AR10 BS Thread

I mean....there's always more stuffs

I'll take it. After all, beggers can't be choosers

 

I asked Aero today why stuff is always out of stock and they told me this guy named Phillip keeps buying it all

 

Et tu, Brute?

 

OK, I'd like to use this thread for a little help. I've bugged @gixxerphil and @OnePuttBlunder with some of these questions and appreciate the input. What I assembled is a 308 with an 18' barrel. It's intended purpose is basically a DMR type of roll that I can use to hunt with but also is useful up close if need be. So I am looking for, basically, a do it all setup as handy close up and offering longer range out to maybe 800 yards. I know that is a tall order to fill and perhaps not really doable which is why I am writing this.
My hangup is optics. I have no experience with MOA or MIL reticles but I am willing and kinda excited to learn I just don't know which is best for me at my age I am most use to Imperial measurements so thinking MOA but I am open minded. I only have a few real requirements for an optic. With my astigmatism it needs to have a fast focus diopter and if illuminated it needs to be green I can't see red very well at all. I'd also like for it not to be horribly heavy. I have looked at Primary Arms, Optics Planet, Vortex, Swampfox, and Arken. I think I have narrowed it down to 3 options each with it's pluses and minuses as far as I can tell, again IDK MOA and MIL so will have to learn.
These are not in an order of prefference:
Swampfox Arrowhead 1-10 with the green illuminated MIL reticle. It weighs 20oz and would work for close up and, I would hope, for distance with this reticle. I have this optic on an 18" AR15 with a 18" barrel with the BDC reticle and really like it. That is a plus. I just don't know how hard it is to learn to use MIL. It would be mounted with the Hostile engagement cantilever mount.



The second is a combination. A Swampfox Patriot 4-16x44 with a MOA or MIL reticle. 22oz no illumination FFP optic. This would work pretty well for longer ranges. Mounted with the Hostile Engagement mount which would allow me to mout an offset green dot RMR pattern optic. Total weight about 31 oz for all of it.
The third is the Arken SH4 Gen2 4-16x50 FFP with red illumination. weighs 35.5oz for just the optic. The larger 34mm tube diameter and 50mm objective will allow a good bit of light and it also has a zero stop which I would think is a plus. The big negative for this one, to me, would be the weight. If I mounted it and used a offset green dot I could easily be up to around 45oz which i would think would make it much less practical to carry around and relegate it to pretty much a bench rifle. Nothing against a bench rifle but it's not my objective.
I welcome any and all input. Maybe I am being stupid in trying to do what I am trying to do feel free to tell me so. Perhaps it's just too impractical. I know a direction I am leaning but I figured you all would have more experience in these things and may be able to point out things I haven't considered. I'm not a yougin anymore and have shoulder issues so weight truly is an issue. Most of my hunting is in the Blue Ridge mountains and hunting shots are rarely over 200 yards much are much closer. Sorry so long winded but without all the info it's hard for anyone to give accurate input. Thanks for taking the time to read this. I fully intend to pay attention to what everyone says but in the end I guess I have to make the decision

Thanks to @Cypherian for letting me bug the shit out him also but he is used to it he tends to be my sounding board

 

@Casper66

Here's my thoughts having 2 Arrowhead lpvo one with bdc and one with mil reticle

BDC pros good battle rifle type bdc no need to adjust at range once you've zeroed and confirmed your holds. Cons bdc will not give you precision shots. You may hit your target but not in the precise spot or zone you want.

Mil reticle pros ability to dial for precise shots on target. You can use the hash marks for hold overs but will need to post them on your rifle or remember them.

Cons no zero stop so if you're dialing especially past 10 mil it's easy to return to wrong zero. (Recommend once zeroed count up from bottom and write that number down so you can refer to it as a zero reference point)

cons for both second focal plane so unless you're at 1x or full power your holds will change and you'll need to learn partial zoom hold etc


I'm torn honestly I was looking for the same kinda set up. Thought the 1-10 could be a do it all type optic. Downside is while it's a nice optic it does multiple things ok and doesn't excel at any the proverbial jack of all trades master of none.

I'm keeping it for now because it is a solid SHTF optic set up that could serve multiple purposes.

However for mostly long range precision shooting rig with close in work secondary I'd prefer something along the lines of 2.5-15 like Trijicon Credo Athlon Ares BTR Burris XTR 3-15 Nightforce S&B Leupold if you want high end. Then I'd offset a red dot for closer range quick shots. But this setup comes at a cost of weight on an already heavy rifle.


I think maybe the best one size fits all option is going high end Vortex Razor HD but that's a $2500 set up.

 

Thank you for taking the time to write that. You having both models of arrowhead really helps as you have that first hand epeeience. I may end up with another arrowhead and just accept it will be adequate but never perfect but it can do it all. The rifle is at around 10.5 pounds already so I could keep it a little lighter with this. Still quite a bit of thinking to do here. Right now I don’t have a range to shoot over 200 yards so I need to consider that as well

 

I stopped in at a local store today and looked at a Vortex "Tactical" 6-24x50 FFP optic. That was a realization for me I couldn't see hardly anything on the lower powers. The eye piece focussed well but with it being FFP at the lower powers the "cross hairs" were practically indestinguishable understanding my eyesight isn't the greatest but that was even looking through my glasses. At higher powers say 16 and up I could see the full reticle grid but at that point the eye box was horrible you would have to be in just the right place and God forbid you moved any.
I think what I took away from tis experience the most was a FFP optic is not for me. In a practical usage situation like hunting in the woods I'd never be able to see the reticle on lower powers and I am not huunting with the optic set at high powers.

 

Did it have the parrallax?

 

Yes it had a side parralax adjustment. I didn't have an issue with focus I just couldn't hardly see the reticle at low power. Perhaps the parrallax may have helped with the eye box at high power but I didn't think to try that

 

If im target practicing thats when i mess with the low setting of the eye piece. I get it in focus then use that setting for hunting. At hunting time i dont mess with zoom and eye piece settings much. Unless i have the time which usually i dont

 

You’re looking for a 1-10ish lpvo. 1st focal for any real “DMR” practical use. Mrad is usually the way to go because there’s a lot of tricks that can be used in a base 10 system with wind math and keep track of revolutions when dialing. It’s the easier of the two when you actually learn it.

Moa and Mrad are angular in nature, so imperial vs metric has nothing to do with it. A lot of shit on the internet makes it unnecessarily complicated.

To sum it up:

-if you have 4 quarters you have a dollar. Moa.
-If you have 10 dimes, you have a dollar. mrad.

If you can understand this, you can do either system. So I wouldn’t stress over the linear numbers.

Parallax and focus actually have nothing to do with each other other than on the scopes most of you are familiar with, they happened to be married together for adjustment. It’s possible to be parallax freeish with poor focus, and it’s possible to have parallax with a crisp image. All I can say is either buy a better scope or learn how to check for reticle swim.

 

Thanks. Part of what I learned today messing with a FFp optic is I can't hardly see the reticle at the lower powers. I have a 1-10 LPVO on an AR now but in SFP and I can easily use the reticle at any magnification. I realize it has it's shortcomings but if I can't hardly see the reticle on lower powers with the FFP that is a negative also, for me.
Your description of the differences in MOA and MRAD does really simplify things and that was something I needed to read. Yes all the internet videos on this subject make it pretty complicated seeming.
My choice is getting narrowed down here pretty well.

 

Hi gang..

I'm a gun lover, we shoot all the time. We always have a rule to "pick up more then we leave"

The other day we ended up about 3 miles from the range. My son wanted to walk the flash flood draining.. we found this..

I'm not a shotgun guy, it looks like a very weathered shotgun part. But it's non magnetic.. can anyone here identify this as a casing part?

 

Looks kinda like the end of a shell

 

Jacketed hollow point that hit thick metal

 

If that’s what it is which is what it looks like it must be a jacket from a slug or a black powder round the petals look short compared to the diameter of the center. It really does look like that though

 

I was thinking .357. Measuring the small inner ring diameter would get a good idea

 

That’s a good point