M1A vs AR-10...
 

Here's the skinny. You have roughly $2000 to spend. Your ONLY choices are an M1A or an AR-10(or AR-10 variant), brand or other specs are up to you. Specific criteria is to build the most accurate rifle @ 200 yards.
Most shooting will be done from a bench position but I would prefer not to have a rifle that is to heavy to reliably shoot from the standing position.
Scope is fine, ACOG would be great but unrealistic in that price range.

What do you choose and why?

not a huge fan of semi-auto .308 but i would go with m1a parts are far more common with interchangable parts. ar10 are manufacturer specific. ar10 breaks you gotta hope the original manufacturer still has parts. iron sights are sufficient out to 300+ any scope is more than capabale at 200 yards long as it can withstan recoil. the ar beats the m1a in scope mounting options.

for anything past 200yds i prefer a bolt gun.

I shoot both, so I guess I would relate to your post more as which one would I keep? Very tough question!

They both have their advantages and drawbacks. Neither are my long range go-to rifles. If I can hit a 5 gallon bucket everytime at 400 yds, I'm good to go with them. Most all of my rifle shooting is from a bench off bags so I do favor high power magnification in my scopes, can't hit what you can't see.

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m...AR-10002-1.jpg

My M1As are SA & the AR-10 is Armalite, all have lifetime warranties, equal on that point. The AR-10 is more ammo and mag sensitive than the M1A, but like JonM noted it's easier & cheaper, (cost of a quality mount) to scope.

If I could only have one, I'd have to keep the M1A due to reliability ONLY. In my experience, right from the box, the AR-10 has a slight edge in accuracy over the standard M1A. But I've never had a jam with my SAs, guess they win! This is all JMHO, I'm sure others will have their own ideas. Good Post!

I like the AR-10's but love the M14's.

The accuracy difference is academic to me. The limitation is the caliber. Either rifle will hit any necessary target out past the effective range of the .308/7.62x51 round. So 5/8 MOA vs. 1/2 MOA doesn't matter in a practical sense.

Check out the LRB rifles M14 Rifle.

$2,000 won't cover the cost of entry, but it is a nice start. Get the M25 if you plan on mounting a scope.

Well I like the M1a, but its a 3MOA rifle...so Id drop in a J. Allen stock. 200 yrds and she'll be a tack driver

I have a several M14's and none are 3MOA rifles.

But a JAE stock will cut group sizes in half.

M1A, the only way to go IMHO.....I'm old school anyway........

Jim..........

One more vote for the M1A. No other compelling reasons to add above those already stated here.

Yes I do have one. I've had it since '97 and have never ever had any problem with it.

Sweet. Thanks Dad! :)

Bummer. I can work with it. But is there a reason I only get to choose from those two? What is the long term application needed that a bolt gun with an external magazine would not cover?

Most accurate is going to be neither. The AR is going to be more accurate & allegedly less reliable. The Piston AR is going to be more reliable and less accurate. The dog leg op rod M1A is going to be most reliable, lacking the most accuracy in it's basic out of the box configuration.
Ah hell. Now I have to put together a build list with someone else's money? :eek: Oh Okay..... :D

Here you go Yunus. This was just playing around with what I could find on the 'net that wasn't junk, gave you a nice, accurate, name brand upper and EDIT: Barely blew your budget. EDIT

Lower Receiver Parts Kit: AR-10 ($75.00)
http://www.shadez-of-gray.com/servlet/the-478/DPMS-AR-dsh-10-.308-Lower/Detail

Tactical Machining Lower - Billet: ($200.00)
http://www.tacticalmachining.com/products.php?pid=41#images/372_247-308-lower-final.jpg

A2 Stock ( with hardware ): ($85.00)
http://www.armalite.com/ItemForm.aspx?item=EA6050G

Noveske Upper ( complete with BCG ): ($1695.00)
http://riflegear.com/showproduct.aspx?ProductID=463&SEName=noveske-n6-21-heavy-762mm-ar-10-upper

Now, some of the stuff is out of stock. That is to be expected, but this gives you an idea of what is available in your price range if you want to go the build route.

Cheers!

JD