I looked at a lot of .308 AR platform rifles, and shot a few that various gun buddies of mine had. One of the biggest deciding factors for me was the LE pricing. Had all things been equal, I probably would have ended up with another brand, but for $1,100 with all the magpul hardware, troy battle sights and a smith hard case, it tipped the scales in the favor of the big smith for me. I only mention this because I see you are a veteran, which would make you eligible for LE pricing. Nobody had told me about it until it was almost too late, but fortunately my LGS spoke up, so I thought I would pass along the tip incase you weren't aware of it already.