Ruger SFAR 308 first impressions

[WYO300RUM]

Wow! That is light. My Ruger SR556 weighs 2lbs more.
View attachment 400985

I have same rifle. Love it. What length barrel do you have ? Mine is 16 in. carbine length.

 

[tnbndr]

I wrote to B5 again, replied to his email and I got this response:

"If you want to run collapsed, the following conditions will apply.

Short – For the AR10 (.308) if you want to clear the charging handle.

Medium – For M4 and AR-15 (5.56 & .223), which will clear the charging handle.

Long – For side charge or Law Adapter equipped rifles.

If you want to clear the charging handle, you will need a Short"

 

[TheBigKeyser]

First 3 shoots out of my 20" sfar. Norma Bondstrike 180gr.
Was hoping to turn this into an iowa deer rifle by reboring out to 358 win. But Barrel was hardened in some manner after manufacture. Barrel extension is proprietary so my factory barrel will have to be replaced with a custom barrel and salvage the barrel extension. Hopeful ruger or someone else makes the extension available as I'd also like a 22-250 or 243 for my coyote truck gun.View attachment 440808

Rebarreling an sfar isn't going to work well unless you have a gunsmith custom tune the gun. Ruger has had to "reengineer" a new bolt face, bcg and chamber with extra gas ports to vent the chamber pressure in order to make this gun safe to fire with prober gas blowback mitigation(to the face). I am doubtful this rifle will run properly after installing a new barrel. Reboring may be your best option if it can be done with the same bcg and bolt face.

 

[carolusworld]

Rebarreling an sfar isn't going to work well unless you have a gunsmith custom tune the gun. Ruger has had to "reengineer" a new bolt face, bcg and chamber with extra gas ports to vent the chamber pressure in order to make this gun safe to fire with prober gas blowback mitigation(to the face). I am doubtful this rifle will run properly after installing a new barrel. Reboring may be your best option if it can be done with the same bcg and bolt face.

 

[carolusworld]

Bought another sfar to be a doner rifle to build the 358 win. Setting barrel aside to use the extension gas block n brake. Had custom 22 inch barrel made and extension head spaced to bolt. Started small with gas port 3/32 and moving up till I get enough gas to cycle on #3. At third sized port currently of 0.101. Yet to test this size.

 

[gvjm]

Thinking about it! Still concerned about the velocities with the 16",

 

[tnbndr]

Just back from north woods of Wisconsin and first season hunting with the Ruger SFAR. I am happily impressed with its performance.
Took a small buck. With a sling it was comfortable to carry through swamp drives in the vertical position with the barrel down.
So I am happy with this purchase.

 

[Turpentine21]

I'm thinking (OK, hoping?) the 20" Ruger SFAR would shoot just fine with that rifle length gas system - similar to a light bolt action - without that boomer brake. What do ya'll think? I'm not worried about my shoulder - I'm wanting to know how tough to get follow up shots without a brake. Anyone? Thanks!

I shoot my dpms g2. 7.5 pounds from the factory with a hunter profile 20" barrel and have zero issues. No brake, no suppressor. 168 amax in Winchester cases running 2650fps. Ar comp powder doesn't produce outlandish muzzle flash in a 20" barrel. The gun with my thermal and 10 round mag is around 10 pounds. I've enjoyed mine. The AR 10 packages in lighter weight have become more available in the last few years but you won't build a quality light AR 10 cheaper than you can buy the SFAR and you will likely have considerably more in a quality build. At the prices I build my 6.5 Grendel's for you can almost buy 2 SFARs. Of course I can build cheaper but I choose higher quality components. Nothing wrong with the SFAR that I see at its price. As far as charging handles I have enjoyed the Raptor ambidextrous on the 308. I run Seekins or Bravo Co. Oversized handles on my Grendels

 

[Turpentine21]

Just back from north woods of Wisconsin and first season hunting with the Ruger SFAR. I am happily impressed with its performance.
Took a small buck. With a sling it was comfortable to carry through swamp drives in the vertical position with the barrel down.
So I am happy with this purchase.
View attachment 514291

I may have missed it but what grain bullet are you using and what's your velocity with the suppressor.

 

[tnbndr]

I may have missed it but what grain bullet are you using and what's your velocity with the suppressor.

I am sighted in and shooting a Hornady 150gr SST bullet. Hornady states a muzzle velocity of 3000fps but I don't have a chronograph to verify.

 

[budlight]

I must have got the mid length from some article and yes the ruger online is rifle length. sorry

 

[Turpentine21]

I am sighted in and shooting a Hornady 150gr SST bullet. Hornady states a muzzle velocity of 3000fps but I don't have a chronograph to verify.

Factory 150s and my handload 150s will run 2785 or so in my 20" barrel but my rifle which is a 10 twist is way more accurate with 165-168 class bullets running 2620-2650 over AR Comp. The 150 SST is very good on game at reasonable speeds.

 

[bdpayne2000]

Thinking about it! Still concerned about the velocities with the 16",

Here is some info on my hand loads shooting the 16" barrel suppressed.

Varget slowest at 2550ish
TAC about 30 FPS faster
CFE wins for speed at 2700ish.

All of those were inside the book max loads. All shoot decent at something just over an inch at 100 yards.

 

[Pro2A]

Thinking about it! Still concerned about the velocities with the 16",

I've never been a fan of 308 in less than 20" barrels....loses about 25fps/in reduction, in my experience.....16" loses ~100fps. Nitpicky at shorter deer ranges in many situations, but that's what I use 308 for. Just old geezer's preference, experience. Easy for one to hold for ballistic drop, wind is the difference maker. I like that bullet to hustle a little getting down there.