We review the
Alex Pro
Firearms AR-10 DPMS-style upper in
.243 Winchester and take it into the field for AR500 and
Watermelon testing. We include detailed ballistics discussion and charts comparing the
.243 Win against the
.223 /
5.56 and
.308 /
7.62x51 AR 15 and
AR 10 cartridges as well as the
.30-30 Winchester.
Alex Pro Firearms was started in
Alexandria, Minnesota by the owners of
Alexandria Pro
Fab, a machining company.
AOF has been in the machining business for over 30 years. Because
APF is able to machine the majority of their parts, they are able to keep the prices down while ensuring the best quality.
The .243 Winchester cartridge was first introduced in
1955 for the
Winchester Model 70 bolt-action rifle and the
Model 88 lever-action rifle and gained popularity among sportsmen worldwide] Just about every major manufacturer offers rifles chambered in .243.
The .243 Win "was a ground-breaking development of the day, combining a very useful combination of lightweight (70 to 85 grain) bullets optimized for long-range performance for varmint hunters (groundhogs, coyotes, prairie dogs) and 90 to 105 grain bullets suitable for game up to the size of deer and pronghorn antelope. Its predecessor in the
Winchester line-up, the very similar
.257 Roberts, could have easily been selected to accomplish the same tasks, but was not available factory loaded with either lighter, varmint-weight pills or pointed, long range spitzer (pointed) bullets, so it never achieved the popularity of the newer round."
The AR-10 was "developed by
Eugene Stoner in the late
1950s at ArmaLite, then a division of the
Fairchild Aircraft Corporation. When first introduced in
1956, the AR-10 used an innovative straight-line barrel/stock design with phenolic composite and forged alloy parts resulting in a small arm significantly easier to control in automatic fire and over 1 lb lighter than other infantry rifles of the day. Over its production life, the original AR-10 was built in relatively small numbers, with fewer than 9,900 rifles assembled.
In
1957, the basic AR-10 design was rescaled and substantially modified by ArmaLite to accommodate the
.223 Remington cartridge, and given the designation
AR-15. ArmaLite licensed the AR-10 and AR-15 designs to
Colt Firearms. The AR-15 eventually became the
M16." Its a favorite of
James Yeager.
If
Wild Bill Hickok and
Wyatt Earp were alive today
. . .
- published: 22 Feb 2016
- views: 3710