Home Forums Hunting & Shooting AR and Tactical Rifles Ruger SFAR in 6.5 Creedmoor

Light weight is not my goal. This rifle, following the modifications I intend for it, will not be for carrying around much. Heavy (within reason, of course) is typically not a bad thing when shooting for precision from a stable position. To me, the most attractive feature of this rifle will be its potential for repeated, yet acceptably accurate shots at distance without the need to break and readjust my shooting position for bolt manipulation between shots. If it ultimately turns out that I’m unable to make that happen, the beast will likely be seeking a new home.

Strange. Most guys want this style for it's reduced weight and size, over the typical AR10/AR308 pattern rifle. Sounds like you would be better served by something like my S&W Performance center. That rifle is a hammer. I've yet to have any hiccup with it, and it drives tacks all the way out to 1,000 yards.

Acquisition logistics is no small consideration. It looks like arrangements are in place to have this one come directly from Ruger, hopefully just after the middle of the month. Then we’ll see what it’ll do, after I’ve fooled with it some, of course.

Brownells already came through with ammo and accessories:



But, I still won’t have the rifle before the middle of the month.

I'm curious to see how it works out. Keep us posted. Thanks!

Exchipy, thank you for the report. From the picture it looks like you are shooting the Model 5613. Is that the one you purchased. I'm looking real hard at either the 5612 or the 5613. I have Pulsar Didgex night vision scope sitting in the safe that would par nicely with this gun. Your thoughts please.

My choice is the Model 5619, the 20” version with the MagPul PRS Lite stock and ten shot magazine, as I don’t need 20 shot capacity for my purposes. I intend to set it up much like this AR-556 MPR:



… as it seems to do pretty well at distance:

It arrived today without prior warning:



Now, the fun begins.

Except for the scope and muzzle brake, I’ve already reconfigured the SFAR the way I want it. The Burris Veracity 5-25x50 is on its way from Lipsey’s today, and should be here before the weekend.  Be kinda hard to distinguish its appearance from my 5.56 MPR, but for the size of the mag well.

After installing it, I adjusted the TriggerTech single stage trigger to 2-1/4 pounds. That’s just above minimum. While that sounds attractive for precision, I’ll be paying particular attention to whether that might be too light to be practical.

I’m waiting to install the Ultradyne Athena linear compensator until after I get a precision/accuracy baseline with the factory muzzle brake.

Looks good. That trigger would be too light for me. On a "precision" (as you put it) AR, I do not want a single stage that light. My preference is for a good 2 stage though. Let us know how it shoots for you, and how reliable it is. As of right now, I have around 800 rounds on my S&W Performance Center with no malfunctions at all. I've heard some of these Rugers can be iffy. Keep us posted though.

What's the weight of a SFAR in .308? I'm not a fan of 8.5- 10lb rifles. Once you add a scope, mount, sling and 10rd mag, you have nothing you'd want to carry.

I went on a 4 mile trek this morning with my POF Revolution .308. It starts as a 6.8lb rifle and is manageable.

A very attractive feature of the TrigerTech Diamond is the ease with which its pull weight can be adjusted from 1-1/2 pounds up to 4 pounds, using the provided Allen wrench. I haven’t yet determined what pull weight might be best. But, I’m not too keen on going below two pounds on a semi-auto, though I’ve had bolt and single shot guns down to a very nice pound and a half, and they felt kinda heavy after I got used to them.

The intended scope should arrive within the next few days. So, I may get a chance to try it at the range next week. Everything is still a big WE’LL SEE.

[align:center][/align]The Burris Veracity 5-25x50 arrived today, and got itself mounted, leveled and bore sighted. The 6.5 SFAR is now set up for its inaugural range session:

First will be with Hornady match ammo. I’m certainly not an admirer of that muzzle brake. But, I do want to see how the rifle shoots with it before I substitute the Ultradyne Athena linear compensator to direct the noise and corruption forward.




All this fuss and bother, just so I doesn’t hasta work a bolt between shots at distance. The crowning achievement in laziness, eh?

two comments to the trigger, the adjustment screw deal I would be worried about the screw coming out, the 1.5 pounds can double on you from recoil as the gun moves forward and you don't move your finger it might pull the trigger again, I have seen it happen. Thanks for sharing that info, let us know how it works.

That’s why I initially have it set at 2-1/4 pounds, same as on my MPR pictured above, which worked out pretty well to 500 yards.

The spring-loaded design of the detents on the TriggerTech adjustment screw most definitely prevent any unintended turning, I can tell you.

Some years ago, I was very interested in getting one of these:


https://www.gunsandammo.com/editorial/review-savage-arms-msr10-long-range-6-5-creedmoor/247735

But, couldn’t find one.

Looks like I’ve now reproduced it pretty well with the Ruger 6.5 SFAR. But, shooting results will have the final say.

It may be a good thing you didn't. One of my buddies has one chambered in 308w, and it's constant problems.

Your rifle looks great. How much does it weigh (all up, as shown)? I love Burris rifle scopes, but don't like first focal plane. I run the AR specific rifle scopes on all of my AR's, except for the 6.5 Creedmoor, which has a NF on it. They do exceptionally well. Dial well, and have not had one fail yet!! You must be waiting on the weather, to get out and shoot? The weather has straightened up a bit over here. There for a while, it was snow and wild winds, then winds, and hail and rain, then more winds!!!! Tried to shoot a little online challenge the other day, and got rained on. Only shot 1 damn target that day!!!

I must admit to ignorance and apathy, ‘cause I don’t know and I don’t care. I can easily pick it up with both hands and move it from my ride to the shooting bench or other suitable shooting spot with a good view of targets far away. That’s all the portability needed for its intended purpose.

Got other stuff for carrying around, such as:

I'd be curious if the Ruger came with an adjustable gas block. My AR-10 in 6.5 from PSA does have one, and it needs it, too!

They do, and the first gens have major issues. They have a new 2nd generation, that guys have been changing out the first gens with. The rifle the OP purchased, is one of the better rifles, with less issues. If you do a search on Youtube, you'll see where a lot of guys have had major reliability issues, and I believe the adjustable gas block is the culprit. I'm surprised they have not recalled them, but they did redesign it.