Here is both of my DPMS LR308 rifles. The current setup of the carbine is the factory rear sight with a set of Tritium night sights. The 24" bull rifle has a Leupold 6 x24 scope and a Geissle target trigger that I have set to break at 14oz. the accuracy of both these rifles using match ammo is almost unbelievable. Using hand loaded Nosler BT's in the 24" rifle is outright scary. The only thing negative thing that I can say about both rifles is the factory mags, they are expensive and limit the OAL of my reloads due to the fact that the mags are folded and welded at the front. I us ASC mags(formally C-Products) instead as they are folded and welded at the back instead. They are also made of stainless steel and are less than half of the factory DPMS mags. To add my .02 worth, concerning the AK vs. AR debate, they are just as funny as the Ford vs. Chevy vs. Dodge debates that happen daily. It all boils down to what use and TTP's(Tactics, Techniques, & Procedures) you have in your own personal SOP(Standard Operating Procedure). Simply put, I would not use any off the rack AK as a DMR rifle that has to effectively hit anything past 300 meters. Your own training and experiences will dictate what you can and cannot do on a field of battle, for you can harp on what is the best gear or weapon or whatever is best for TEOTWAWKI, but when this happens,, and you have inadequate to absolutely no training or experiences, the likelihood of your survival is nil, regardless of the quality of tools that you have at your disposal.
Whatever your choice, train/practice/shoot and be proficient. AR, AK or whatever platform you have make it work for you, budget, needs, availability, etc. etc.
I have ARs built on Olympic Arms and Essential Arms lowers, neither of which is considered anything other than middle/lower. Both guns have been "rode hard and put away wet" in 20+ years of 3-gun competition. I do use mil-spec internals, though. The only problem has been the trigger pin on the Essential "walked." An anti-walk pin fixed that. I've had zero parts break and very rare malfunctions (usually cured by lubing the bolt). larry
