I'm goin' with a 20" barrel as that's the longest I saw on ArmaLite's site.
The Steiner has a 1st focal plane, illuminated, MilDot reticle. It's not the reticle I prefer but it's uncluttered and a known constant. A custom reticle isn't an option at this time and the reticles offered on similarly featured/priced scopes were even less desirable to my eye. When I found a reticle I liked, I didn't like the scope...and vice versa. :banghead:
Both the barrel length and scope power(arguably) are compromises for long distance paper killin' but I'm limited by space to about 650yds. The longest local range for unhindered, 24/7, dedicated practice is 300yds, hence the suppressor and illuminated reticle. Yes, I said 24/7.
Conversely, the barrel and scope are overkill for short work but nothin' beats horsepower to make a job easier.
I feel these choices will accurately reflect my real world usage but, hey, that's why I came here...to see where I might be puttin' a foot wrong. Unlike me, some of you guys know what you're talking about.
If I were considering serious long distance shooting, I'd have started with a larger caliber - after reconciling the fact I'd have to drive 1.5 hours to a dedicated 1000yd range. At that rate, I'd still want a short-medium range heavy hitter.
"But," you might say, "you have a fiddy!"
Yeah, and a good bullet is $7-$8 to win the 1000yd prize. Consequently, the fiddy is relegated to a diet of bullets at half that cost, but the shoulder time fun factor is out of this world. The reality is, in my hands it will never connect with a target at its max.effective range. It was a panic purchase(On sale!) when Odumbo was about to get his first inauguration.
..............
Since I'm still in the Welcome house, I thought I'd let on about the other firearms I've had/have. I'm the original owner of all but one, it was made before I was born. So, chronologically...
- Burnside Carbine Model 1864, .54cal. This was handed down to me.
- Marlin .22 bolt, sold.
- *Colt 1991A1, original parkerized. Uncle Mike's finger-groove grips. Buncha carry rigs and Colt mags. Mild rail/trigger massage.
- *Colt HBAR, pre-ban. Trij ACOG and Trij branded 3.5moa Docter Red Dot. Tons of Colt mags, 3 unused Pmags. Mild trigger massage.
- *Rem 700 VS heavy barrel .308, Redfield LE-9 (3-9x50), Bell&Carlson synth.stock - free float, Versa-Pod, Turner M1907 sling, adjusted trigger.
- Rem 870 Marine Magnum, sold.
- H&K P7, 3 mags, DeSanti shoulder rig.
- Ruger 77/17, stainless, laminated, Leupold VX-3 (3.5-10x40), 3 mags.
- ˆRem 870 Marine Magnum, B-square rail mount, Trij branded 7.5moa Docter Red Dot, SpeedFeed III pistol grip stock. I like this one. It's my HD and, oddly enough, even tho' it has an 18" barrel, the Red Dot makes it a killer shootin' clays.
- Barrett M82A1M, Leupold Mark 4 LR/T (4.5-14x50), 3 mags.
- Kimber Rimfire Target, 3 mags.
- Beretta A400 Xcel, 30", 12g.
- Ruger 22/45 Lite, Black Anodize, Black Molded Rubber grips, 3 mags.
* These guns have digested countless thousands of rounds and still going strong.
ˆ Yeah, I bought this one twice, about ten years apart. Gonna put a bayonet, er, breaching choke on it next.
I guess a mention of things to serve as relative "who-am-I" qualifiers might be in order. Nothing spectacular but I was an NRA 6th Bar Sharpshooter at the age of 11. That was 50' small bore but make no mistake about the difficulty, a pinhole-sized dot is the 10x. I never thought about it before but that's prolly about 1/8moa. You gotta get a lot of 'em.
I'm also a Navy Veteran, JAN/83-JAN/88. During that time, the USMC trained me(and a hundred or so other squids) in the use of the FIM-92 Stinger(Distinguished Honor Grad, I killed everything 100%, including the academics). This was for an 18 month<ahem> TAD/TDY assignment, JUL/84-MAR/86<ahem>, in the Middle East which earned me a kaleidoscope of colors to wear on my jumper and one hell of an attitude. Go Navy!
Anyway, to get back to the gist of my original post, I know you guys have a ton of collective experience with this weapon system. Are there particular threads here that exemplify any profundities, epiphanies or plain old awe-inspiring moments with the AR10 platform?
As confident about all this as I may sound, I'm still looking for that something that's gonna say, "Yeah, you did right."
I guess I could just wait and see but it's startin' to kill me...kid-in-a-candy-store, Santa's coming, the tooth fairy showed up, mama's got new bazoongas... :woohoo: