaned it well and added a donut to the extractor spring without improvement.

Then I took the sa gas block from vent mode to restriction mode and closed it to 3-4 clicks from full closed. Haven't had anymore fte's and ejection is closer to 3 oclock. I dont know if parts finally wore in but didnt find anything damaged. Rifle has around 600 rounds on it.

Also, I put 2.5-15 bushnell forge moa scope on it for deer season. It's a bit heavier at 27oz but has enough magnification to count points and shoot groups. MO is a antler point restriction state. Bucks have to have 4 points over an inch on one side to be legal.

 

[doubloon]

Rifle has around 600 rounds on it.

Insane but encouraging. One day my honey-do list will get shorter and I'll contribute again.

 

[LRRPF52]

Was getting rifles ready for deer season this sunday and the sfar began having issues getting the fired brass out of the chamber. It would leave the round sitting on the mag follower backwards with the bolt locked back. We took the bolt apart and cleaned it well and added a donut to the extractor spring without improvement.

Then I took the sa gas block from vent mode to restriction mode and closed it to 3-4 clicks from full closed. Haven't had anymore fte's and ejection is closer to 3 oclock. I dont know if parts finally wore in but didnt find anything damaged. Rifle has around 600 rounds on it.

Also, I put 2.5-15 bushnell forge moa scope on it for deer season. It's a bit heavier at 27oz but has enough magnification to count points and shoot groups. MO is a antler point restriction state. Bucks have to have 4 points over an inch on one side to be legal.

If you could look at your adjustable gas block choke screw and see if it has eroded, that could explain why it started FTExtracting if more gas volume is allowed to pass through.

Do you have a bore scope?

 

[Bendigo78]

If you could look at your adjustable gas block choke screw and see if it has eroded, that could explain why it started FTExtracting if more gas volume is allowed to pass through.

Do you have a bore scope?

It is a superlative arms vent gas block. Had it 100% vented and it was still over gassed. Maybe something failed but I also had the block forward enough that I may have been choking more gas off. Maybe the gas port wore some? I choked the gas down on restriction mode and it ran 20 rounds without fail. I'm running short on sundays before deer season to mess with it too much now. This sundays gonna be a high of 35 and windy. Might be good to verify everything cycles cold. I'm going to be short on ammo to play with until I clean up the ammo can avalanche that occurred when my shelves collapsed last weekend. 30k round is apparently over the rating of cheap metal shelving. New 2klbs ones get here tomorrow.

 

[Bendigo78]

Shot the Sfar this weekend in the cold with the supressor. Ran great. Bracketing the lower left corner of a 1" square, it put all 4 on the bottom edge inside the square. All ready for hunting season. Hopefully it'll get a workout thinning out the coyote population.

 

[sparky702]

Shot the Sfar this weekend in the cold with the supressor. Ran great. Bracketing the lower left corner of a 1" square, it put all 4 on the bottom edge inside the square. All ready for hunting season. Hopefully it'll get a workout thinning out the coyote population.

Good luck during deer season . I done the chronic waste disease cull hunt a couple of weeks ago . It was antler less only doe's . button buck's and spiker's . I tagged a button buck with 150 grain Remington core lock's LOL A bit much for smaller deer . I run my 20 inch with A yhm 7.62 suppressor . 13 day's to regular gun season . I'm ready for it

 

[Not_A_Llama]

I attended a Ruger/EOTech sponsored experience class at Range Ready Studios (Gun Talk) last month. Something like 15-16 SFARs brought out for students to shoot and take home as part of the course fee.

Over two days and 200ish rounds of Aguila 150, there was one failure of an upper (looked to be some kind of gas block failure) and one failure of a trigger group. The upper was replaced, which resolved the issue; I’m not sure what the outcome was on the trigger problem, which happened at the end of the course.

I did notice that it’s relatively difficult to induce exotic malfunctions in these runs. The use of an AR15 charging handle makes the guns pretty immune to bolt override failures. Clearance is otherwise relatively standard, and somewhat easier in general because of the port and magwell size.

Overall, impressed with the reliability of these guns, given the amount of discussion in this thread. The guns are light, reasonably accurate, and seem to be reliable, if you get a good gas block.

I’ll be replacing my gas block with a Superlative, and the buffer spring with a Tubb. I’ve replaced the gas ring with a JP (AR15 size) and the charging handle with a nicer one. The factory brake is a headache machine, but does cut down on recoil substantially - mine now wears a suppressor mount.

As an aside, the EOTech Vudu 1-6 is a great optic, and the EOTech QD mount is light and repeatable. Keeps things light and nimble.

 

[sparky702]

I attended a Ruger/EOTech sponsored experience class at Range Ready Studios (Gun Talk) last month. Something like 15-16 SFARs brought out for students to shoot and take home as part of the course fee.

Over two days and 200ish rounds of Aguila 150, there was one failure of an upper (looked to be some kind of gas block failure) and one failure of a trigger group. The upper was replaced, which resolved the issue; I’m not sure what the outcome was on the trigger problem, which happened at the end of the course.

I did notice that it’s relatively difficult to induce exotic malfunctions in these runs. The use of an AR15 charging handle makes the guns pretty immune to bolt override failures. Clearance is otherwise relatively standard, and somewhat easier in general because of the port and magwell size.

Overall, impressed with the reliability of these guns, given the amount of discussion in this thread. The guns are light, reasonably accurate, and seem to be reliable, if you get a good gas block.

I’ll be replacing my gas block with a Superlative, and the buffer spring with a Tubb. I’ve replaced the gas ring with a JP (AR15 size) and the charging handle with a nicer one. The factory brake is a headache machine, but does cut down on recoil substantially - mine now wears a suppressor mount.

As an aside, the EOTech Vudu 1-6 is a great optic, and the EOTech QD mount is light and repeatable. Keeps things light and nimble.

The only issue I had was the gas block rubbing the hand guard . I relieved some metal on the inside of the hand guard and everything is good to go . I also ditched the muzzle brake and I actually think I am getting better group's with out it .

 

[doubloon]

Overall, impressed with the reliability of these guns, given the amount of discussion in this thread.

Most of the discussion in this thread is not about "failures".

My SFAR, for one, has never missed a beat feeding and ejecting everything I've fed it.

My complaint is the brass gets torn up even with range fodder and with commercial off the shelf power hunting rounds primers get popped and flattened. If I was running hand loads I'd question the ammo first but something is off with the rifle when you can't use commercial ammo without getting hints of catastrophic failure.

My SFAR has, so far, been "reliable". It just mangles brass.