Looking for a 7.62 gas gun again....

schmi015

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  • Aug 8, 2012
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    Oregon-West of stumptown
    So a bit of background, I've owned and ended up selling a Garand, M1a, Fal, 1st Gen LWRC Repr, and a scar 17. Never really liked a 7.62 semi as much as I do my bolt guns or 5.56 semi's but I figure I want to give it one last shot. I'm looking at JP LRP 07, KAC SR-25, and maybe a scar 20. Curious as to thoughts and opinions on those three and those three only.
     
    obviously biased, but even some people that claim to hate the Scar 17S say they love the 20S.


    it took a lot of convincing for a cheap skate like me to part with that much money.

    in the end, i wasn't really looking for the absolute most accurate gas gun, or the one that could reach out the farthest, but just one that is at least as accurate as the 20S, that i can trust to run clean without a hitch and pound lead downrange when the zombie army attacks. :p

    Ultimately, the simplicity, reliability and reputation for not breaking were the deciding factors that pointed me to the Scar platform.
    (despite a youtube testimony to the contrary). I spoke to owners that had thousands of rounds out of their 20S without a any problems that weren't explained as not being attributed to the rifle.

    /i'm not an AR guy, i am a pistol shooter that wanted to get a semi-auto centerfire rifle before i can't anymore (being in california).
    i decided if i can only have one, the Scar 20S would serve as many purposes as anything.
    maybe not being an AR hobbyist made it easier for be to choose a different platform.

    my only hunting rifle is a lever action Winchester Model 88 in .308, also a 1:12 twist, so this simplifies my ammo requirements.
    my dad bought the rifle the year before i was born.

    here is a good write up on the differences
     
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    Not to ignore your choices but the Rock River LAR-8 is a 1 MOA gun that probably shoots a little better than that. They have several options on barrel length, butt stocks, and fore ends.

    The Varmint A4 with 26 inch barrel is $1660, the Standard A4, 20 inch barrel no sights is $1370.

    I haven't shot the LAR-8 but have a NMA2 and 2nd A2 upper. Both uppers shot under 1 MOA (guaranteed at .7 MOA from the factory) with iron sights on a bag. The two lowers I've built have both used the RRA two stage trigger.
     
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    The JP is going to be a totally different animal from most any other 308 AR. You can set them up for so many applications from ultralights for hogs or 3 gun to heavy precision rigs for long range.

    I had one that was an absolute hammer with heavy bullets at range but was silly light recoiling with 110s. The real question is what do you want to use your new JP for? Then you can spec it out to do just that.
     

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    I’ve got a large frame AR built with mostly JP parts. It shoots really well, and I’m pretty happy with it. JP has things figured out pretty well, it’s just hard to go wrong with their stuff. They run, and the shoot tight groups. If I was buying a complete gun, I wouldn’t even consider anything else.
     
    I liked how light the scar17 was and recoil wasn't bad, I just didn't feel like I could get a great cheek weld with it which made fundamentals difficult. I feel like the scar 20 would be too heavy like my lwrc was. Also the ability to swap out the muzzle device so i can suppress it is important since the scar 17 lacked a shoulder but there are solutions for that now.
     
    Too bad you couldn’t get an SR25 with JP guts. My opinion JP makes / runs the best operating system. One and maybe more manufacturers have gotten into 20s barrel making which might be something to consider.
     
    SCAR doesn't stand up to high quality AR10s, 20 included.

    Best option for harder use from the factory is the KAC or the LMT.

    Best option for accuracy from the factory is probably JP or a CLE build.

    Best option in general is to build one yourself or pay someone to build it for you from quality parts.
     
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    SCAR doesn't stand up to high quality AR10s, 20 included.

    Best option for harder use from the factory is the KAC or the LMT.

    Best option for accuracy from the factory is probably JP or a CLE build.

    Best option in general is to build one yourself or pay someone to build it for you from quality parts.
    I agree with the tier order here and the advised “build one”. @schmi015 I know you said you didn’t want other suggestions but I would recommend looking at some of the available monolithic matched receiver sets in conjunction with JP internals and a good barrel. You probably have already though...
     
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    Larue is my go to. With the UU kits now you can be in a gun with a 1 MOA guarantee for under 2k.

    But I have very little opinion on your three picks other than I’m not sure the SCAR is really a capable shooter in addition to many proprietary parts so I wouldn’t have that as a primary rifle.
     
    I own a larue UU Kit and it took me a few tries to get one that worked and shot well. They don’t have an accuracy guarantee and when I sent my first rifle back I was told me standards might be to high. Larue ended up refunding my money as it was unfired. My second rifle would not group at all, larue did take it back and “fixed” but they never said what they did.

    Now it shoots right at 1 moa with factory match ammo and it has shot a little better than that with my hand loads. Mine is a 6.5 creedmoor.

    While it is a fairly good bang for the buck, there have a been a few that have had problems.

    Personally if I was going to go large frame gasser, I would buy one of the Seekins large frame kits and build one off a rock creek, or equivalent barrel and not worry about it. It will be right at what you would spend on a larue UU Kit.

    But in sticking with the OP’s original question, my choice would be a KAC APR, I have one but I will say it doesn’t hold a candle to my GAP10 G2 accuracy wise.