AR Rookie

[BigP623]

Im new to the site and new to shooting this style weapon.  Due to the mass rush of buying up all of these style weapons before a potential ban (which I was a part of) I purchased a armalite AR-10.  The dealer was swamped with people so I was unable to get much info on this gun in the act of purchasing it.  To tell you the truth Im kind of in the dark.  Im no rookie to guns just never had a semi auto rifle of this caliber before in my life.  My main questions are:

I was told it was a .308 but it has 7.62 on the side.  I am assuming they are the same???  But I am not firing the rifle until I figure this out. 

If they are interchangable which one is better?

How do I know exactly what model it is A B T ??? (Gun dealer just had it listed as a Armalite AR-10 and upon looking online after for accessories I found there are multiple models all that look nothing like mine.)

Should anything special be done on first firing?

[Matt.Cross]

Im new to the site and new to shooting this style weapon.  Due to the mass rush of buying up all of these style weapons before a potential ban (which I was a part of) I purchased a armalite AR-10.  The dealer was swamped with people so I was unable to get much info on this gun in the act of purchasing it.  To tell you the truth Im kind of in the dark.  Im no rookie to guns just never had a semi auto rifle of this caliber before in my life.

You landed right in the middle of the best expertise on this platform you could possibly find on the web! Welcome to the forums!

I was told it was a .308 but it has 7.62 on the side.  I am assuming they are the same???  But I am not firing the rifle until I figure this out.

Your rifle is in fact a .308 rifle. It is chambered with 7.62x51 reamer, which means that the chamber is designed for NATO spec 7.62x51 ammunition. The technical explanation being quite lengthy, your short answer is that the .308 Winchester and 7.62x51, are externally the exact same round. Internally, the difference is in the case thickness and SAAMI specs, the primary difference being that the NATO round has a thicker case.

 

If they are interchangable which one is better?

They are interchangeable. Your answer will depend on your primary use for this weapon, if you need the most you can get accuracy wise, .308 Winchester match ammo will probably give you the best results. If you want to shoot as affordably as possible, 7.62 military surplus or equivalent will probably be your go to option.

How do I know exactly what model it is A B T ???

We're proud to have Armalite as a forum sponsor, you can simply contact them through their website, they should be able to tell you exactly what you have based on a description and serial number. I'm sure they'd be able to answer all your questions with a simple phone call.

Should anything special be done on first firing?

In the collective experience here, these larger frame ARs like to be run quite well oiled for their first couple hundred rounds or so. Sometimes it's necessary, sometimes it isn't but you have nothing to lose by being prepared to oil it up if you experience any problems within your first few rounds.

Enjoy your new rifle, and again, welcome to the forums!

[planeflyer21]

Welcome BigP!

Jon

[edgecrusher]

good score BigP, run it wet, wet, wet.

[BigP623]

Great explaination Matt and thanks for the reply.  As far as ammo goes I havent purchased any yet till I could do some digging on what people are using.  For just getting used to the gun and getting some rounds under my belt im looking for some decent ammo for a low price.  I ran across the hornady steel match stuff 155 bthp 2610 fps and for 50 rounds for like 40 bucks.  My question is will the steel casing damage my gun or is it ok to use on a regular basis or should i stick with the brass??

[edgecrusher]

brass is best, especially if you are going to reload. Steel is harder on your extractor but not deathly, and won't really affect function if the gun was broken in, ie couple hundred rounds. Buy American made ammo to break it in, it will eliminate any ammo abnormalities for now. Federal Gold Medal Match is the standard match is compared by.

[Rsquared]

Welcome aboard Bigp. Feel comfortable knowing that Armalite make quality rifles. I believe that I have a "few" of them......somewhere.....not sure.  <laughs> And ammo will always come down to what your trying to with the rifle. Wide variety out there.

Ron

[unforgiven]

Welcome from Indiana brother Big,you're off on the right foot.Like the guys said Armalite's one of the fav's here.Have fun. <thumbsup>

[BigP623]

so edge when you say "wont really affect the gun if the gun was broken in" should i fire a few hundred brass rounds first then.  What I am getting at is that Im looking for the best bang for my buck.  Something that is easy on the wallet but will still throw down a reasonable group for reason of setting my sight.  I mean ultimately will using steel cases harm the weapon in break-in?  Im not married to using these but im also not reloading any of my own at this time either so no need for any expensive brass at this point.  What are yall using?

[BigP623]

Well looks like if i want to shoot anytime soon i will have to fire .75cent a round or better if i want any ammo at this point.  Everywhere i can find is backordered or arent taking orders till feb march next year.  This rush on "assault weapons" is wild.

[unforgiven]

Palmeto state armory had .308 not sure if they have any left.One of the brothers put this together check out thge links you might get lucky.  http://308ar.com/forum/ammunition/links-for-ammo-sitesdeals/    <dontknow>

[98Z5V]

so edge when you say "wont really affect the gun if the gun was broken in" should i fire a few hundred brass rounds first then. 

Yes.

[BigP623]

I actually ordered from palmetto state last night it was the only place i can find online with reasonable prices for brass cased rounds that still had them in stock.  Thanks for the help guys just going to have to wait a few weeks for them to come in.

[SPBCTS]

BigP

Welcome from one AR-10 rookie to another. Sounds like we have similar rifles, we bought an AR-10BTNF recently too. This was a long planned purchase that was accelerated by the conditions in the country.

There is a TON of information here, I am pretty proud of my google-fu, and I spent a lot of time looking and educating myself before we chose this exact rifle. So yeah, you've stepped into the right place when it comes to info on your new Armalite.

Tell us about your rifle, is it scoped, barrel type/length, etc.

The recpt. from your purchase should at least give you the exact model number info, you will need to find that out anyway when you send in the warranty card to Armalite. It is that orange card that should be blown in to the "owners manual", which, in my case, was a bunch of papers stapled together with a yellow cover.

[tackleberry2000]

Welcome to the addiction. I'm running american eagle 150 gr fmj through mine and it likes it pretty well. Got mine from cabelas at 170 for 200 rds. Not sure if they have it in stock or when it will be in.

[unforgiven]

Cabelas doesn't have alot but they do take backorders.Just sayin.

[BigP623]

Not sure of the model number or barrel length/type.  The receipt from my store just said armalite ar-10 and a serial number.  With all the commotion going on in the store there wasnt much one on one going on talking about any specifics as far as help goes.  I purchased a ecotec 512 holographic sight for it but after shooting it for the first time this past weekend i see that its not much help as far as long range accuracy goes.  It is very fun to shoot though, but not a rapid fire weapon by any means for me as the recoil puts me off target very easily and i have to reacquire and set to throw down some decent groups.  That said I was still laying down 6" groups at  100 with no magnification as far as scope goes and i thought that was good for a first outing.  I will attach pictures of my gun and hopefully that will help as far as ID'ing it.

[Rsquared]

Looks like you got one of these my man.

http://www.armalite.com/ItemForm.aspx?item=10A4BF&ReturnUrl=Categories.aspx?Category=f4bd4a13-55d1-41aa-aea0-49488ec48776

Nice rifle. Plenty (and I mean) plenty of mods that you can do. Start with the buffer or the muzzle device (or both) for felt recoil. But the sky is the limit on these bad boys. And you couldn't have picked a better time to try and track down parts.  <laughs>  Sorry.......couldn't help myself.

Ron

[Rsquared]

Oh....and keep in mind that Armalite has an "A" and a "B" model. "B" model takes only Armalite mags. "A" model takes the pmags (and similar SR25/DPMS pattern).

[unforgiven]

Nice rifle brother Big,hope you find what you need. <thumbsup>

[BigP623]

Looks like I have a B model then :( Is there a identifying characteristic that you can tell the difference between an A and B model just in case since Im not exactly sure what I have here

[BigP623]

http://www.armalite.com/images/Tech%20Notes/Tech%20Note%20101%20%20AR-10A%20AR-10B%20%20M15%20COMPONENTS%20120109%20Rev%201%20FINAL.pdf

Jumped the gun with that question a simple search of armlite site and I found the info....here it is incase anyone was wondering also.

[Rsquared]

Yeah...that's been posted on the forum before. Besides....once you drool over these things for a good amount of time, the small differences will start becoming easy to see.

Now, you just gotta think about all the different upgrades that you would wanna do to it.

And before you start wagging your finger at me, keep in mind......that there's a whole bunch of enablers just waiting to help tell you how so spend your money around here. You'll figure out who they are.  <lmao>