FAL or AR10 ?

[The Heretic]

The thing about a FAL is that if you want to change it later, you won't be able to as easily or as cheaply as other rifles in its class, so make sure you get one that supports what you want to do out of the box because in the long run it will cost more to modify it later.

E.G., If you want one with a carrying handle, get one with the carrying handle cut. If you want a shorter barrel, get one with the shorter barrel (I always prefer shorter barrels on defensive rifles). If you want a folding buttstock, get one with it out of the box. All of these things and some others, will cost you more to add later.

 

[Martini_Up]

Sort of a side question here but does anyone have any experience with the DSA FAL Voyager model (aka cheap version)? I've not found much about it review wise online.

The Voyager is the budget version of the DSA FALs, and has a barrel that's not cut for a bipod, a receiver that's not cut for a carry handle, and a fixed "Holland-style" rear sight. These Voyagers also have a cast receiver, as opposed to the usual forged receiver used on the higher priced DSA builds. (However, it seems that some of the original FN FALs had cast receivers too, so that may be a non-issue.)

It's DSA so they're GTG and carry their warrantee. Like other DSA FAL's, they don't come up for sale (used) very often as the people who own them, typically like them.

 

[Mr Smith]

Do you mean the difference in magazines? DPMS uses the SR25 style, The AR-10A uses SR25 and the AR10B uses the M14 style mag. There are other 7.62 AR's that use G3 and FAL mags. The SR25 has become the defacto standard.

I'm invested in the M14 style as I adopted the platform some time ago. If I was just getting my first 7.62/.308 AR it would be the SR25 style and I would probably stay with ArmaLite or LMT.



ArmaLite also uses many same common AR15 parts. ArmaLite does use a longer RE and heavier buffer, this reduces felt recoil. The DPMS uses AR15 size RE with a modded carbine buffer. Gas blocks just depends on th ebarrel, my 16" AR10 carbine is .750 at the GB as most 5.56 barrels.



+10

The 7.62/.308 AR should be more accurate than any rifle that has a gas cylinder attached to the barrel like the M14/M1A, M1C and most other military gas guns. The absence of moving parts on a floated barrel is a advantage.

The main reason I recommend the DPMS spec version is because I have seen far more aftermarket support adopting the DPMS platform than the armalite platform.

in all honesty I feel it will be like HD-DVD vs BluRay and we obviously know how that turned out...

The one with the most 3rd party support will eventually win the war and become the standard spec for the platform. I would rather go with the one with the most aftermarket support just for the fact of when I need replacement parts I can easily find them if the company that made the original part went out of business.

As we have seen in this economy: even big companies are not safe from going under and disappearing.

I have nothing against the other specs, just prefer having more support and more options.

I also like the fact that magpul makes pmags for the DPMS

 

[muskoka]

For a deer rifle, the AR10 comes with a hefty price tag. However, if your heart is set on a semi-automatic military type rifle, I would choose the AR10 for the ease of mounting good optics. The FAL is a nice historical rifle, known for its good reputation, but the AR10 type rifle has better potential for accurizing.