Most reliable and accurate "assault rifle" in .308?

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1031

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I am looking for an accurate and reliable .308 battle rifle.

I have looked at the L1A1 and the Galil .308, but I don't know of any others. It seems that I can get a post ban L1A1 for about $550 and a Galil .308 for about $750 (both over on gunsamerica.com).

I have never handled any of these rifles and don't know ANYTHING about them. I don't understand design differences. I don't know which are reliable. I don't know which are accurate. I don't know where they come from or who uses them, and I really don't care, I just want one that I can learn and use. I plan to learn everything about the one I buy, when I buy it, and go from there (hey, maybe buy something different later).

I don't want it to cost a mint (under $1500). I don't care if it is "post ban". I would prefer to be able to get mags for it without an arm and a leg.

I basically want a rifle that I can consider a battle weapon to keep around in case things get bad in the USA. It must be a hardy weapon, but I want it accurate too. I want to dial it in in order that I can use my marksmanship skills at medium range (headshots at 300 yards seem like a reasonable standard) if needed, but I want it to keep working if things get rough and dirty.

Ideas?
 
A Galil 308 for $750? Um, your sure that wasn't just the price for a Galil 308 mag? If you ask me, I think you were looking at the price for parts kit. As far as I know, Galils start at about $3000 and go up from there depending on caliber and if it's new. If by some weird occurance, you could pick up a 308 Galil for that price, jump on it fast!!!

Looking at 308 battle rifles, your choices are basically a HK G3/91 parts gun, CETME, M1A, or a FAL parts gun. The CETMEs are selling for a great price right now, and in essence are new rifles. The only bad part is that some are not built right and the front sight can be canted too much. The FAL is a good choice. Wide parts availability, cheap mags, and are pretty reasonable in cost. I think even DSA has a offering for under $1000 now. If you are willing to take the risk, I would get a CETME. Beautiful rifles and mags are cheap now too. M1A are nice weapons, but they are costly. Mags cost a lot right now, and probably won't go down in price due to the number of nations issued the M14. The HK parts guns are pretty ugly, but I have heard they work.

Accuracy and reliability are all about the same for the above mentioned rifles. The M1A can be made quite accurate but will put you over your $1500 limit. The FAL can have good accuracy, but that depends on how good the condition of the barrel is, since these are all made from parts kits, well at least the ones under $1500. If you want roughly a 2 MOA rifle, some of the above rifles may be adequate, but this depends on how they are built and not so much on their design. If accuracy is really important, you would be much better served by a bolt action of some sort.

So in ending, basically take a look at a either FAL of some sort or a CETME, and if you want to spend some more, take a serious look at a M1A.
 
They are both excellent designs.

The Galil is basically a highly refined AK. The big problem with the .308 version is the price of magazines. 25 round versions cost upward of a hundred dollars. Parts aren't very common, but they are obtainable.

The L1A1, or any decent FAL for that matter, is a nice piece. Personally, I'd go with a DSA kit gun or a kitted together rifle, built by a respected smith, like AZEX or Arizona Response. It will cost you more, but my FAL parts kit plus receiver cost a bit more than $600 (a few years ago, using a DSA type01), so I don't quite trust a built gun for less. Parts are inexpensive and easy to find and magazines can be had for $10 and less (good ones).
 
The Galil is considered by some (including myself) the pinnacle of the AK Operating system in build quality and minor improvments.

The AK, FAL, and I think M1 (although I do not have one to be sure) work similarly in that a portion of the expanding gas provided by the fired cartridge is bled off through a small hole somewhere along the barrel. This gas goes into a second tube above or below the barrel. (Generally, the barrel and gas tube are mostly covered by metal, wood, or plastic as they both get very hot and the cover allows the weak hand to hold the rifle without discomfort.) The gas acts against a piston. This piston, in turn, acts against the bolt assembly to help it open up and eject the spend case and load the next round.

The HK system does not use gas to help work the action. It is locked into place with two rollers into the barrel extension and this is enough to help delay the action from opening until the pressure has lowered to a safe level.

You might also want to check out the VEPRs from Robinson Armament. They are AK actions that can also be had in .308WIN.
http://www.robarm.com/

Out of all of the actions listed, IMO, the AK is the winner in absolute reliability. Not the best for accuracy though. This is not to say the FALs, HKs, and M1 actions are unrliable, they (at least the FAL and HK actions) are reliable. It's just hard to beat the AK with its history. If your looking for accuracy out of the box, the higher grade (i.e., more expensive) M1 is probably the way to go. Unless, of course, you have $8K-$10K for an HK PSG1, then it'll be a toss-up. Again, this is IMO and I'm talking about actions, not individual gun makes.
 
Expensive mags. Difficult-to-obtain spareparts, direct gas impingment
(debates are still open wether this is good or not).

The FAL is a very available solution. Cheap, quite precise (if you
need more, get a SIG 510/AMT, an M1A or a PSG1), and durable.

G3 - no gas system to break (which also applies to the the PE57/SIG
AMT/SIG 510), mags for the G3 and clones are available. For the
AMT...oh well, they are, but EXPENSIVE in the US.

In Switzerland, the average SIG510 mag costs 12 US-$, the G3 mag costs
about 18 US-$, FAL mags are 3 US-$ a pop. M1A mags, on the contrary,
are 30 US-$.
 
Speaking of FALs.. mine gets pretty tight groups

izzysidetn.JPG
 
VEPR I 308

Gents

I have a VEPR 308 and it is very accurate and seems to be very reliable. It is extremely well made, it weighs like 9 pounds unloaded.I am going to post one of my groups. I pulled one shot so keep the razzing to yourself :)

Group was shot at 100 meters

Gooch
 

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HK-91 is about as good as it gets for a .308 battle rifle. It's big brother, the HK-PSG1 is the only semi automatic rifle in the world that can shoot 1/2 MOA. Basically the HK-91 and the HK-PSG1 are identical with the exception of barrel length and how ridged the receiver is. Obviously there are other differences, but those are the big ones.
 
Well, AK's are about the most reliable assault rifles there are, and Galils are the best AK version there is, so I guess that about answers your question. I would honestly go with the Galil because Israel makes some of the best guns in the world. I don't know about their accuracy, but I imagine that it would be pretty good since they have a sniper rifle variant built off of the same reciever.
 
Another major difference between the HK rifles is the PSG-1 trigger group in the latter. I have the PSG-1 trigger group in my HK-91, and it's worlds of difference from the standard trigger pack for the HK!
 
What's the difference between an FAL and an L1A1? I always thought they were the same. People seem to use FN-FAL and L1A1 in the same sentence a lot. That FAL in the picture above looks a lot prettier than L1A1'a I have seen.

Ps- one thing I also want is light weight and carbine length in my rifle, if possible.

Thanks
 
FN-FAL, L1a1, G1, STG-58...

Same basic rifle, different nomenclature, depending on who built or used it.

I'm guessing that the above rifle is based on an Israeli HB kit.
 
What's the difference between an FAL and an L1A1? I always thought they were the same. People seem to use FN-FAL and L1A1 in the same sentence a lot. That FAL in the picture above looks a lot prettier than L1A1'a I have seen.

Ps- one thing I also want is light weight and carbine length in my rifle, if possible
Click to expand...

Fal - basic generic name for the rifle. Sort of like saying "AK" can refer to a MAK90, SAR series, AKM, Milled AK, AK74, AKS-47, etc.

L1A1 - UK and commonwealth variant - parts were made with inch measurements. Comprise approximately 10% of all FAL rifles made. Vast majority of parts will interchange with metric parts.

As for short and light - FWRA, a poster on the fal files, recently assembled a 6.5 pound FAL with an 18" barrel. This was accomplished through the use of a lightweight upper and lower receiver (aluminum). So, it's possible.
 
1031.........picking a 308 is always hard. so what are your real priorities?
cost low cost ...severalold war bolt actions that will give you 2-3 MOA , cost less than $200.00..no good semi for this price.
Mid cost.. SA...Viper, FALs, Norinco M1A, 500-800 bucks still 2-3 MOA.
The good weapons are well over $1000.00. My M1a with all the extras is about $1500.00(that was 6 years ago) now well over $2000.00. But I get a 1/4 inch 3 shot group at 100 yards, and thats with Federal match ammo. It would be better if I reloaded.

If you want one of these "SHTF" weapons the FAL is you choice, the weapon works well, easy to strip and clean, plenty of extra parts, will use almost any 308 ammo, and doesn't cost an arm and a leg. but don't count on outragious accuracy at longer ranges......they wern't made for that.

As a funny point... my Savage 112 with the SSFB can match my M1A, and cost less than $600.00.

good luck in your search.
DA
 
HK-91 is about as good as it gets for a .308 battle rifle. It's big brother, the HK-PSG1 is the only semi automatic rifle in the world that can shoot 1/2 MOA.
Click to expand...

The Walther WA-2000 will shoot rings around a PSG1 at 1000 yards, sub-MOA.
 
Too bad there are less than 100 WA-2000's in the world :)

I keep seeing people bragging on their AR-15's that can punch less than 1/2 MOA; I'm sure that the PSG-1 isn't the most accurate. Maybe the most accurate production semi-automatic rifle? But what about all those Springfield Armory M1A's (who claim that THEY are the world's most accurate..)
 
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