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I guess I never got back to this one....the board seemed to have died for a bit there. . .
I bought a DPMS 16" 308 AR Panther a year or two back and pulled the barrel. I made up a new barrel in 338BR using an adjustable gasblock in the same position as the carbine 308 barrel that was there. Port size in the barrel is about .125 for reliable cycling with subbies and no can. Adjusting the gasblock for supersonics and also for subbies with the can is easily done. I only ran a couple hundred rounds through the gun before a friend managed to talk me out of it but I did manage to determine some good info.
The standard DPMS 308 mag works fine for feeding both 300gr SMK loads and 180 or 200 gr supersonic loads. I had no feed issues with any of the pointy bullets. We did try some 200gr round nose of unknown origin and they worked fine too both super and sub sonic.
Accuracy with the 16" Douglas double X barrel was outstanding. I fired 10rds of 300gr subs into a slightly larger than 1" group at 100yds with a suppressor installed. I never shot the supersonics for accuracy but they hit what we were aiming at when fired so I'm guessing they're good too.
All in all it was a worthwhile project and the new owner is happy. It doesn't suppress as well as the bolt guns but what else is new. We shot it at a suppressor test last year and it is definitely quieter on the left due to the gas ports in the bolt. I wouldn't hesistate to use it for a pig hunt.
I've pretty much given up on the 300 stuff. Why screw around with little bullets when I can fire the 300gr matchkings for about the same money and have more energy. I think the 338 is quieter too and it fits easily in my Desert Tactical action where the 300 won't.
Thanks for the help from those who did.
Frank
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