This morning, before the rain started at SHOT Show range day, my buddy and I each shot Ruger’s sample 6.5 SFAR.

First, our conclusion: We’re each enthusiastically gonna get one!



Now, for the details: The sample 6.5 SFAR had a can screwed on the front, so recoil and blast could not be properly assessed, though recoil was certainly lighter than expected. Precision also could not be properly assessed because questionable Aguila ammo was all that was provided, and the scope was mounted about 3/8” too low (it was a real struggle to get a full field view). The Ruger dude in charge said the ammo had been iffy for them, and he was not happy with it. But, it must have been the cheapest that could be found. (We nevertheless easily busted the clay pigeons set out at 100 yards [yawn], and the Garmin showed 2,450-ish.) The rifle ran perfectly for me, but my buddy had a feed jam on his last round (after the photo). Though it was not a perfect showing, the rifle was a very attractive specimen, with which we were most impressed. An attribute which we found quite compelling is its precision rifled, 5R, nitride treated barrel. My personal experience with Ruger 5R rifling and nitride treated barrels has been extremely positive with my AR-556 MPR and my Ruger Precision Rifle, both in 5.56 NATO, as well as with my Black Nitride treated, pre-WW II Savage 219 with its conventionally rifled .30-30 barrel. With proper ammo and break-in, I have very high hopes for our 6.5 SFARs, when we get them.

thank you for the report, to me and this is just my opinion, the 6.5 CM makes sense in an accurate bolt gun and for some reason 308 seems to be more appropriate for a semi auto rifle unless said rifle shot 1 MOA or better consistently. I don't know if the sfar has shown this kind of accuracy in anything I have read.

We’ll see. Now arranging to get one. Expectations are high.

Results with my conventionally rifled Ruger AR-556 MPR have been most satisfactory:




… and, with my 5R rifled Ruger Precision Rifle in 5.56NATO, impressive:


.65 MOA works out to about 4” @ 600 yards.

I really enjoy the 16” 308 version. With a SWFA 1-4, I can easily maintain under 1.5 moa at 100 yards. With the SWFA 10x mounted, I can keep it at just under 1 MOA. No plans on getting the 6.5 CM version, but interested in seeing what it can do in terms of accuracy.

Gonna take a while to get the rifle, and then to get it running its best. So, please stand by.

Why the 308 vs 6.5 CM issue in an AR vs bolt gun. I can't rationalize that in my mind.?

the AR 10 type rifles I have had, maybe 3 of them were in 308,IIRC they were 2-3 MOA type guns in my hands anyway, (even had an FAL once) so not in my hands would they be 500+ yard guns. The bolts I have had and still own are much more accurate and I have a couple in 6.5CM. So why would I want a long range and weaker cartridge in a gun that is not long range capable? Of course this is just my opinion, maybe there are flaws in my thinking, but if I have a 2-3 MOA gun, why not have the most powerful 2-3 MOA gun possible? Again, maybe the 6.5 CM SFAR is a 1/2 MOA gun and I am mistaken, if it were a true 1 moa gun I sure would be interested. If it were a 1-2 MOA gun in 308 I would be interested, seems like there still is some controversy over its performance or quality control.

If you get a good 6.5 Creedmoor semi auto, you'll love it. I'm not sure about Ruger though. Seems idiotic that they did not use the proper scope mount. I'm sure this is not their first rodeo?? You'd think to show off your product, you'd have that sob set up properly. You'd also have a rifle that functioned flawlessly, and shot very accurately.

If the Ruger has a good 5R barrel, I'd expect it to shoot 5 shot moa groups, no problem. My S&W Performance Center 6.5 Creedmoor shoot groups of around .8 moa for 10 shots, so 5 shots at moa should be more than doable with the Ruger.

The concept is cool, having a much lighter weight AR10 type rifle, but if it's not reliable or accurate, that would be a hard pass for me. Personally

Thanks to the OP for posting his results with the SFAR, but there are still many questions that need addressed. The report of his buddy having a failure, is not good, and why the hell was Ruger using such crap ammo?

I have a PSA 6.5 CM and it is a great shooter, but man it is heavy. I am sorta keen on a light one. I'll be watching this one.

I have not had a performance center gun, I had the S&W MP10, a DPMS, and a SR762 ruger, I reloaded for them and they were reliable, they were however heavy, and so so accurate, at least for me. The sig cross trax in 308 is looking pretty interesting, its on my list of things to waste my money on. At my age if you walk around for a 1/2 mile or more with a 12 pound rifle plus your other gear at some point it becomes an annoyance and the trade off in working a bolt instead of just pulling the trigger becomes more palatable. I don't need to lay down fire on the deer, but would like to reliably hit one at 2-300 while not sweating so much.

That makes sense to me.

I cannot fathom an AR thats a 2-3 moa gun but I've never had the AR10. I need to buy a bear creek lower I guess, all I have is an armalite. Bear creek has some really good deals and the 15 platforms have been acceptably accurate.

But that does make sense.

As to power, its all over rated. The right bullet in the right place is all it takes. I have more than a few deer with 223 out towards 600 and never an issue with that.

What makes no sense is thinking if you have an inaccurate gun that the power is going to help you. Power on a bad shot rarely does plus the power makes it harder to shoot. Unless you move way up like my 458, there I can shoot a bear in the back end if thats all I have and the bullet will reach vitals and often times will exit kind of thing.

140 6.5 vs 150 .308. The 140 might even penetrate more due to smaller diameter. Its more likely to give up more of its energy inside the animal too. Granted you can shoot bigger in the 308. And even the 6.5 but thats kind of apple to apple comparison.

If you have accurate bolt guns then its not how you shoot the AR I wouldn't think. Its you have not had a good AR.

Of course the odds of me ever owning a ruger are pretty slim so I likely won't find out how accurate these are.

As to power, its all over rated. The right bullet in the right place is all it takes. I have more than a few deer with 223 out towards 600 and never an issue with that.

I have not had a problem killing deer(s) and pigs with a 5.56 either, OTOH where I have hunted all my life in the southeast a good blood trail is pretty important, blood trails with deer I have shot with larger rifles have always been a bit better when well hit than what a 5.56 has given, this may have been bullet dependent as I am most familiar with the tsx bullets in the 5.56. Yes I am sure the AR10's I had would deliver better than 2 MOA with extensive reloading efforts and with an expert shooting them.

If you get a big exit wound you have better odds of a better trail. FWIW I'm noticing bigger exits from 140 Berger match bullets in the 6.5 than the 308 and Berger 185 match bullets used to give. Just an FYI.

But I hear you on the blood trail part. Most don't want to trail while we just love that part of the hunt. of course now that I have a dog its even more fun to trail. But I get it.

If I was worried about thick brush, and almost all states have areas of it, I'd try CNS shots period. I've been on my hands and knees crawling after a brown bear in a tunnel so I know what you mean.

And a last story... We followed a blood trail a ways in a swamp once over close to Louisiana. 223 and I hit a vine or something just before it splattered the deer. Broke that deers front leg low and never could quite catch it. Not a killing shot but I digress. Wife said buy something bigger. Went to 50 beowulf and 275 barnes X. Deer still ran about the same distances but they did tend to leave a bit better blood trail most times.

Been attending “Range Day” at SHOT for too many years, now. Only rarely will a rifle manufacturer provide the best ammo and have its rifles set up the best possible way. Most figure, quite correctly I’m afraid, that the majority of media types cannot shoot well enough to discern the difference (sorta like casting pearls before swine). There are noteworthy exceptions, however, with those manufacturers who showcase their precision long range products on the few 500+ yard range bays available, and those few media people with the proper skills and experience. (By the way, I’m not a media guy, and I’m not nearly as skilled as some media guys with whom I am acquainted.)

Back when Ruger first introduced its Precision Rifle, they went all out, presenting samples for test firing with Hornady Match ammo on a 500 yard range bay and at steel targets. Those rifles performed surprisingly well, as does my personal RPR in 5.56NATO.

While I certainly wish it had been otherwise, I understand Ruger’s uninspired approach this time, given the 100 yard limitation of their range bay and the short range nature of their other products presented for test firing, as if the 6.5 SFAR was included as an afterthought.

I’m itching to get my hands on a 20” 6.5 SFAR, to see what’s possible.

Get a Tikka. ha ha..

After you get it, keep us posted. The rifle I mentioned in a previous post, has had zero failures, and shoots lights out, but it is heavy. The concept of the SFAR is pretty cool. I hope they work out well. Lighter makes it easier to pack, but excellent accuracy/precision is going to be the icing on the cake. rost mentions the BCA, and if those shoot moa, I'd for damn sure expect the Ruger to do just as well. My sample of AR10's is very small, but both of the ones I've had, shoot almost as well as my AR15's.

I have a tikka CTR in 6.5CM with a 2.5-10 x 42 NF in Seekins precision rings, for some reason it likes most 140ish grain bullets over Hodgdon and IMR 4350. It is kind of humiliating to shoot it at 100 yards at the range as it often looks like you missed the target completely, with your second, third shot, but then I usually do something stupid like not pay complete attention and shoot one 1/2" away from the first hole.

Exactly. That is why I shoot a lot of 400+ yard targets now. I will say that the S&W Performance Center has, at times, shot better groups way out there than the CTR. However, talking about packing a rifle around and hunting with it, my suggestion for Tikka is always going to be a Superlite or lite. There is absolutely no need to pack a CTR, or a heavy AR10 in the woods. At least for my style of hunting. The heavy AR10 is excellent for playing around at the range though.

absolutely! I don't like to pack the CTR! We just got a tikka compact in 6.5 for the grandboys, and it shoots damn near as well as the ctr. the dude we got the compact from had put a different trigger spring in it. Nice trigger!

FWIW.. the very last thing I expected today was stopping at a shop. And they had a BCA AR10 lower in. I looked at it a bit and ordered one asap. 230 bucks out the door. 2 stage trigger though it will take some tuning its not totally clean at all. With the BCA AR10 uppers showing for under 300 bucks next spring I will know how their AR10 stuff works. Hmmm I should look into what mags too I suspect.

That said I also heard the first bad stuff about BCA other than on here. Owner that I know very well said they had a couple that came in with bcg that had metal shavings and where rough. IE they didn't get blown out and cleaned. I clean any gun I get before I ever shoot it just in case. No matter the make.

Anyway he said they had 2 uppers over a few years that just scattered shots all over the place. Called BCA and they sent new uppers asap if they were in stock and the new ones worked just fine.

I don't like using warranty. But you need good warranty. And I always go back to the first ever expensive scope I bought. At the time I was listening to folks say Leupold was it... and I had bought into that. When Zeiss were on sale one day I just said what the heck. Dump some money. Dang did it make a fool of my L scopes. But it also broke on the first shot out of the 300 wtby. They had good warranty. I have actually used Zeiss warranty as often as L, but the optics and repeatability of the Z have always been better but thats another topic.

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.

I’d sure like to know something about the nature of the “major reliability issues,” without needing to watch blowhards on YouTube, and why the adjustable gas block is believed to be the culprit.

Haven’t had the opportunity yet for range testing mine. So, I’d like to know what to watch for. I noticed the gas block came from the factory adjusted to setting 3 (the most open), while the manual suggests setting 2 would be the best place to start. It may simply be that selection 3 was last thing factory test fired before the rifle was boxed up for shipment. Or, it could be a clue.

Like I said, yours should be the new generation with less issues. These issues are there with the first gen, trust me on that one. It's not hype or anything I'm making up either. As with all of my posts, I speak honestly. This is good info right here. Regardless if you watch Youtube videos or not. This was a problem, and Ruger knows it. They did the right thing, and will send a new gas regulator for the AGB, to help fix some of these exhibiting issues:





One thing I'd do with these Ruger rifles, and other Ruger rifles is check it out very well even before firing it. There are some things I do anyway, like loctite stuff, that they don't. Make sure the gas block is perfectly aligned, and screws tight. Clean and properly lube them. Their QC is like its always been, not worth a chidt..

I certainly appreciate your effort in providing those YouTube videos. Thank you. Those YouTube gun “experts” certainly love to hear themselves talk. 20 minutes of viewing to get maybe 5 minutes of useful, on-point information. That first character didn’t even show the subject rifle - didn’t have it anymore. I’d actually viewed that one before my earlier comment. But, I eventually did learn a few things from the other two videos, after the yokel got done explaining in detail a bunch of stuff that didn’t matter.

I recently built an aero m5 in 6.5 Creedmoor with a light Hanson profile 18" barrel. It's not too bad but I still wouldn't mind it being a bit lighter.

I'm actually pretty optimistic about the ruger sfar. I'd like to get one in a 308 with a 16" barrel and another in 6.5 with an 18" or maybe 20" max barrel. What barrel lengths do you think they'll offer in 6.5?

I have an older dpms recon 308 with a 16" lighter barrel and it's a 1moa or better gun. I've pretty much stayed with the same load I started with so it may even do better. I shoot a 175g cc nosler over pp2000mr in LCLR brass. I need to get it out and try my 155 scenar loads in it. I just hate the old quad rail I have on it. I need to figure out what handrails work on it and replace it with something mlock.


Bb

Generally, when compared to the 6.5 Creedmoor, I believe that the .308 Winchester is disadvantaged by reason of its SAAMI dimensional specifications. The differences in SAAMI specifications between maximum and minimum permissible dimensions are greater for the .308 Winchester than for the 6.5 Creedmoor. For cartridge chamberings in wide general use, such as the .308, the larger commercial rifle manufacturers will keep their production tolerances within those SAAMI specifications, if they know what’s good for them. Otherwise, their customer service departments will be constantly dealing with warranty claims that a “defective” rifle excessively bulges cases or won’t chamber the bargain ammo the user bought on the cheap.

Chamber reamers for large scale commercial production of rifles chambered for the most common rifle cartridges, such as the .308 Winchester, are typically supplied at SAAMI maximum dimensions for a particular cartridge. Due to manufacturing cost considerations, those initial maximum dimensions are slowly reduced over time, through inevitable wear and resharpening, until they reach minimum SAAMI dimensions, after which the reamers are replaced. So, any particular rifle may have a chamber ranging anywhere from maximum (early in reamer lifespan) to minimum (late in reamer lifespan) SAAMI dimensions for its intended cartridge.

At the .308 maximum SAAMI chamber dimensions, a SAAMI minimum dimensioned cartridge would likely not be held consistently concentric to the bore axis upon firing, resulting in pretty ho-hum accuracy. Neck sizing of once fired cartridge cases can remedy that to a great extent. But, precision shooting with factory ammunition is most likely doomed. With such a mass produced rifle, then, the only hope is to luck into one which by chance happens to have chamber dimensions precisely matched to the dimensions of the factory ammunition to be used.

Even after all that, SAAMI chamber freebore specs for the two cartridges are quite different. The freebore dimensions won’t be as snug around a bullet in the .308 Winchester chamber as they will around a bullet in the 6.5 Creedmoor chamber. The 6.5 bullet is therefore given a much better chance to enter the rifling straight on, without yaw, than is the .308 bullet.

Custom or semi-custom rifle barrels with match chambers in .308 Winchester are quite a different story, however. And, there are those rifle manufacturers which produce the chamber and bore simultaneously through hammer forging, like H&K and maybe Ruger. Then, it comes down to the dimensional consistency of the ammunition, which can be a good deal looser in the vast array of commercially produced .308 Winchester cartridges.

My new 6.5 SFAR’s first 20 round range session was yesterday. The only cycling failures I had were when I tried to get away with using gas port selection No.1 with Hornady 147gr. ELD-M ammo during initial sight-in @ 100 (cases wouldn’t even clear the chamber). Selection no.2 then ran without issues for the remainder of the 20 rounds. Everything stayed tight (except its first group [3”@200], but it’s early yet), no evidence of gas leaking around the gas port. Reasonably happy, so far.

Next step will be to install the Ultradyne linear compensator in place of the factory muzzle brake, and maybe reduce the adjustable TriggerTech’s trigger pull (now @ 2-1/4) a bit more, then try it again.

Discovered yesterday who had done the anodizing and nitride on my 6.5 SFAR:






It was certainly something worth seeing.

With its three facilities (North, West, and South), H&M Metal Processing has become the go-to supplier of surface finishes for just about the entire U.S. firearms industry. The biggest names in the business use H&M.

Now only in their early 40s, the two brothers responsible for developing the process and making the operation what it is, have been at it since their early teens. Theirs is an absolutely amazing success story, their enthusiasm inspiring. I’ve known them for years and have had them apply their outstanding surface treatment to some of my personal firearms (pictured elsewhere on the ‘fire). But, only yesterday did I actually come to know the extent of their reach in the industry. I am so very pleased to be able to call them friends.

Weather was near calm and quite pleasant this morning, for a change. So, I took my 6.5 SFAR to 500 yards, starting at 100 yards, and made 30 empty cases from Hornady 140gr ELD-M factory ammo. Results were reasonably good, but not yet exciting, actually quite acceptable for there being only fifty rounds through it, so far. Its 3/4” hundred yard five shot group did not translate into much less than about 6 or 7” at five hundred yards. The TriggerTech’s pull weight is now set at two pounds, exactly, and very nice. Garmin said velocity was 2570-ish, but with a somewhat disappointing 76 fps extreme spread and 22 standard deviation. I expect careful reloads to do better. Still no cycling issues whatsoever. No other problems to report, either. It’s a keeper, alright. The big fun is yet to come, as it breaks-in thoroughly.


Eventually figured out the correct elevation on the 24” steel at 500 yards, using only the trajectory information provided by the factory on the cartridge box label. There’s some .223 73gr. ELD-Ms mixed in there, too.

Results next time should be a bit more refined.

recently acquired an SFAR in 308. first issue for me was chewing up the brass heads pretty bad.
I calmed that problem down a great deal by installing a tubs flat wire spring and going to the heaviest buffer. I accomplished this by installing three tungsten weights. that made a lot of difference..

on the recommended two setting the gun is somewhat over gasped ejecting at about the 230 position. you change the number three it moves up to probably about the 2:00 position.

my next step is I will install a superlative gas block. all the reading and research I've done says that will fix that over gas issue while still providing plenty of setting to use for suppressor if so desired..

With my 6.5, I noticed it had a tendency to skin the headstamps just a bit on the Hornady 147gr ELD-M factory ammo. Not so much with the 140gr ELD-M ammo. My gas block has remained on the No.2 setting since my unsuccessful attempt to get it to run on No.1, in the very beginning. After a few hundred rounds, I’ll likely try the No.1 setting again, just to re-check.

The Ultradyne Athena 30 cal. linear compensator does seem to have cut the noise some at my end, though the rifle does jump around a bit. It settles back down in time to see the 500 yard impacts, however.

I assume a 6.5 is the same as 308 in the book it tells you number 1 is for suppressor use #2 is what would be normal used #3 is if number two don't work..