I'm goin' with a 20" barrel as that's the longest I saw on ArmaLite's site.
The Steiner has a 1st focal plane, illuminated, MilDot reticle. It's not the reticle I prefer but it's uncluttered and a known constant. A custom reticle isn't an option at this time and the reticles offered on similarly featured/priced scopes were even less desirable to my eye. When I found a reticle I liked, I didn't like the scope...and vice versa.
Both the barrel length and scope power(arguably) are compromises for long distance paper killin' but I'm limited by space to about 650yds. The longest local range for unhindered, 24/7, dedicated practice is 300yds, hence the suppressor and illuminated reticle. Yes, I said 24/7.
Conversely, the barrel and scope are overkill for short work but nothin' beats horsepower to make a job easier.
I feel these choices will accurately reflect my real world usage but, hey, that's why I came here...to see where I might be puttin' a foot wrong. Unlike me, some of you guys know what you're talking about.
If I were considering serious long distance shooting, I'd have started with a larger caliber - after reconciling the fact I'd have to drive 1.5 hours to a dedicated 1000yd range. At that rate, I'd still want a short-medium range heavy hitter.
"But," you might say, "you have a fiddy!"
Yeah, and a good bullet is $7-$8 to win the 1000yd prize. Consequently, the fiddy is relegated to a diet of bullets at half that cost, but the shoulder time fun factor is out of this world. The reality is, in my hands it will never connect with a target at its max.effective range. It was a panic purchase(On sale!) when Odumbo was about to get his first inauguration.
..............
Since I'm still in the Welcome house, I thought I'd let on about the other firearms I've had/have. I'm the original owner of all but one, it was made before I was born. So, chronologically...
- Burnside Carbine Model 1864, .54cal. This was handed down to me.
- Marlin .22 bolt, sold.
- *Colt 1991A1, original parkerized. Uncle Mike's finger-groove grips. Buncha carry rigs and Colt mags. Mild rail/trigger massage.
- *Colt HBAR, pre-ban. Trij ACOG and Trij branded 3.5moa Docter Red Dot. Tons of Colt mags, 3 unused Pmags. Mild trigger massage.
- *Rem 700 VS heavy barrel .308, Redfield LE-9 (3-9x50), Bell&Carlson synth.stock - free float, Versa-Pod, Turner M1907 sling, adjusted trigger.
- Rem 870 Marine Magnum, sold.
- H&K P7, 3 mags, DeSanti shoulder rig.
- Ruger 77/17, stainless, laminated, Leupold VX-3 (3.5-10x40), 3 mags.
- ˆRem 870 Marine Magnum, B-square rail mount, Trij branded 7.5moa Docter Red Dot, SpeedFeed III pistol grip stock. I like this one. It's my HD and, oddly enough, even tho' it has an 18" barrel, the Red Dot makes it a killer shootin' clays.
- Barrett M82A1M, Leupold Mark 4 LR/T (4.5-14x50), 3 mags.
- Kimber Rimfire Target, 3 mags.
- Beretta A400 Xcel, 30", 12g.
- Ruger 22/45 Lite, Black Anodize, Black Molded Rubber grips, 3 mags.
* These guns have digested countless thousands of rounds and still going strong.
ˆ Yeah, I bought this one twice, about ten years apart. Gonna put a bayonet, er, breaching choke on it next.
I guess a mention of things to serve as relative "who-am-I" qualifiers might be in order. Nothing spectacular but I was an NRA 6th Bar Sharpshooter at the age of 11. That was 50' small bore but make no mistake about the difficulty, a pinhole-sized dot is the 10x. I never thought about it before but that's prolly about 1/8moa. You gotta get a lot of 'em.
I'm also a Navy Veteran, JAN/83-JAN/88. During that time, the USMC trained me(and a hundred or so other squids) in the use of the FIM-92 Stinger(Distinguished Honor Grad, I killed everything 100%, including the academics). This was for an 18 month<ahem> TAD/TDY assignment, JUL/84-MAR/86<ahem>, in the Middle East which earned me a kaleidoscope of colors to wear on my jumper and one hell of an attitude. Go Navy!
Anyway, to get back to the gist of my original post, I know you guys have a ton of collective experience with this weapon system. Are there particular threads here that exemplify any profundities, epiphanies or plain old awe-inspiring moments with the AR10 platform?
As confident about all this as I may sound, I'm still looking for that something that's gonna say, "Yeah, you did right."
I guess I could just wait and see but it's startin' to kill me...kid-in-a-candy-store, Santa's coming, the tooth fairy showed up, mama's got new bazoongas...