Thursday, August 18, 2011

G-d's Own Caliber, New Choice!

Got the September 2011 issue of Guns & Ammo the other day. On the cover is the Mossberg MMR - but inside there's news that the MMR will also be available in G-d's Own Caliber (New Testament), .308 Winchester. The MSRP listed is between $1,360 and $1,448, which indicates that there might be a semi-automatic, magazine-fed, AR-pattern rifle on the market for under $1,000 off-the-shelf.

Yes, Another AR...

This intrigues me greatly.

I've made no bones about wanting a semi-auto .308, something with more readily available magazines than my VEPR. Plus finding pre-ban magazines is easier than the VEPR (since they didn't exist). Now, I like the FAL and all that, especially after shooting Weerd's little Belgian sweetie; but there's something about the uniquely American AR platform that's growing on me (especially since I've been accumulating gear for the AR as well).

Now, the AR-10 has been around for a while, but even used examples sell for well over $1,300. The MMR may bring the price of a .308 semi-auto to a level where more folks can enjoy the modularity of the AR-platform in a major caliber. The G&A article didn't specify whether the MMR would be compatible with existing magazines, but it's pretty likely - there's little chance the .223 Remington AR will not accept USGI magazines...

Of course, with my luck it won't be AWB-compliant...

That is all.

9 comments:

Stretch said...

Skip it. No bayonet mount.

Bubblehead Les. said...

Ahem! Since you are stuck in the VolksRepublik, you could go with the Browning BAR for about $950, or the Remington 750 Woodsmaster for about $570 (prices from CheaperthanDirt!'s Fall Gun Catalog). And someone out there makes Mass-Compliant 10 Round Magazines for them. For about $200 more, you could go w/T-Bolts M1A from Springfield, or have Wally get you a Rack Grade M1 Garand from CMP for about $600, and put in a Chamber Insert and Tune Up for about $100.

Or you could have a Friend in a Free State buy an MMR for themselves, then get a "Christmas Present" from them a couple of months down the road after they find out they don't like it.

But I think only the ATF is allowed to giveaway guns to places that don't allow them, but I could be wrong.

Bubblehead Les. said...

BTW, most of us consider God's Own Caliber (New Testament) to be 30-06 Springfield. After all, JMB (PBUH) never made the 1917 Machine Gun nor the BAR (Original) in 7.62 Nato, now did he?

Not to say that he wouldn't, of course. But since Big Army went Insane after the Korean War.... but that's for another time and place.

DaddyBear said...

You know, I just can't get excited about AR's. Yeah, they're modular, they're accurate, and you can do a lot with them, but I've never found one that was comfortable and fun to shoot.

That being said, if the MMR is as well built as the rest of Mossberg's line, then it's going to be a fine example of an AR. I took a look at one in 5.56 at NRA, and it wasn't as rattletrap as some of the other AR platform guns I looked at. The lockup of the pin-held components seemed pretty tight, which should tend to make consistency in shots better. I hate how AR's tend to flex depending on a lot of factors if the upper/lower lockup isn't tight. It's a rail farm and a half, so you can hang pretty much everything you want off of it. And since it's an AR, you can swap out parts as you want in order to tailor it to your particular needs and tastes. Just my two kopeks, moy tovarisch.

Dave H said...

... after they find out they don't like it.

Yeah, but how likely is THAT to happen?

zeeke42 said...

Les, there's no reason Jay can't buy a Garand from the CMP himself.

Gifting guns across state lines is bad-juju. Federal felony bad-juju. There's nothing stopping an FFL dealer from modifying a rifle to a ban compliant configuration before selling it to a MA resident though.

Roger said...

Jay;
I've had a DPMS LR308B rifle for over 5 years. .308 win, 18" heavy barrel. The rifle is and has been sub moa accurate & stone cold reliable with well over 1000 rds downrange thus far. You can find DPMS 308s for around $1000.00 if you look hard.
Just a happy owner.

Old NFO said...

Yep, 308 works :-)

Wally said...

I'd guess the MMR uses the DPMS pattern magazine. They are cheaper than armalite pattern, but only armalite are available as prebans.

And if you desire one in ban-compliant configuration, just let me know.