Talk me out of selling my AR

[OgenRwot]

First, I'm a married guy that went back to school so I'm a college student on a serious budget. So yeah, none of the "save your money and have two" replies. Trust me, if I could I would. But I'm not gonna have an extra $1000 to dump on a rifle for at least another year.

I'm heavily considering selling my AR-15 (556) to fund an AR in 308, probably a DPMS. I love my AR but I don't shoot it much because, well, you can only have so much fun blasting away at dirt. It's got an EOTech on it so it's set up as a battle rifle. I have it pretty much strictly for a SHTF situation and the occasional two and three gun matches. So matches aside I'm not going to be kicking doors down in SHTF scenario, I'm going to be avoiding BGs when possible.

I love to shoot precision rifle matches. Tactical style, p-dogs, prone, bench...whatever. I shoot that with my 700 bolt gun but it's pretty much straight up bench rest style so tactical and p-dog matches are hard with it. Can't fit rounds in the magazine and it's got a super light trigger. Can't exactly bounce around with it either.

If I build a 308 it's going to be more of a 500-1000 yard shooter which puts it beyond the threshold of what I would call a DMR. I would put at least a 16x variable optic on it but you can't exactly just carry that around and throw it up to your eye to make shot at 50 yards.

So yeah, talk me out of selling the 223. Why do I need that over a DMR/precision AR? I've kicked around a bunch of thoughts but it helps to have other's input as well. Sometimes you overlook something.

[Scanker19]

The price of ammo would be my major concern. .308 Cost a lot. 5.56 only cost 6-7 dollars a box for brass cased, even less for steel. That has to be at least twice as much training.

[Graves]

Look back to last christmas...wasn't long ago at all was it? Just hold out because I promise after running a few long range strings you'll wish you had the AR to plink around with too. You really don't need one over the other but enjoying the AR for now should keep the LR craving at bay for a little while.

[OgenRwot]

The price of ammo would be my major concern. .308 Cost a lot. 5.56 only cost 6-7 dollars a box for brass cased, even less for steel. That has to be at least twice as much training.

I reload so cost of ammo isn't really much of a factor. We're talking 40-50 cents a round for match grade stuff. We're not talking about heading out to the woods and laying down covering fire.

[Byte Stryke]

What if the Zombies come?
What will your wife shoot for those long range head shots??

[StagLefty]

All the above reasons-keep it

[tmckay2]

id keep it and wait. but heres some advice from someone who recently bought a 308.

first, if you are a smart shopper, i wouldn't buy a factory rifle. build your own. its easy and you can get a LOT more bang for your buck if you shop around and read reviews on whats best for a tight budget. everyone thinks its so expensive to build your own but youd be surprised, especially if you aren't afraid to have a few parts lightly used, like a stock or rail, something like that.

second, you can reload match grade ammo for WELL under 40-50 cents a round. look at midwestshooterssupply and their nosler 168 gr bthp bullets. they sell them in 1000 counts for around 210. then factor in 30 bucks for primers and then it just comes down to powder. thats assuming you don't use any discounts or anything too. ive reloaded some really nice ones for right about 30 cents a round. again, just shop around some, or find powder used for cheap, etc.

im in grad school right now too so the only money im allowed to spend on firearms is stuff i sell first. believe me if you really look you can get really nice deals, especially if you are willing to wait a year (or have to out of necessity). but if you sell your 223 you will regret it soon and want another one. id say its best to keep it and wait on the 308 or simply buy it part by part from now til next year when you see smokin deals on parts (check here, ar15.com (puke), m4carbine.net and ar15armory.com). i just found a larue rifle length rail, mounted but otherwise new, for $190. there are some nice deals out there and you could build a sweet rifle in a year for pretty cheap.

one last piece of advice. if you don't mind spending a bit of an extra dime on the receivers, the mega billet ma-ten set is very nice. its $500 for the set but you won't be disappointed. also check out blackhole weaponry for barrels, also very nice and you can read about them on ar15armory.com. let you customize the barrel all you want and pretty fair price, especially for .308.

[Troublco]

Well, when I am going to make a serious decision I always try to put a list of the pros and cons together to help make a good decision.

Selling the AR-15 pros - help fund an AR-10, give you a .308 semiauto, help you to shoot your tactical and p-dog matches. Ammo commonality with your bolt gun. Add any others I missed.

Cons - probably won't cover the whole cost of the AR-10 so you'll be cash out of pocket, parts/accessories/magazines cost more, you already have this one and its accessories/mags, gun is heavier if you hunt, etc. Once again, add any I missed.

You can really make the argument whichever way you want. It comes down to what you want to do, how you want to do it, and what you want to do it with. Do you want to keep what you have and not put any money out of pocket until after you are done with student status and have an income again, or do you want to try to do this in your current situation and risk having to compromise the AR-10 in who knows how many ways until you can afford to do it the way you really want to? Can you make do while you're a student, or not? Can you afford to do this right now, or not?

I have seriously considered an AR-10 type rifle, but I have two M1A/M14s with all the accessories I need, so I just can't quite make myself need an AR-10 enough. I'd like one, I really thought hard about an LWRC REPR awhile back but I'd need to get everything for it so, I didn't. If I didn't have the M14's, I'd be all over an AR-10. Or two.

I never did get a 5.56 carbine. I couldn't figure out why I'd need an M4-gery for anything I'd do. I suppose if I shot 3 gun it'd make sense, but I have a carbine in 6.5 Grendel that I could use on coyotes if I wanted in addition to 3 gun or whatever else. Of course, I suppose I don't really need an AR pistol in 5.56 either.

ADD - BPTactical has some very valid point, I think.

[BPTactical]

Only you can decide what is best for you. The aforementioned cost of ammo is a consideration. The days of the 30.00 200 round battle packs are long gone.
The rifle is costing you nothing to keep.
You can piece together your AR10 as funds allow without selling.
What if the SHTF arrives and you want the Mrs or kids to have a weapon? A 15 is going to be lighter and easier to handle for someone that is not a dedicated shooter. If you are on the move you can carry a third more ammo with 5.56.
Look at a toolbox- do you just want a crescent wrench in there or do you want the correct tool for the job at hand?
One last thought-looking down the road if you do sell- will you be able to replace it? I think a nasty AWB is in our future, especially if Oblunders ATF nominee (Andrew Travers) is seated as the Executive Director of BATF. No, he cannot make the law but if you think he would not have influence think again.

I vote to keep her...

[spyder]

If you get rid of your AR, you will regret it even if you get a bigger version. Regretting something is worse than wanting something, so save yourself that trouble. You already have a precision shooter, so, why not upgrade it or sell it to fund your much wanted 308 chambered version AR? That is what I would do.