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Ruger SFAR small frame 308, 6.8 pounds
- Thread starter Ape_Factory
- Start date
My gas block was rubbing the hand guard and I didn't feel like taking everything apart to change the hand guard so I used a small draw file to remove enough metal off thee inside of the hand guard to give it clearance . It didn't take too much effort . The next thing I did was remove that god awful muzzle brake and replaced it with my suppressor/ flash hider mount . sure it has a bit more recoil but it definatly made a difference in accuracy the trade off was worth it . the rifle runs most ammo on setting 2 and run's fine on setting 1 with my yhm phantom 7.62 suppressor . I hang right in the 1 moa area with Remington core locks 150 grain and a bit better accuracy with 168 grain hornady amax . I see no issue's with the brass . It's a hunting rifle thats great for packing up and down the hill's on my property .
Makes me wonder if the block being tilted is partially blocking the port drilled in the rifle. A cheap Teslong bore scope would let you peek at it without disassembly.
Glad it's working so well and the off center block gives me hope I'll get mine working properly with a more restrictive AGB.
It's good to know that it can be made to work. I'm picking one up this week. Sold a DPMS to fund it. The first time I held one I was shocked. Hunted with 5 different iterations of LR308s for 15 years and gave up on them a couple years ago when picked up a light weight 16" bolt gun. This year I've been carrying different AR15s hunting pigs and the SFAR feels just like them. I'm excited to drag it around.
The brake is getting swapped for an ASR brake as soon as it gets home. I'm hoping it likes lighter bullets. My favorite hunting load with a 16" 308 uses a 125grn SST @ 2750ish.
The brake is getting swapped for an ASR brake as soon as it gets home. I'm hoping it likes lighter bullets. My favorite hunting load with a 16" 308 uses a 125grn SST @ 2750ish.
That's almost the same as my 270 handloads. 130s at about 2900.
I've killed my two biggest deer with light for caliber bullets in 16" 308 and 6.5's. The extra speed just seems to allow the bullets to perform better and it's plenty of power for sub 300 yard shots.
There's an overkill mentality in the hunting community, the rifle has to kick hard to kill stuff. That and cheap chronographs/borescopes make every slobberdick an expert in barrel making, metallurgy and ballistics.
If I got drawn for deer or elk here in arizona I'd take my 1950s era 270 and a box of factory ammo without thinking twice.
I always laugh when people in my AO are dumbfounded by me and my retired MSG uncle using AR15s to hunt. "That bullet is too small, too light" etc etc. The deer weighs less than your fat ass and it'll kill you just fine. 55gr VMAX out of a 16in barrel DRT deer within 200y any day. I'm talking whitetail that rarely go over 200-220 pounds.
308 or 270 maximum for whitetail IMO.
For my whole life I’ve known people who hunt deer with .223, .243, and the old standby .30-.30. Funny how it always worked back then. Deer must be tougher now…
Whoops just realized that this was the Ruger SFAR thread. Sorry for the diversion. On the other hand, this was always in the eastern states. I know that some parts of the country have much bigger strains and types of deer. Plus, hog hunting with a light .308 would be extra fun.For my whole life I’ve known people who hunt deer with .223, .243, and the old standby .30-.30. Funny how it always worked back then. Deer must be tougher now…
For my whole life I’ve known people who hunt deer with .223, .243, and the old standby .30-.30. Funny how it always worked back then. Deer must be tougher now…
Hickory bows and stone chips were good enough for native Americans. Must be some point to these kinds of comparisons but I don't get it.
It’s because…Hickory bows and stone chips were good enough for native Americans. Must be some point to these kinds of comparisons but I don't get it.
Hell .222 came before .223/5.56 and it was marketed as a deer cartridge.For my whole life I’ve known people who hunt deer with .223, .243, and the old standby .30-.30. Funny how it always worked back then. Deer must be tougher now…
Apologies as well. Not trying to derail.
So what's the concenus at this point on the SFAR? Buy a 20in and cut it down, swap the gas block for a riflespeed or similar and run it? I was interested in the rifle when it first dropped but at this point I'm eyeing a Daniel DD5 in MilSpec+ to match my 16in rifle from them.
This is my plan but I haven't made the changes to test it and prove it to work to my satisfaction. House yard projects eating my free time and it's hot and I'm lazy.
Short term, next trip out, will be with a new AGB (Superlative) and I'll have a spare, heavier buffer on hand plus the spring from the LR-308 and a "normal" AR-15 spring to swap around. If it starts behaving I'll figure out how to shorten the barrel but it's going to require a smith of a little more than modest talent to put a proper shoulder back on the shortened barrel. I'll get the gas block replaced some time this week and take it out again in the next couple weeks where I will make my final decision.
I really like the platform and when it shoots it shoots well with virtually anything I feed it. I'm happy for the people whose rifles function to their satisfaction and it makes me think it's possible to tame mine as well.
One of the things I've done so far is disassemble the bolt, took out the ejectors and extractor. The goal was to maybe take a little of the raised edge off the rims of the hole for the ejectors and extractor which I think I've accomplished. Hoping this will help with the issue of peeling brass off the bases.
But in the process I noticed one of the ejector pins was hanging up on some kind of burr where the hole for the retaining roll pin was drilled. Made it a real challenge to get the ejector pin and spring out of that hole so I ended up deburring the inside of both holes as well.
My first thought when people were having those nasty ejector swipes was "wonder if anyone has polished the bolt face". Picked the sfar up at lunch. When I'm putting the suppressor mount on tonight I may pull the barrel and see how the reciever fit is. It may get a shim and thermal fit.
My memory may be clouded but IIRC there were marks from the ejector pins on my some of my cases as well as cuts from the ejector and extractor port edges. The bolt face also has a "fingerprint" marking over the whole face that transfers to the base of the case ... maybe Ruger's idea of a traceability Easter egg. I haven't full out polished it but maybe knocking the edges down will help.
I think the image is deceptive, mine seemed round to me when I wrapped some sandpaper around a drill bit to get the burrs off the walls.
I also smoothed over the ends of the ejector pins for whatever good it will do.
Ruger built this thing to some amazingly tight tolerances in some places but put slop and left unfinished edges in some really critical places. It's like the work was split between two Hyde and Jekyll machinists.
I also smoothed over the ends of the ejector pins for whatever good it will do.
Ruger built this thing to some amazingly tight tolerances in some places but put slop and left unfinished edges in some really critical places. It's like the work was split between two Hyde and Jekyll machinists.
The hellbender thread about polishing the bolt/ejector/extractor is worth reading
They look oblong is that yours or another persons pic? It could be shit lighting/shadows otherwise that’s terrible.
That's the sfar I brought home a couple hours ago. You can wiggle the ejectors around in the holes. Put two half round .001" shims around the bottom of the barrel extension and still didnt meet any resistance seating the barrel but it doesn't wiggle anymore when seated. I dont know what I'm going to do with the gas block clearance. I measured. 01" of difference between the width of the gas block and the gap where it resides. I don't think its possible to misalign the gas block to the gas port and still get the handgaurd on. The hole in the bottom of the gas block is 2-3 times the size of the gas port. Also mine shows significant gas leakage from around the gas block. Brown soot all over the barrel and handgaurd.
I'm not dogging the rifle, just relaying what I find. If it runs well suppressed and get 1.5moa or better I'll be tickled.
I'll run it this weekend just for function and see how it goes. Next weekend I may swap some handgaurd that I know clears and accuracy test it.
I'm not dogging the rifle, just relaying what I find. If it runs well suppressed and get 1.5moa or better I'll be tickled.
I'll run it this weekend just for function and see how it goes. Next weekend I may swap some handgaurd that I know clears and accuracy test it.
Attachments
The bolt on the right is the way things should look. The slop in the SFAR holes is undesirable, especially since it makes so many brass chips that will find their way into everything.
I'm trying to hold off on doing too much before the function testing. I'll leave the bolt alone. I shimmed the barrel/reciever and swapped the handgaurd because .308 is pricey to shoot just for function without getting any accuracy info.
I'm scrubbing the barrel to give us a clean start. There's a substantial amount of copper coming out like it was test fired pretty extensively. Ruger makes good barrels and if the rifle is setup properly it should be plenty accurate.
If anyone wants teslong pictures of the bore, let me know.
The 5 shot group at 100 yds with Remington 150 core lock bullets . it measured out to right at .815 apparently I was at the wrong angle to capture the digital read out .
That's nice shooting. Hope I can pull some groups like that. Unfortunately I don't have any good factory ammo so my results won't mean much to anyone else since its all reloads.
I put a lightweight 18x power scope on the rifle to facilitate accuracy testing but allow me to feel what the rifle will be like to carry once I pick out an optic to live on it. I'm leaning towards a 2.5-10.
I put a lightweight 18x power scope on the rifle to facilitate accuracy testing but allow me to feel what the rifle will be like to carry once I pick out an optic to live on it. I'm leaning towards a 2.5-10.
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Why do you think anybody care's what you think?“I bought a Ruger and … “
Why are Ruger threads so predictable?
well take a look in the mirror and you will be entertained all day long .No thank you. I’ll stay on for another epic Ruger shit show.
They are older than the internet.
You will need to order someone else around. I like watching clowns.
That's the right thing to do. IMO, just because a bunch of people are having problems it doesn't mean you will too.
The rifling in my barrel is fantastic, one of the reasons I haven't sold it already.
Maybe a snap of the port from the inside. Mine is almost as wide as a groove inside the barrel.
People having a bad experience with a product are normally more vocal about the problems they are having, as opposed to those whose expectations were met by the product. My 20” SFAR has met my expectations for reliability and accuracy - just as did my LM308MWS and AI AXMC.
i won’t own another Remington rifle, however, I have several Ruger rifles and pistols. Personal choice.
People vocal about their dislike of a product or company have either had a bad experience or are malcontents or possibly believe everything they read on the internet.
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True. I've mentioned in other threads my rifle shoots accurately with a variety of ammunition and cycles like a sewing machine. The torn up brass and popped primers are my main complaint. No properly functioning rifle should do either of those. If it weren't for these issues all you'd hear from me is "mine works" and pictures of targets.
Wish I hadn't scoped mine. Chamber is just a tiny bit wonky. There's a ring all the way around in the bore halfway between the chamber and gas port. Probably something left over from the hammer forging but was where that copper was coming from. Gas port looked fine. Had a touch of copper on the back side. Weighed it with the 12" hg and different brake and it was 6.51lbs with out a mag or scope. Ordered an H2 just to have on hand.
Yep, that port looks as big as mine and about the same on the back side.
Rifling is as good as mine, maybe better. I have at least one ring like that but not as pronounced. As long as it shoots it's hard for me to worry too much about it because I have other rifles that look like crap compared to the SFAR but shoot well also.
Rifling is as good as mine, maybe better. I have at least one ring like that but not as pronounced. As long as it shoots it's hard for me to worry too much about it because I have other rifles that look like crap compared to the SFAR but shoot well also.
I’m wondering if they are using a reamer pilot and it has galling on it from not being changed out enough. It’s a long shot, but would cause that sort of deformity. Volume Production machining experience.
The freebore/etc area of my chamber was all chatter, like they used a single point fly cutter with some runout as a reamer. It was very ugly.
Just had the scale out and weighed the scoped sfar to compare it to my hog hunting 556 and 6.5 grendel. It's a pound lighter. I don't know what this magic is.
It's pretty awesome, that's the only reason I'm working so hard to get it working right.
Mine weighs a pound more than my 6.8 10.5 sbr. I couldn’t believe it.
Scoped DPMS SASS with 20" BA 6.5 barrel - 15lbs
Scoped PSA10 with 18" hybrid 6.5 barrel - 12lbs This was one of my lighter weight ar10 hunting rifle attempts
Scoped 16" 556 - 9.25lbs
Scoped SFAR 16" - 8.33lbs
Scoped and Reddot "3gun" 556 with lightweight carrier - 8.15lbs
If this thing runs and gets somewhere close to MOA I'll be pretty darn happy. Hopefully floating and bedding the barrel and cleaning up the trigger helps get it there. Picked up an H3 buffer to try in it if necessary. We'll find out tomorrow.
Scoped PSA10 with 18" hybrid 6.5 barrel - 12lbs This was one of my lighter weight ar10 hunting rifle attempts
Scoped 16" 556 - 9.25lbs
Scoped SFAR 16" - 8.33lbs
Scoped and Reddot "3gun" 556 with lightweight carrier - 8.15lbs
If this thing runs and gets somewhere close to MOA I'll be pretty darn happy. Hopefully floating and bedding the barrel and cleaning up the trigger helps get it there. Picked up an H3 buffer to try in it if necessary. We'll find out tomorrow.
Bore volume is greater, which means less mass compared to other barrels with the exact same profile in a different/smaller chambering.
Once you insert a 20rd mag, the weight will start to tilt towards the SFAR a little.
For 5rd hunting mags, it won’t matter.
Question for me with such a rifle is can I defend myself with it if I get rushed by dangerous game (cougar, bear, boars).
Will it actually run in a scenario like that?
For gas guns, if they don’t have a TDP, I prefer to spend a few years with them to get a feel for what they will do across a wide variety of conditions, ammunition, shooting positions, elevations, and levels of fouling.
Right now, everyone is a Beta-tester for Ruger and me.
My interest right now would be in a 7mm variant of some sort, whether it be 7mm-08 or similar.
I would only trust a few very select shops to spin the barrel for me.
There was a returned one at our local Scheel’s for under $1k that might make a nice donor action.
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