Clearly not a .308, but my Noveske Chainsaw in 300 Blackout at 10.5" plus my DeadAir can is an awesome weapon with a bunch more punch than 5.56. At least out to the 150 or so yards I would use it for with subsonics.

quote:

Originally posted by RogueJSK:
I decided to go the more versatile route and picked up the 16" Revolution in Burnt Bronze.

Nice.
Understand that shots will be quite loud with the brake.

Yep.

But not as loud as the 13" version with a brake I was initially leaning towards would have been.

As mentioned, I don't plan to suppress it at some point, once Congress decides whether we have to pay $200 for the privilege or not.

quote:

Originally posted by Voshterkoff:
Rogue I await your range report. I have been considering various.30 caliber rifles for a general purpose rifle. The Revolution DI peaked my interest.

Here it is:

I finally made it to the range today, to sight in and test out my POF Revolution DI.

I first made sure it functioned, then dialed in the adjustable gas block up from fully closed to where it functioned reliably and ejected cases at ~3:00. Then I worked on sighting in my 1-6x SLX Nova optic at the recommended 1" high at 100 yards, beginning with a custom calculated and printed target at 25 yards to get it most of the way there, followed by fine-tuning it at 100 yards. And then some general plinking and further accuracy testing. Altogether, 100 rounds through it today.


The Good:

-Recoil is surprisingly minimal. A bit more than a 5.56 AR, but noticeably less than any other .30 caliber battle rifle I've owned or fired. Likely due to a combination of the adjustable gas block and the chunky three port muzzle brake.

-Concussion isn't bad at all. I expected the 16" .308 with a huge muzzle brake to have a hefty thump, but it wasn't as bad as expected. (At least for the shooter... If there had been others on the range perhaps they would have felt differently.) Granted, it was an outdoor range with a covered shooting area, so not as loud as an indoor range.

-Trigger is a nice short and light single stage trigger, although I do wish it had a slightly more tactile reset.

-Primary Arms knocked it out of the park with this newest generation SLX 1-6x LPVO with Nova reticle. It punches way above its price, and I see now why it gets such rave reviews and endorsements, even compared to pricier LPVOs. Great quality glass, especially for the cost. Lighter weight than many of its competition at that price. And the Nova Fiber Wire center dot is just as advertised: "Red Dot Bright". Even on a blazing sunny day in direct sunlight, the red dot at full brightness is too bright, and needs to be dialed back. (A far cry from many of the other LPVOs I've tried, where the illuminated reticle is more just moderately red colored, rather than being a bright red dot like an Aimpoint.)

With that red dot bright center paired with its true 1x bottom end, it gets you 90% of the capabilities of a reflex sight plus the higher magnification capabilities and BDC, at the cost of some extra weight and more limited (though still fairly generous) eyebox compared to a red dot alone. It's good to see low-to-mid-range LPVOs continuing to innovate and improve in quality, with Primary Arms leading the pack yet again. A far cry from the last time I seriously delved into trying sub-$500 LPVOs a decade or more back, and was disappointed with most of the options.

(And if PA's ~$300 SLX version is this good, I can't wait to see what their ~$1300 PLX version is like!)


The Neutral:

-Accuracy is fair but not amazing, so far. I don't have any true match ammo on hand yet, but I was getting ~1.5 MOA with 168 grain Gold Dots, and ~4-5 MOA with Prvi and HXP 147 grain M80, when shooting off a bag rest at 100 yards. Good enough for hunting and self defense purposes with that particular Gold Dot load, but not necessarily an overly precise rifle. (Definitely falls short of the proverbial "sub-MOA all day long if I do my part" like every other rifle on the Interwebs... ) I'll try again at some point with some MatchKings and perhaps a legitimate bipod, to see what it truly can do. And play around with some other loads to see if there's one that it really likes. But the 16" barrel may be the overall limiting factor here.

-The gun is *tight*. So tight that it's a pain to get it apart and back together for field stripping. So tight that it initially didn't cycle very smoothly when working the charging handle by hand. So tight that when shooting with the gas system almost completely closed at the beginning of dialing it in, the bolt locks up so hard that you have to mortar it to eject the case. This has already improved over what it was like straight out of the box, and will likely improve further with more use.


The Not So Good:

-On two occasions today, I ended up with a dead trigger. Fired case ejected. New round loaded. Trigger didn't reset, likely due to hammer follow. POF recommends a 200 round break-in period for the rifle, so perhaps that includes their drop-in trigger packs too. I personally think that break-in periods on firearms are bunk most of the time, but I'll withhold final judgement on this until I have those couple hundred total rounds through it.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: RogueJSK,

Thanks for review Rogue, I hope it ends up being reliable for you!

quote:

Originally posted by KSGM:
That is a good real-life example, Brett.

I suppose the capacity on-board, the overall ammo weight, and the recoil isn't a hindrance, in that particular application.

And, playing off that other thread, would you opt for the shorty .308 in a general purpose combat context?

That's hard to say since it's so dependent on the situation.

If I were somehow forced to rely on a single rifle that had to cover everything a rifle needs to do, such as hunting, longer range shots, barrier penetration, home defense, close quarters, etc., while still being light and nimble enough to carry some distance, then I would certainly pick the SCAR 17S in .308.

But if my neighborhood had to defend itself from a big invading horde, then I would want to carry as many rounds of 5.56 as I could. The ammo/mag compatibility of 5.56 with my neighbors would be important as well. So I think it's awesome we have so many good options.

Good to hear with the gold dot. Do you have experience with that load? It’s caught my eye as it can be bought at reasonable prices every now and then. I wouldn’t worry about M80 group sizes. I’ve seen lots of accurate rifles on YouTube buckshot pattern with ball ammo. I was at first really interested in the SFAR, but early reviews were less than stellar. That lead me to the POF, which isn’t terribly priced if you shop around. Much less than SCAR anyways. Currently I’m interested in the ROAM rifles receiver/handguard sets for off the shelf parts compatibility.

quote:

Originally posted by Voshterkoff:
Good to hear with the gold dot. Do you have experience with that load? It’s caught my eye as it can be bought at reasonable prices every now and then.

I've used it and its Fusion brethren in my M1A against a few hogs, but that's the extent of my experience with it.

It definitely seems to be one of the more reasonably priced defensive/hunting .308 loads. I can find it for under $1 per round at times.

quote:

I was at first really interested in the SFAR, but early reviews were less than stellar. That lead me to the POF, which isn’t terribly priced if you shop around.

Same. I've been wanting a small frame .308 AR for years, ever since the DPMS G2s, and almost pulled the trigger on the SFAR but the initial reliability issues turned me off. They seem to have resolved most of those with the latest production, but I had already switched to researching and considering a POF.

The POFs aren't too pricey for what you get. The Rogues are around $1700 for 16" or $1900 for 13.75", and the Revolution DIs like mine are a little more at around $2000. (I paid $2051 for mine, but you can get the plain black version for as low as $1900 currently.)

About double the SFAR, but with some nicer amenities and without the SFAR's baggage.

A buddy of mine offered me an Armalite 13" AR-10 package for a very, very tempting price. I just... it's like in the OP - it's got a pinned and welded Keymo muzzle brake and I'm just not going to do Keymo in addition to needing to buy a .30 cal can. I know everyone's doing the Wait and See™ right now, but that stuff doesn't pan out, I'll feel like I'm into a headache project gun. I am absolutely not going to be putting rounds through a 13" .308 with a brake lol.

Yeah, I don't regret going with the 16" instead of the 13" I was briefly considering. Opens up more attachment options, and lessens the obnoxiousness of the muzzle blast.

I think it really was the move, regardless of whether SBR's come off the NFA or not.

quote:

Originally posted by P220 Smudge:
A buddy of mine offered me an Armalite 13" AR-10 package for a very, very tempting price. I just... it's like in the OP - it's got a pinned and welded Keymo muzzle brake and I'm just not going to do Keymo in addition to needing to buy a .30 cal can. I know everyone's doing the Wait and See™ right now, but that stuff doesn't pan out, I'll feel like I'm into a headache project gun. I am absolutely not going to be putting rounds through a 13" .308 with a brake lol.

Missing all the fun!

I love having the range to myself.

quote:

Originally posted by P220 Smudge:
I know everyone's doing the Wait and See™

Man, you are going to make a mint off this trademark!

I've always wanted a short barreled FAL, maybe I should pick that thought back up.

quote:

Originally posted by Loswsmith:

quote:

Originally posted by P220 Smudge:
I know everyone's doing the Wait and See™

Man, you are going to make a mint off this trademark!

I've always wanted a short barreled FAL, maybe I should pick that thought back up.

Do it. NOTHING says GTFO like letting a short barreled 7.62x51 rip.