Pile On - M1A
I'll play, too.
Seems a lot of bloggers have been trashing the M14 / M1A build of late. I cannot disagree with any of the main points that have been listed here or there.
But I'll take it up a notch. Here are two statements that I'm sure will be met with skepticism:
I can hear the objections now!
"Oh, the .308 is perfect, you can sweep rooms with a good semi auto and still hit targets out to 1000 yards."
Actually - you can... but that is a misleading statement. Typical commercial .308 loads will go trans-sonic somewhere between 800 - 1000 yards, when shot out of the 16" barrels that are so common. Not much different than good 75 and 77 - grain 5.56.
And the 5.56 is much better in the recoil and expense department.
Plus - are you really capable of making that shot?
If you can make the shot... then you know that a larger cartridge, like .300 Win Mag, .338 Lapua, etc., will be far better for such a shot.
So anything the .308 can do can be accomplished much better with a different round. It's time to retire this antiquated round. But, it won't be retired any time soon. Too many fanbois.
.
Seems a lot of bloggers have been trashing the M14 / M1A build of late. I cannot disagree with any of the main points that have been listed here or there.
But I'll take it up a notch. Here are two statements that I'm sure will be met with skepticism:
- In our modern world, the .308 / 7.62 NATO round as a whole is an answer to a question that should never have been asked.
- There's nothing the .308 / 7.62 NATO can do that cannot be done better.
I can hear the objections now!
"Oh, the .308 is perfect, you can sweep rooms with a good semi auto and still hit targets out to 1000 yards."
Actually - you can... but that is a misleading statement. Typical commercial .308 loads will go trans-sonic somewhere between 800 - 1000 yards, when shot out of the 16" barrels that are so common. Not much different than good 75 and 77 - grain 5.56.
And the 5.56 is much better in the recoil and expense department.
Plus - are you really capable of making that shot?
If you can make the shot... then you know that a larger cartridge, like .300 Win Mag, .338 Lapua, etc., will be far better for such a shot.
So anything the .308 can do can be accomplished much better with a different round. It's time to retire this antiquated round. But, it won't be retired any time soon. Too many fanbois.
.
I've read alot of the blogs you refer to. Your right, they have piled on. And for good reason. But I think you have hit the core of the problem. Its the round more than the platform.
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