It took me quite a while to trend toward the dark side. I'm much more into bolt guns and single shots. However my son started building AR's a while back. I would take him to the range to sight in his AR's. I was amazed at the accuracy he was getting with factory Ammo with stuff he had built. I've recently bought a couple Armalites.
a 3gn-18
and an AR-10 in 308 Win.
My son had built a 338 Federal and used it last season on hogs and coyotes. I liked the performance.
Several years ago I had a very disappointing outcome with a Sako in 338 federal and swore that I'd never have another. However in this instance, second time is "charm".
I used the Armalite lower. I tend to subscribe to the theory that one is seldom sorry that he went first class, so I bought a barrel from Wilson Combat and had it Cerrakoted in flat dark earth color. Lantac Nickel Boron BCG. Radian Raptor charging handle, JP Enterprises Adjustable Gas Block, Troy Industries 13.5" hand rail.
As an aside, it took a while to get it all together. It seems that unbeknownst to me, Wilson Combat uses a proprietary length intermediate gas tube of 13.25" rather than the standard intermediate tube lenght of 13.625". So first assembly the BCG would not go into battery. I was also told (not by Wilson, as at the time I did not know to ask) that a fixed gas block should work. It did not. I had to employ an adjustable gas block to get the rifle to cycle. Took three tries, but finally, the joy of success.
first shot, cold barrel, 100 yds. Hunting accuracy fer sure!
I'm already planning my next build, a 6.8 SPC 2.
ya!
GWB