Palmetto State Armory offers their Gen-3 AR-10 carbine at a bargain price of $880, and you might think that price tag won't fetch you much. But this new .308 rifle is lightweight, comfortable, and much more capable than it has any right to be. We tested the 18-inch M-Lok model with its 2-stage trigger at distances from 200 to 500 meters and found that it was not only capable of hitting realistic targets at those distances, it could hit precisely where we wanted. Instead of just picking the silhouette animal to knock down, we could put a bullet through the preferred organ. And that's not with expensive match-grade ammunition; we used good ol' M80 ball ammunition from Winchester. The UTG Over Bore Bipod provided self-leveling stability, and we used a YHM Phantom Titanium Suppressor to reduce recoil and noise. But aside from the rifle, the real star of the show was the new Falcon Endura S10i 1-10x24mm scope: an LPVO that offers a Christmas-tree reticle in the second focal plane and a simple illuminated red dot for close encounters with hogs and other dangerous beasts. Even without a parallax adjustment, the Falcon S10i was up to the task of getting us on target at long range, making this one of the most flexible real-world scopes I've ever tested. If you want to outfit a carbine for multi-distance shenanigans, I recommend either this Falcon or the Athlon Helos 2-12x42mm BTR Gen 2 scope. Both will happily deal with targets from touching distance to 1,000 yards if your ammo has the reach. And out here on an Oklahoma ranch, either of those scenarios could occur, along with anything in-between.
PS: The Winchester M80 ammo was accurate, but the powder seemed to be temperature-sensitive. 500 meters started out needing 3.4 MRAD of elevation adjustment, but by the end of our session the barrel was hot and the correct hold was 3.0 MRAD.
PPS: While the PSA carbine is ready to run straight out of the box, we all thought we would eventually replace a few parts over time. We would swap the A2 grip to a more vertical Magpul MOE or CMMG Zeroed grip for more comfortable prone shooting. A big ambi charging latch would make the AR10 easier to use with a scope. Magpul makes a thicker rubber buttpad for the MOE buttstock, and this lightweight carbine kicks hard enough to need it.
© 2023-06-23
