looking for an AR 10

[formernuke]

Ok, I'm looking for a AR-10, I'm thinking DPMS or smith and Wesson does anyone have experience with both? Armalite was a consideration but I think they will be out of budget.

 

[MistWolf]

Only Armalite makes an AR-10. Armalite holds the rights to "AR-10" like Springfield holds the rights on "M1A" and Ford holds the rights to "Mustang".

I have an M&P-10 and I like it very much. However, it sometimes does not run very well on 7.62 NATO spec ammo. It seems to run fine on the higher pressure commercial 308 ammo.

DPMS has recently come out with their Gen II 308 ARs that are receiving good reviews

 

[Vermont]

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.

 

[rojodiablo]

I've had quite a few different ones over the last 20 years.
I am currently very happy with Bushmasters' rifles. The DPMS have been very good, and the nice thing about these 2 is they are as close to 'interchangeable' as possible with this platform. (BM was made by a different shop in Windham, it's now part of DPMS.)
While I have shot the M&P, and it's pretty nice overall- they are not really 100% problem-free. And, the rifles have too many proprietary parts to them for my liking. If you don't like the DPMS trigger??? The Colt, LMT, Armalite drops in. The barrels can be swapped across all the other makes, though bolts must be headspaced for proper fit and function. The M&P is a dedicated barrel. It's a dedicated trigger. Quite a few aftermarket triggers drop right in, but box stock triggers do not. (I know.... who the hell takes out a 7lb trigger for another 7lb trigger. It's just an example.)
The overall parts quality of the S&W is really good. Their warranty is good, and they have been good about servicing rifles which were problematic. (Hard to put a price on that!)
But for me, I passed on them after fishing around a little and looking them over.

I would not overlook a NEW series Armalite carbine which will function with Pmags. I would NOT buy any older series AR10 which uses the proprietary Armalite magazines.

$1300 would be about the absolute max I would want to spend on a 308 carbine style rifle. If it were a very special 1/2 MOA rifle, then yes, I might spend more......

But I wouldn't. I'd buy a dedicated bolt rifle for less. What can I say?? I like to actually shoot the rifles, and ammo is not cheap. So the less I spend on a working gun, the more I get to invest in ammo.