thanks for relaying the info. very helpful. i am curious as i hear a lot about the guys in the sand box having to put multiple rounds on target to actually make the kill because of the small 5.56, no? i heard that most patrols and such have both thier M-16's and something that throw some 7.62 down range also because of this.
Yes some guys in Iraq are using the 308, this is because there job is task specific. 308 as a very loose rule has a better ability to resist the effects of outside forces at longer range 400+. It is heavier then the 5.56 that most all soldiers carry so it tends to be more stable and less effected by wind drift and such.
You will hear many stories both for and against any given round be it 308 or 5.56, there is only one universal truth despite what round you shoot and that is shot placement. Its a pretty heavily discussed but little understood subject and its full of worthless opinion based more on emotional biased then fact. The mechanics of each bullet greatly effect how that bullet preforms at a given distance, given speed , and given condition, there are far to many variable to ever say one is better then the other and to do so would be nothing but non factual based opinion. IMO these is the last subject you should look at or consider when buying or choosing a rifle, unless it is a task specific rifle, that is as long as they are in the realm of common combat rounds.
since im in phoenix i want something that will go bang every time, and i heard that the AR's can be finicky in the sand if not religously cleaned. that was why i was going to go with an AK as well. also lets me have a little 7.62 to put down if it was ever needed. ***DISCLAIMER: i do not expect and certainly wish that nothing will happen that will have us all out there having to really use these, and i dont have Rambo dreams, just an boy scout, not now of course, and former pack leader, i believe in being prepared*** whats the diff between an a-2 and ar-15?
Now I can only speak from my personal use and observations but I believe the AR15 in its current state of development is as good a combat rifle as is available. I have personally toucher tested a few of my AR15s to great extent. I currently have about 2000 rounds on my AR without so much as a drop of oil. It has been buried in snow and left to freeze, buried in gravel, buried in mud and still has crusty mud all over it, I have had maybe 3 times that I had to push the forward assist. Basically its good enough for combat use, again you will hear all kinds of crap about the AKvs the AR and many stories and opinions, again many of them are based not on fact but on emotional bias and have very little truth what s ever. IMO it is safe to say that both the AK47/74 And AR15/Variants are reliable, nothing more needs to be aid on that subject of reliability.
Now given the weight of the 7.62X39 compared to the 7.62x51 , I would rather have the extra range the 308 offers over the 7.62x39 for darn near the same weight and recoil.
An A2 is a M16A2 , the military rifle version of the AR15, fixed stock, carry handle, 20in barrel.
M4 is the carbine AR15, Flat top , 6 position stock, 14.5 in barrel with a step down to attach the M203 grenade launcher.
i also had someone tell me that you couldn't get your hands on colt right now because of the war. i dont see them at the gun store, except the one or two that are class III.
All class 3 machine guns were imported and made before 1986 as the ban on them began then and there are none available to anyone but dealers made after that date. You can still find colts but there numbers are lower now due to the war effort.
i do appreciate the idea of having two rifles so that one is able to be canabalized if need be. but they would have to break a lot as i do plan on getting plenty of spare parts as the ban seems to be looking like they might make the parts illegal also, rendering evryones useless eventually.
Don't forget that the training time spent with one would carry over to the other. I'm not saying that the AR is better or worse then any other rifle , but it dose have every modern feature I look for in a combat firearm, its light, has the best sights on any combat rifle, has a ambidextrous charging handle, all the controls are easy to get to with either hand shooting from either side. Once you get in to real rifle use be it competitive or combat the features you want become apparent, if you look in the hands of most any police , FBI, soldier, three gunner , or other competition shooters you will see the AR15.
whats a better optic than eotech or ACOG? and why?
Well these are both great optics but there are other out now that offer all the features of the ACOG and EOtech plus some extra. There are scopes now that go from 1x to 5x offering what both the ACOG and AimPoint offer in one package. There are sights that are basically like a EOtech that can magnify the reticle to help reach out. Remember that the military is usually several steps behind the tip of the spear cutting edge guys, not that its worth anything. Short dot type optics currently being used by spec opps and private contractors wont make it to regular troops hands for several years.
why a 1/7 istead of 1/9 or something else? just more standard or?
All military AR15s are 1/7 twist, this was done so that they could shoot the longer tracer rounds. What has come to happen though is a bullet was developed with the ability to do near what the 6.8 could do out of a 223. The result was a MK262 MOD1 bullet, a 77grain boat tail open tip or hallow point, the bullet has a super thin jacket and fragments out to a much greater distance then the 55 grain, and the 62 grain don't even fragment like it should IMO a total failure.
what is the average range on the ones you listed? i want to be able to reach out and touch someone before than can do it to me, in a SHTF scenario?
Well there is reports of the MK262 taking out targets at 800 yrads, and its effect on close range targets is much greater.
maybe set one up for longer range and one for "urban" and CQC?
This is a decent option
My ma pouch carrier has body armor integrated in it, I use it every time I shoot or take a class.