ASH556
Member
- Joined
- Oct 8, 2013
- Messages
- 54
- Reaction score
- 37
I'll start by saying that AR's are really my thing. I've been building them for 11 years now and am a certified armorer. Until now, I've only ever had them in 5.56 and my .308's have been bolt guns. I've shied away from the .308 AR's because of the lack of standardization with parts and magazines. A few years ago, the choices were the Armalite AR-10 or the Knight's SR-25. The SR-25 was the way to go, but pretty rare and expensive.
When Magpul released their .308 Pmag, that was the game changer for the .308 market almost the way the AWB sunset sparked all the growth in the AR15 market. Any manufacturer who's .308 semi would take the PMAG was instantly on the "go" list. Smith was very wise to capitalize on the opportunity and really did their M&P10 right! I do wish that maybe they'd used the "high" pattern upper receiver so there would be more rails available, but beyond that, it's very nice to have a .308 rifle that takes AR15 mil-spec butt stocks, pistol grips, midlength handguards, and triggers. Yes, the barrel, bolt, and receiver extension are proprietary, and I'm not thrilled about that, but the problem is there's nowhere near the standardization with the .308 semi's that you see with the AR15. Thus, it's not so much about "proprietary" as it is, pick a pattern and go with it. Smith did so and I think they really have a winner, especially compared to the other offerings at the price point.
The barrel contour was a great choice. It may not make the best bench gun or sniper rifle, but for field use, it's great...heavy where it needs to be to dissipate heat, and still light enough to handle well. That doesn't mean it's not accurate either. The 5R rifling probably helps, but most range reports I've seen so far show the rifle to be 1-1.5 MOA accurate @ 100yds. I've only shot mine @ 25yds thus far so I cannot comment in that regard, but I suspect it will be similar.
My purpose for this was to be a general purpose "outside" rifle. For inside work, urban threats, or anything else that I might need a gun for from 0-200 yds, I have a 5.56 SBR with an Aimpoint T-1. Beyond that 200 yds, though, or through intermediate barriers, the 5.56 (even with bonded ammo) is lacking compared to the .308. I actually had the trigger, furniture, sights, optic, and light on a 14.5" AR15. What I determined, though, was that if I was gong to grab something longer and heavier than my SBR, I wanted it to have more ballistic advantage and range too. That led me to looking at semi-auto .308's and the Smith M&P10 quickly caught my attention as a much more affordable option to the LMT or KAC I really wanted. I simply couldn't justify the $3K-$5K pricetag of those two, but the M&P10 was do-able.
I picked up the rifle this past Friday and spent about 45 minutes before work Saturday installing the MI 12" handguard, low profile gas block, Geissele trigger, BCM grip, and B5 SOPMOD stock. Everything went together without issue and the rifle ran beautifully for the 27 rounds I've put through her so far.
The one complaint I have about the rifle is that 3.5" long monstrosity Smith put on the muzzle. That sucker's heavy too. I couldn't believe how much it weighed when I removed it to install the handguard. I'd rather see Smith ship the rifle with an A2. It would be less cost involved on the front end and probably have about the same performance. As for me, I have a JP Tactical Comp on the way that will be shorter, and I suspect do a better job of keeping the rifle flat for quicker follow-up shots.
So, here she is in all her glory:
M&P10
MI .308 Freefloat Handguard
TA-11HG ACOG in Larue mount
KAC 99051 front sight
Matech rear sight
Surefire G2X in Gear Sector mount
Bravo Sopmod
BCM Gunfighter grip
Geissele SSA-E trigger
When Magpul released their .308 Pmag, that was the game changer for the .308 market almost the way the AWB sunset sparked all the growth in the AR15 market. Any manufacturer who's .308 semi would take the PMAG was instantly on the "go" list. Smith was very wise to capitalize on the opportunity and really did their M&P10 right! I do wish that maybe they'd used the "high" pattern upper receiver so there would be more rails available, but beyond that, it's very nice to have a .308 rifle that takes AR15 mil-spec butt stocks, pistol grips, midlength handguards, and triggers. Yes, the barrel, bolt, and receiver extension are proprietary, and I'm not thrilled about that, but the problem is there's nowhere near the standardization with the .308 semi's that you see with the AR15. Thus, it's not so much about "proprietary" as it is, pick a pattern and go with it. Smith did so and I think they really have a winner, especially compared to the other offerings at the price point.
The barrel contour was a great choice. It may not make the best bench gun or sniper rifle, but for field use, it's great...heavy where it needs to be to dissipate heat, and still light enough to handle well. That doesn't mean it's not accurate either. The 5R rifling probably helps, but most range reports I've seen so far show the rifle to be 1-1.5 MOA accurate @ 100yds. I've only shot mine @ 25yds thus far so I cannot comment in that regard, but I suspect it will be similar.
My purpose for this was to be a general purpose "outside" rifle. For inside work, urban threats, or anything else that I might need a gun for from 0-200 yds, I have a 5.56 SBR with an Aimpoint T-1. Beyond that 200 yds, though, or through intermediate barriers, the 5.56 (even with bonded ammo) is lacking compared to the .308. I actually had the trigger, furniture, sights, optic, and light on a 14.5" AR15. What I determined, though, was that if I was gong to grab something longer and heavier than my SBR, I wanted it to have more ballistic advantage and range too. That led me to looking at semi-auto .308's and the Smith M&P10 quickly caught my attention as a much more affordable option to the LMT or KAC I really wanted. I simply couldn't justify the $3K-$5K pricetag of those two, but the M&P10 was do-able.
I picked up the rifle this past Friday and spent about 45 minutes before work Saturday installing the MI 12" handguard, low profile gas block, Geissele trigger, BCM grip, and B5 SOPMOD stock. Everything went together without issue and the rifle ran beautifully for the 27 rounds I've put through her so far.
The one complaint I have about the rifle is that 3.5" long monstrosity Smith put on the muzzle. That sucker's heavy too. I couldn't believe how much it weighed when I removed it to install the handguard. I'd rather see Smith ship the rifle with an A2. It would be less cost involved on the front end and probably have about the same performance. As for me, I have a JP Tactical Comp on the way that will be shorter, and I suspect do a better job of keeping the rifle flat for quicker follow-up shots.
So, here she is in all her glory:
M&P10
MI .308 Freefloat Handguard
TA-11HG ACOG in Larue mount
KAC 99051 front sight
Matech rear sight
Surefire G2X in Gear Sector mount
Bravo Sopmod
BCM Gunfighter grip
Geissele SSA-E trigger
