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flo670

Private
Minuteman
Apr 5, 2022
2
0
France
Hello everybody.

I have been doing long range shooting since 2006 and actually I would like a little bit change with a 308 caliber semi-automatic rifle.

Of course I already have three long range bolt action rifle : .308 ; 300WM and 338 Lapua Magnum. And I already have an AR15 / 5.56NATO it’ a special assembly for the competition made by a European manufacturer.

But none of these weapons can fire quickly at 800 yards.

At first I wanted to buy a Knigt's SR-25 .308 with a 20" barrel because I know that at 800 yards it is very accurate. This rifle costs around 5000USD for US buyers. But I live in the European Union and with transport, customs fees and taxes (specific to each country of the EU) this weapon costs 7500USD in my country.

From 5000 to 7500USD … that's a bit of an exaggeration. Even if this weapon is an excellent acquisition I think that there are also excellent and less expensive SA rifles .308.

What can you recommend to me as a weapon of the same standing but at a but a little lower and more reasonable price please ? Who would be better placed than an American sniper to give me good advice? ;-)

I would like a semi-automatic weapon in caliber 308 and accurate to 800 yards. Maybe even 1000 yards.

Would you have a brand or model to advise me ?

European manufacturers make very good weapons: the precision H&K used by the German and French army in caliber 308 may be worth considering. As well as the SCAR of the Belgian FN Herstal.

All these weapons are semi-automatic rifles in .308 (compatible with NATO cartridges). But at 800 or 1000 yards they are not necessarily equivalent.

When possible I shoot 1500 yards. But Europe is small compared to America: the only place where it is allowed to shoot at this distance is at the army shooting ranges (for security reasons because uninhabited areas do not exist unlike in the USA where there are vast uninhabited deserts to shoot). And the army does not open its doors every day. In general we have the right to 8 shooting sessions at 1500 meters per year. In winter it is closed.

Thank you very much for your advice.

PS : currently .308 semi-automatic sniper rifles are increasingly difficult to find in the European Union: stocks originally intended for sale to sports shooters have been redirected by Governments to Ukraine in order to help the soldiers fight against the Russians. The Ukrainians were not ready for a war and had only old Kalashnikovs in stock in case of war.

Thank you.
 
LMT MWS, HK MR308, SCAR 20 should all meet your requirements. I would lean toward the lmt out of those, but how much are they in Europe?
 
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LMT MWS, HK MR308, SCAR 20 should all meet your requirements. I would lean toward the lmt out of those, but how much are they in Europe?
H&K is currently no longer available. Their factories are working at maximum capacity to supply armies, in particular Germany, which released a budget of 3.2 billion US dollars for arms following the Ukraine / Russia conflict.

For LMT: Ot could be a good choice. I find some armories that had some in stock but no longer have any. I could phone those armories to see if they can get me one.

I'll look for all the other brands you suggested to me since H&K is no longer available and I'm not sure I can find an LMT.

Thank you very much.
 
I really like B&T. Are they easier to get in Europe or is it the same problem as H&K is having? They make some unbelievably well crafted firearms.
 
One other possibility would be an actual SAN Swiss Sig 751 SAPR. Those are expensive and rare in America, but what about in Europe?


If you cannot find an lmt mws, then I know the scar 20 in 308 gets really good reviews, too. It is basically a more precision oriented version of the scar h/17. A Sig 751 would be an awesome rifle to own, but it may also be expensive like a kac sr25 though. I would be lying if I said I have never thought about buying a San Swiss 751 though....along with a 551 to go with it!

Let us know how it goes and what you end up buying!
 
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No offense but if I have that kind of cash to through around I'd be building one. I know you said buy a rifle, but for that price I feel like you could buy a lower, and build an upper that would be extremely accurate for about half the cost. I don't know who would ship barrels though, that would be the problem.
 
Doesn’t Oberland Arms make a Precision 308 semi?
 
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Get the KAC, it’ll only be more expensive to do so later when the price increases hit the .308 models.
 
H&K is currently no longer available. Their factories are working at maximum capacity to supply armies, in particular Germany, which released a budget of 3.2 billion US dollars for arms following the Ukraine / Russia conflict.

For LMT: Ot could be a good choice. I find some armories that had some in stock but no longer have any. I could phone those armories to see if they can get me one.

I'll look for all the other brands you suggested to me since H&K is no longer available and I'm not sure I can find an LMT.

Thank you very much.

If you are on Facebook, you can reach out to Joe Hajny, he is there main sales guys and one of his guys handles sales to Europe so they may be able to point you to a few vendors.

I shoot both Kac and LMT 308's and honestly, you really can't go wrong with either.
 
I suspect you're going to get greater accuracy out of a JP (if that's available to you) than from a KAC or Scar. That's nothing against the latter two rifles, but they focus as much on ruggedness and reliability, whereas with JP the primary focus is accuracy.

Georgia Precision GAP10 should also be on your list ... if that's an option for you.

If you're willing/able to buy the lower and upper separately, you would be hard pressed to find a more accurate upper than one of the options from Compass Lake Engineering. (And depending on your laws, it might be easier to get an upper shipped to you rather than a complete rifle, because, at least in the U.S., it's the lower that's considered the firearm). However, if you go this route, you do need to aware that, unlike the AR15, where any mil spec. upper with work with any mil spec. upper, with AR10's there are at least two different styles of lower. So you need to be sure the style of upper you buy will mate with the style of lower you buy.

You might also take a look at LaRue.

However, these are all U.S. companies and I have no idea whether you could order/they would ship to Europe. Also, I suspect most of the above companies are going to have pretty long lead times (like 6 months to a year). However, all of these options would be well below $5,000 U.S., although again I have no idea what the potential mark up would be if you are in Europe.

Two final observations that go beyond the specific questions you asked. First, you should be aware that there is a learning curve when shooting semi-autos. So just because you can shoot your bolt action rifles with excellent accuracy, it doesn't mean you will get the same results when you start shooting a semi-auto. Shooting an AR15 consistently can be challenging. Shooting an AR10 is even more challenging. So if the first couple of times you get your new rifle you're barely able to shoot 2 MOA, it probably isn't the rifle. To get down to the sub MOA accuracy these guns are capable of you're probably going to have to improve/refine your technique.

Two, not to complicate your life further, but if 6.5 CM is an option for you, it might be worthwhile shooting this caliber, rather than .308. Not only are the ballistics generally better, particularly if you're shooting out beyond 800, but it will have less recoil. The tradeoff is that ammo is less available (and in Europe may be extremely hard to find) and a little more expensive, and that you shoot out your barrel faster.
 
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Get a JP. Judging by all the Finnish, Swedish, Danish IPSC rifle teams it would seem they are reasonably available over there, and if you need an accurate large frame semi auto JP is gonna get it done.
Tony is right. JP is the answer. Easy decision here.

Plus….

Code: 68SS0717

Will save you 10% on JP parts or 5% on complete JP rifles at JPrifles.com