The Annoyed Man wrote:
Skiprr, have you had a chance to compare it to a regular gas-impingement AR10 of otherwise comparable configuration?
I love my AR10, but I'll admit that it seems to be finicky about ammo......not from a reliability perspective, but from an accuracy perspective. After talking to 2 or 3 other AR10 shooters who had booths at the Silencers are Legal event at Elm Fork last weekend, the consensus was that AR10s are not as easy peasy to set up as AR15s. I don't know if that's true for most, but it has certainly been true for me. I've just had the devil's own time trying to track down a reloading "sweet spot" for mine. It should be a .5-.75 MOA rifle. So far, the best I've been able to get out of it is 1.0-1.5 MOA.......not to shabby for a battle rifle, but mine is configured as a SASS, and it should do much better than that.
Sorry for the late response, but you weren't missing anything. I've never owned an AR10 platform; have pulled the trigger on some a few times, as well on FAL and M1A platforms, but I'm not experienced enough to comment about relative accuracy.
Too boot, I'm not a long-range shooter. If I can put rounds in a six-inch circle at 200 yards, that's about as good as it gets for me. My POF is setup primarily as a CQB rifle, with the 16.5" barrel and a red-dot sight plus flip-to-side magnifier. So I can't hope for sub MOA shots even at 100 yards--'cause I can't hold on anything finer than 1 MOA anyway--and I've never fixed the rifle in a sled to test mechanical accuracy.
And I don't hand-load, so have never tried to fine-tune the 7.62 ammo for the POF. That said, the best accuracy results I've had--and this is strictly anecdotal, meaning I might have had better trigger control one day than another--have been with Hornady 155-grain A-MAX Match, Federal 165-grain Trophy Bonded (the load with a 2,700 fps muzzle velocity; there is a different, hotter Federal load that also uses this bullet), and Hornady 168-grain TAP. I would have thought the 155-grain bullet would have performed less predictably than the heavier ones. Holdover is different at longer ranges, natch, but I think the A-MAX is the most accurate I've shot, overall.
All that aside, I wouldn't think the POF gas piston system would be any more or less mechanically accurate than a more traditional Stoner-like platform. I mean, lock-up and extraction isn't inherently different. I'd think it would mostly come down to the barrel.
Of interest is that POF originally offered a 24" barrel option, but settled on 20" as the longest barrel. My understanding is that the 24-incher was less accurate than shorter barrels, including the 16.5, because the longer dwell time allowed more bullet-travel impact from the motion caused by the gun's reciprocating action. One additional reason that a long-barreled semi-auto may be less accurate than a bolt-action piece.
Fit, finish, and other stuff notwithstanding, the most important feature of the POF for me is the gas piston system. Even moderate .308 loads feel barely stiffer than shooting a .223. Follow-up shots are easy and quick. Too, very little internal build-up occurs while shooting. After 50 rounds of either Hornady load, the bolt carrier group doesn't even look like it needs a wipe-down. I generally shoot cheaper Prvi or milsurp brass, but even then the fouling is negligible.
Maybe, if I get rich, I'll get a second POF with a 20" barrel, put a
real scope on it, and try to hit something farther out than 200 yards.
Wonderful! I still haven't convinced myself to order one, but your firsthand experience with it will make a difference.