Cliff R

"You do realize why I'm pointing this out, right? You keep calling everything "AR-10" when it's not AR-10. There are distinct differences." Yes, I educated myself when I built these guns and quickly found out that the "variants" are similar but many parts do not interchange between them, which include uppers/lowers, assembly pins, etc. Sorry that I "grouped" the 308's that I have into a single category, my intentions were not meant to confuse anyone. Just wanted to point out that my PSA 308 shoots very well with zero function issues to date, despite rumors to the contrary, and that I'm glad that the OP is pretty happy with his PSA 308 as well........Cliff PS: found a pic on my phone from an outing with the DPMS and PSA 308. 5 shots in each group, the PSA has 4 well under 1" with one flier.

Thanks for the head up there. When I purchased by Alexandria Arms upper and built the lower I was told by the company selling them to use AR-15 buffer/springs in it. I had actually already assembled their lower and put the A2 stock on it with a 308 buffer/spring, so left it that way for initial testing and no issues. Did the same thing for my PSA when I built it and didn't even inquire with Palmetto Armory about which buffer/spring to use when using an A2 stock. Not sure if I got lucky twice or both of those gun run fine with 308 parts when using the A2 stock. When I got the DPMS in trade did the same thing for a 3rd time and it runs flawless as well. So for now I'll leave them all as-is unless gremlins show up and give me a reason to look into different buffers/springs for them. So my experience with this platform is limited to 3 guns and none of them are Armalite. I did however find out very quickly that there are compatibility issues with 308 platforms unlike the AR-15 where uppers/lowers which pretty much interchange freely no matters who's stuff you are buying..........Cliff

Thanks guys. I like my Min-Pins more than most people, they are great company, loyal, dedicated and unlike my wife I can lock them up in the trunk and come back in half an hour and they are glad to see me!....LOL Started packing for our Colorado Elk hunting trip, the first thing I grabbed after putting my AR-10 into the case was a bottle of Booker's and put it in with my hunting clothes, need to keep the blood thinned out a bit at 10,000-12,000'........Cliff

Thanks, hope I can help out here and there. Yep, there was some conflicting and possibly inaccurate info going around about the AR-10's from some vendors being able to use AR-15 buffers and springs. I refused to do that with all three of mine and gave them A2 stocks with dedicated 308 buffers/springs, zero issues with any loads I've shot to date far as reliability goes. Not only no signs of function issues they throw the brass consistently as well so no need to look into the gas system or any other mods for improved performance/reliability. Overall I'd have had very good success with PSA uppers to date. I have a good assortment of AR-15's and some variants which include an AR-47 and a 450 Bushmaster. The PSA AR-15 stuff is decent just like the AR-10 I got from them. For the most part I'm seeing at or very close to Mil-Spec accuracy IF I use good ammo. Most of my AR's seem to like 556 Military grade ammo vs the mass produced commercial stuff that fills the market these days. I will admit that most of my PSA stuff was purchased a few years back and I selected their "hammer forged" barrels, chrome lined and 1-7 twist. Since then push much cheaper uppers with stainless or nitrided barrels with I have no experience with. The 450 Bushmaster is the chit for sure. Whoever got together with Hornady and came up with that deal hit the nail on the head. For right out of the box with factory ammo every single group I've shot with it just cuts a jagged hole at 100 yards, rivaling any of my bolt guns with custom hand loads in them. Anyhow, sorry for drifting off topic on someone else's thread, and for sure it's time for a cold one, and time to start packing up the truck and trailer for Colorado's 2nd Rifle season......Cliff

I've had ZERO function issues with all three guns to date no matter what loads I put thru them. I did convert all three to A2 stocks instead of the 6 position and use the correct buffer and spring in them. I've never been a fan of the 6 position stocks in AR-10's or 15's, don't like the look and no storage in the end, just a personal thing. Anyhow, there is a local "guru" here that builds long range guns and dabbles in AR-15's and once in a while an AR-10. Don't know the guy well but got in a discussion with him a while back at a friends house during a cook out. He told me straight out PSA barrels and JUNK, at least in terms of accuracy. I didn't argue with the guy, not my style and I stay pretty humble with such things and didn't tell him I was a Military firearms instructor for 20 years, and shot .45 ACP and High Power Matches competitively for a number of years. That just basically means that I'm not going to flinch or do anything else to disturb the rifle (or pistol) as the bullet makes it''s way down the barrel. EVERYONE in our hunting party has me sight in all the weapons for that reason. I consider my PSA AR-10 more than acceptable for function and accuracy. It does well with everything I've put thru it, cared the least for the PMC factory loads and liked my 175 grain Barnes loads the best. They nestle in right around MOA, the PMC's were out near 1.75" for most groups.....Cliff

The biggest complaint we've heard about with the PSA stuff is crappy barrels and less than acceptable accuracy. That comment extends past the AR-10 platform offerings into their AR-15 stuff as well. I own three AR-10's, the first was an Alexandria Arms. It's a bit heavy but shoots well and no function issues to date. I built the PSA AR-10 shortly after to come up with a lighter rifle for hunting out West. I also traded for a DPMS new in the box. I've spent enough time on the range with all three guns to conclude that none of them are capable of one hole at 100 yard accuracy, but all three have more than acceptable accuracy for hunting. I've shot some commercial ammo thru them, Fusion, Super X, Remington (all 150 grain loads) and PMC. For hand loads I've tried 4320 (had three vintage cans laying around) pushing plain old Sierra 150 grain soft points, and a box of Hornady 155's, then the Barnes 175's backed by Varget. The heavier I went with bullet weight the tighter the groups were (in all three guns), although there may have been some "break-in" going on. Last year right before heading to Colorado for the Fall hunt I spent one final day on the range. It's on our farm and we can take shots up to 500 yards but rarely shoot more than 300. I was on the lane leading back to the field and a ground hog popped up in the bean stubble. It was pretty warm for mid-October which was a good day for shooting but a bad day for the ground hog. I took him out at just a tad over 200 yards with one of the Barnes 175 grain loads. I guess if I'm well on a ground hog at 200 yards an Elk woln't be much of a problem at 300 yards. Anyhow, PSA gets a bad rap in some circles. Not sure how much is from direct testing, rumor control or just regurgitating old information on the NET like we see with just about every single topic one could "google" up. My direct testing tells me that my PSA 14.7" AR-10 is a good piece and accurate enough to take any North American game animal to at least 300 yards. The same day I shot the ground hog I backed up to 300 yards and a shot a magazine of 5 rounds as fast as I could pull the trigger at a full size Elk target we outlined on a huge piece of cardboard down range. I just laid the rifle over the side of a round hay bail so not even a good steady rest. I just put the cross hairs of the Leupold 2-7 scope in the kill zone and cranked off 5 rounds in about that 6-7 seconds. It was getting dark and that was the plan, to simulate a hunting situation. I would have been happy to have had all 6 shots in a 14-16" kill zone area to be perfectly honest. Instead they were all nestled in a group less than 5"! I consider that weapon more than acceptable for hunting game animals at acceptable ranges........FWIW......Cliff

I'm also very happy with my PSA Gen II AR-10 even though one of the local "guru's" here pretty much considers them door stops. Mine has the 14.7" upper with welded flash hider. I bought it in that configuration to keep weight to a minimum for hunting Elk. It's surprisingly accurate and haven't found any ammo yet that will group over 1.5" at 100 yards. It does prefer heavier bullets and 175 grain Barnes bullets pushed by Varget have netted the best groups and consistency to date......Cliff

New member here from Ohio. I've been at this sort of thing for a while but relatively new to AR-10's. I shot competitively on rifle and pistol teams when I was in the Military and spent 20 years as a small arms instructor during my time in service. Avid hunter as well, and do a lot of shooting with AR Platforms in various calibers. Thought I might be able to help out here and there......Cliff

All of my AR-10's have acceptable accuracy with any load I've tried in them. Groups never go over about 1.5" for any reason. They do favor heavier bullets, and all three guns shoot the best groups with Barnes 175 grain bullets using Varget power, pretty sure around 41 grains but I'd have to check my notes to be sure. Even with that said the all do quite well with Hornady 155's but the 175's are more consistent in all three guns showing the 1-10 twist prefers heavier bullets. I certainly wouldn't give up on the gun/barrel just from a single shooting session. It also helps to cool things down between groups to keep them as tight as possible. I try to shoot 5 shot groups and leave the bolt open between shots to let things cool some. After each group I'll switch to another gun or give the gun I'm shooting half hour or so of cool down time......Cliff