I have a really nice 308 bolt action rifle. But recently thought I would start looking for a nice semi-automatic rifle. I was wondering if you agree with what I think are the 3 best 308 semi-automatic rifles available.
I have experience with three rifles:
3 Best 308 Semi-Automatic Rifles
Springfield Armory M1A
The M14 rifle was the selective fire rifle that replaced the M1 Garand rifle in U.S. Army in the early 1960s. The Springfield Armory M1A is the civilian version of the M14 rifle designed and manufactured by Springfield Armory, Inc. in 1974. This is a great rifle. Incredibly accurate and reliable. There are a half dozen or so different models that Springfield Armory manufactures.
I think that if I went with the M1A that I would have to go with the Springfield Armory M1A Socom 16 CQB.
AR-10
The AR-10 is actually the father of the AR-15. It was developed by Eugene Stoner in the late 1950s at Armalite (a division of Fairchild Aircraft Corporation then). The Armalite AR-10 was designed and hurriedly entered in contention to be the replacement for the M1 Garand for the U.S. Military. But because they had to hurry to enter, there were some minor flaws apparent when they stress tested the different rifles. The M14 ended up winning the competition and very few original AR-10s were produced. It wasn’t till later when a smaller round was rechambered in the same design that the AR-15 was born and Colt took of the manufacturing contract from there.
The AR-10 is produced by hundreds of different vendors now, and like the AR-15 it can be customized to your heart’s content. I love my AR-15 from F1 Firearms and if I ended up buying an AR-10 I would probably look at their BDR-10-3G Billet Full Build Rifle first.
FN FAL
The FAL, or Fusil Automatique Léger (Light Automatic Rifle), is produced by the Belgian manufacturer Fabrique Nationale de Herstal (FN). It is the second most common rifle in the world behind the AK variants. Over 90 countries have used it in their military forces. The design is simple and it is a very reliable rifle.
DSArms (DSA as they are commonly known), produces an exceptional version of the FN Fal in the United Sates utilizing new tooling, improved materials and modernized processes.
What is the Best 308 Semi-Automatic Rifle?
You will notice that all of the rifles highlighted in this post are civilian models of iconic military rifles. Each are battle proven and immediately recognized by history buffs for their important role in history. When NATO choose the 7.62x51mm round, there were a lot of different firearms produced to use the round.
What am I overlooking? Is there another really nice semi-automatic .308 that I should be looking at?
PTR 91