Shotgun News Reports: ArmaLite is best known for AR-10 and AR-15 semi-automatic rifles, especially the latter, which the company revived in the 1990s. But the Geneseo, Ill., company has also produced bolt-action rifles. Over the years the distinctive AR-30 has been offered in .308 Win., .300 Win. Mag. and the long reaching .338 Lapua Mag.
If you needed even more bang then you could step up to the monstrous AR-50, chambered for the attention-getting .50 Browning Machine Gun cartridge. ArmaLite’s designs stood out from the bolt gun crowd. The AR-30, with its huge muzzle brake, aluminum chassis and skeleton stock, bears little resemblance to your run of the mill deer gun-turned precision rifle. Some loved the Fritz Lang Metropolis look, others could give it a pass.
But now’s an especially interesting time for the AR-30. Panic buying of AR-15s and other black guns isn’t about to subside any time soon. You may find ArmaLite AR-10 or AR-15s difficult to find. Bolt-actions should be more readily available, so I decided to look at their new AR-30A1.
As its name implies the AR-30A1 is an evolution of the earlier AR-30. While the AR-50 gets the glory, the AR-30A1 is a bit more practical for most of us.
There’s nothing like a .50 BMG for getting attention at the range, but they are also cumbersome and sport horrendous muzzle blast. Accuracy with readily available military surplus ammunition is usually less than many expect. Also many ranges are not .50 BMG friendly and the large rounds come with an equally large price tag.
For the occasional romp at the range with friends or shooting hard targets? Well, in those cases the big .50 is hard to beat, but I find the smaller AR-30A1 series a bit more practical. Read more….