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AR10 build vs. PSA Complete

Archer

Archer

Old Man
Joined
May 20, 2020
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795
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I've been kicking around building an AR10 chambered in .308 for quite awhile but honestly I don't have a ton of time to do all the research. I've been looking at the PSA https://palmettostatearmory.com/psa...eel-15-lightweight-m-lok-str-ssa-e-rifle.html and thinking for the price it carries some good parts. The only thing I would like different is maybe a Nitride vs. SS barrel.

I have a couple AR 15's from PSA and with the exception of putting in better triggers and handguards, for the money, I find them comparable to higher end guns.

So what do the people in the know say, a complete PSA or take the time to build my own.


P.S. This is mostly for longer range plinking... and such.



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Plinking? Buy the $700 Anderson AR10. While a $200 Geissele trigger is nice they are not needed. You don’t need a trigger with a shorter reset. 99.999999% of shooters out there can’t pull the trigger fast enough to warrant a shorter reset. If you want a nicer feel polish the stock milspec trigger and put lighter springs in. I don’t even bother breaking out the dremel to polish anything these days. I buy my triggers from RTB. They are polished, nickel Teflon plated and come with lighter hammer springs. They were on sale for $40 a few days ago. I’d swap the stock and grip on the PSA rifle also so more money spent.
www.righttobear.com

RTB Enhanced Nickel TEFLON Plated Trigger Assembly

Built on a traditional mil-spec foundation, our enhanced trigger assembly is made from 8620 steel and heat-treated with an electroless nickel Teflon finish for lubricity and protection against corrosion. Grab your assembly today and save with sale pricing!
www.righttobear.com www.righttobear.com
 
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Not really looking to shoot fast with this one, I have those guns, this is more long range. I'm familiar with 2 stage triggers and I like them over a single stage for distance shooting.

You may have missed the and such part....:flipoff2:
 
I built this 7.62x51 for my father-in-law back in '17, I used what looks to be a pretty similar upper as the one you're looking at. Mother-in-law, brother-in-law, and us all chipped in together, and I pieced it together for him. It's basically all PSA parts. It was about $150 cheaper piecemealing it together back then.

He's harvested several pigs & whitetails with it. He stuck some flavor of Nikon M-Tactical scope on it. He doesn't usually smile in photos, but he was pretty happy about this.

23157187_10103113928933457_1550593551189469639_o.jpg
 
OHV Wildcat said:
Funny this came up. I ordered a blemished PSA AR-10 on Black Friday. Should have it this week. I know fuck all about whether it’s good or bad, but I always kinda wanted one.


It was this, for $770. I’d rather have a black nitride barrel as well, but laziness and impatience won out.
Click to expand...


Pretty close to the same gun minus the upgraded geiselle 2 stage trigger, the front handguard and the stock.

Went up to my buddy's gun shop this morning to talk to him a bout putting one together for me. He told me he couldn't come close in price with the parts in the PSA I want. Told me told to order it and send it his shop. So I did, should have it in about 10 days.



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PSA is a no brainer. The parts are usually decent and every thing is torqued and staked etc. Unless you are looking for a high dollar rifle, in which case I would piece it together from PSA:lmao:
 
gozuki said:
PSA is a no brainer. The parts are usually decent and every thing is torqued and staked etc. Unless you are looking for a high dollar rifle, in which case I would piece it together from PSA:lmao:
Click to expand...


Yup, I picked up basically the same ar10 as linked above a couple years ago. Been flawless so far, think it was $865 all said and done. Stucky_ kept telling me to build one so I told him to put a parts list together and I'd buy it if it was within $200 of PSA. He couldn't do it so I went PSA.
 
Yea but I probably had some fancier parts in there too. I still say build them all haha
 
There's a few smaller sized 308 ARs which are cool, but they're mostly proprietary parts which isn't cool (off the shelf gun and mfg only parts support).
 
i dont think PSA barrels are worth a damn but thats just me. no clue who builds them on the 308

if we are going cheap, lets go to the horses mouth that made a name in the AR10

DPMS DP10 Rifle SALE - AtlanticFirearms.com

DPMS DP10 Rifle- Black DP51655128520. Semi automatic .308WIN chambered rifle with an 18" chrome lined nitride barrel with 1:10 twist.
atlanticfirearms.com atlanticfirearms.com
 
If all you’re doing is range/paper punching you’ll want an upgraded trigger. I personally would rather go complete built rifle because building a semi-auto 308 seems like I’d rather go shooting.
 
Texas97 said:
i dont think PSA barrels are worth a damn but thats just me. no clue who builds them on the 308

if we are going cheap, lets go to the horses mouth that made a name in the AR10

DPMS DP10 Rifle SALE - AtlanticFirearms.com

DPMS DP10 Rifle- Black DP51655128520. Semi automatic .308WIN chambered rifle with an 18" chrome lined nitride barrel with 1:10 twist.
atlanticfirearms.com atlanticfirearms.com
Click to expand...

PSA owns DPMS now after the Remington bankruptcy. It would have been nice to see the smaller DPMS G2 take off, and maybe become the next standardized 308 AR platform like the original. Wonder if that will pop up somewhere if it hasn't already.
 
Texas97 said:
i dont think PSA barrels are worth a damn but thats just me. no clue who builds them on the 308

if we are going cheap, lets go to the horses mouth that made a name in the AR10
Click to expand...
I would pick it up before I made a decision, last DPMS i lifted had some skookum gravity to it. Fawker was heavier than my M1A NM.
 
Ebs said:
There's a few smaller sized 308 ARs which are cool, but they're mostly proprietary parts which isn't cool (off the shelf gun and mfg only parts support).
Click to expand...
Thats the catch with the ar10 though. They arent standerdized like the ar15s and most upper/lowers dont interchange outside of that particular mfg and product generation.

I allmost bought a couple psa 10 uppers from ibb, but they only worked with psa lowers and i couldnt get ha ds on them in time.
 
gozuki said:
PSA is a no brainer. The parts are usually decent and every thing is torqued and staked etc. Unless you are looking for a high dollar rifle, in which case I would piece it together from PSA
Click to expand...

Texas97 said:
i dont think PSA barrels are worth a damn but thats just me. no clue who builds them on the 308

if we are going cheap, lets go to the horses mouth that made a name in the AR10

DPMS DP10 Rifle SALE - AtlanticFirearms.com

DPMS DP10 Rifle- Black DP51655128520. Semi automatic .308WIN chambered rifle with an 18" chrome lined nitride barrel with 1:10 twist.
atlanticfirearms.com atlanticfirearms.com
Click to expand...


I have 2 other PSA AR's and I've been happy with them. My shorty has the closest tolerances that "I've seen on any AR I picked up. This gun is suppose to be around 1.4 MOA at 400 yds. That's subjective I guess, We'll see.


RunningProblem said:
If all you’re doing is range/paper punching you’ll want an upgraded trigger. I personally would rather go complete built rifle because building a semi-auto 308 seems like I’d rather go shooting.
Click to expand...

It comes with a 2 stage geisselle trigger. I have other 2 satges, I'll see how this one stacks up.

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Ebs said:
There's a few smaller sized 308 ARs which are cool, but they're mostly proprietary parts which isn't cool (off the shelf gun and mfg only parts support).
Click to expand...

Steve300xcw said:
Didnt ruger come out with somethin like that?
Click to expand...
Yeah Ruger has a small frame .308, lots of proprietary parts but supposedly a pretty decent gun.

OP, personally I’d build cause I have time to research and wait for sales, and usually you can end up with a much better rifle for the same cash. Aero sells matching receiver sets as well as complete rifles (edit* complete uppers and lowers, you snap together) and uses Ballistic Advantage barrels which are in my experience pretty damn good.
 
So, do the 80% lowers have problems matching up with various uppers, such as the PSA?
What are the issues between manufacturers?
Are the problems with takedown holes? Trigger placement?
 
77fixer said:
So, do the 80% lowers have problems matching up with various uppers, such as the PSA?
What are the issues between manufacturers?
Are the problems with takedown holes? Trigger placement?
Click to expand...
Not really. That's overblown. But the shape of some uppers wont mate with the shape of some lowers. It's why we say match the upper to lower of the same type and 98% of your issues are done
 
I put one together a few years ago and don't remember the incompatibility between uppers and lowers, but I do remember there are 2 different rail heights. To avoid that confusion, I just went with the Aero M5 receivers with handguard. Aero LPK, Faxon Barrel, KAK BCG. Came in about $1300.

TBH, I don't love it. It's heavy and the recoil is bad. Not painful bad, but the 6 lb BCG slamming back and forth makes it hard to stay on target for a follow up. Added a dual rate captive spring buffer, adjustable gas block, and a brake. It helped some, but its still jumpy. I probably need to swap the carbine buffer system for a rifle length, but it's low priority.
 
The incompatibility has to do with the cut of the lower. One cut is DPMS. It’s the o e that looks like two 45 degree angles.

gundigest.com

Decoding The Nuances Of The AR-10 Lower

Understanding the AR-10 lower receiver is key to getting the rifle you want. Find out more about this key feature of the larger-caliber AR.
gundigest.com
 
There is no mill spec standard for ar-10s. I ran into a few little compatibility issues with my aero m5 build. Mostly with the lower parts kit. Aero ones were out of stock so I went with a spikes and certain things didn't quite fit or match up.
Another thing with building your own is I find I spend more and end up with a really nice rifle, bit I spring for a more expensive trigger, better barrel, ect. Before you know it you have over 2k into the setup.
My m5 in 6.5cm with a 20" faxon match fluted bbl and rifle length gas system ended up heavier than I wanted. It shoots great and is accurate. Recoil is mild.
I could have bought a pof for what I have into it and been quite a bit lighter.
A built rifle from a good manufacturer will usually have better resale than a collection of parts someone put together.
 
Savage did a cool smaller framed 308/6.5 AR in a couple different variations, MSR10. But they got out of ARs completely so good luck if you need parts. That's what's holding me back on a Sig 716i, they have a shit product support reputation.
 
aron82 said:
There is no mill spec standard for ar-10s. I ran into a few little compatibility issues with my aero m5 build. Mostly with the lower parts kit. Aero ones were out of stock so I went with a spikes and certain things didn't quite fit or match up.
Click to expand...
Mag release issues?

aron82 said:
A built rifle from a good manufacturer will usually have better resale than a collection of parts someone put together.
Click to expand...
Key to that is to never sell only aquire.
 
I'll buy and sell whatever I like whenever I feel like it.
I think it was the mag release and also the bolt hold open. It's been a while. Hot stuck with some extra spare parts in the ar drawers.
 
I bought a PSA AR10 about 5 years ago on sale because it was cheaper than building one. I put a keymod rail which full floats the barrel. It's a good shooter for a standard pencil barrel. I put a SS 3-15 on top of it. Not all AR10 parts are compatible like AR15's, so it takes some research to build one.
 
Thanks for all the feedback and feel free to continue but as stated earlier, I ordered the PSA on Sunday.



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