Olympic Arms New AR! 300

[melensdad]

Check any reloading manual, many caliber just mimic another, 7x57 and 7MM08 just to name one...........Duce<><

Absolutely true.

And the beauty of these near duplicates is that many of them were designed to fit into a different action length.

As the AR15 is now the most popular rifle platform in the nation, and as it makes up 50% of all long arm sales, it only makes sense to work toward maximizing its usefulness beyond its original intent. The AR15 was designed to shoot a small light bullet. That little round is not particularly useful for some sporting purposes like taking larger game.

The 30 OSSM is just one of many developments that help make the AR15 more useful for field use. It probably is one of the most useful medium-long range medium weight rounds we can stuff into the very short actions of the AR15.

Clearly we can use an AR10 but that is a longer action, heavier gun, longer gun which all make it less handy in the woods.

 

[wideglide3]

Well it,s been a while but i am back with some info for those who might be looking for the new 300 ossm. as to date i have put about 500 rounds down range and i can tell you with all honesty, this is one heck of a shooting rifle. it will not shoot as well as my 243 wssm in the same ar platform, but it is not far behind. it will hold 3/4 in groups at 100 meters with no problem, i did add a new trigger from ATC. called the AR Gold, and it was a very nice addition to the rig. This trigger is very crisp, no creep and breaks like a piece of glass, this, i am sure helped with the grouping some what. i have not taken a deer with it yet!!!!! but deer season is fast approaching. I will post again when i have taken a deer this fall. I have seen some threads that mentioned that H.S.M. was loading the 300ossm , i checked their web site and didnt find it , but i will call them soon, they do have the 243wssm listed, so maybe they load the 300 ossm as well. good shooting to all of you , talk to you soon, DJ.

 

[mettle]

I usually agree with your assessment of things and bow to your greater knowledge on some technical issues but this is one issue where I think you are sadly and completely missing the point.

The AR15 is now the most popular rifle in the US. Literally hundreds of thousands of them are out there, most in some tactical form, but most people have little use for a tactical rifle. So what are all these new AR15 owners going to do after they run a few hundred rounds through their guns . . . learn that a tactical roll while carrying a long gun just gets them bruised and muddy?"

Now what I see is that there are a couple MILLION AR15s out there in civilian hands, it is now the MOST POPULAR rifle in America. It seems like most of those sold are 16" carbines chambered in 5.56.

What I see NOW is that lots of people own these guns are they are nifty toys, but not very good for hunting, not very good for target shooting, not very good for popping prairie dogs, etc.

SO what I think MAY/WILL happen is that companies will get very creative in offering alternative calibers and alternative style uppers that are suited for different tasks. High velocity calibers like the 223 WSSM may become more common for long range prairie dog control. Thumper calibers like 458 Socom may be more common for deer hunters and boar hunters. At least 2 different companies are introducing 30 Caliber rounds, with associated uppers, specifically for the hunting market. This OLY is one of those two rounds. The 6.8 Remington, while not the tactical wonder it was designed to be, seems to be becoming a modern day equivalent of the old 30-30 deer hunting round. Wildcatters are pushing the 35 Gremlin (6.5 Grendel necked up to .358) and 358 WSSM as brush busting deer rounds for use in woodland hunting.

So what I see is that OLY (and a couple other smart companies) is simply taking the logical step that many are already seeing germinate. These rifles may be hampered by a short magazine that limits the overall length of the round, but there are innovators out there that are taking the rifles to their logical next level and turning 'nifty toys' into 'useful hunting tools' to broaden the use and acceptance of the guns.

If I was in the gun business, I would be focusing on building/selling alternate caliber uppers, and potentially working with ammo manufacturers to make the ammo for these calibers more common. There are plenty of small ammo companies that could provide batches of ammo for the uppers and the ammo is one of the current stumbling blocks that may be slowing down the sales of alternate calibers.

Have you tried to find 6.5 Grendel ammo at your local gunshop? How about 458 Socom? Or 50 Beowulf? Even the 6.8 SPC is very scarce and there are at least a half dozen AR companies offering that chambering in their rifles/uppers. So if I was building guns, I'd also sit down with a company that makes ammo to increase the availability of BOTH uppers & ammo.

But mark my words, the next big thing with AR15 platform guns will be specialized uppers. Most will be 5.56 configuration but I expect more and more alternate calibers to expand the usefulness of the guns. The 30 caliber round is America's favorite, it is very logical to pursue the 30 OSSM round and while it may be proprietary it is from a large AR builder and they license their products to some high quality custom gun builders so we are bound to see some other innovations in configurations.

Facts are facts, this is a good round. It beats the 308 ballistics and do so out of a rifle that is smaller, lighter and easier to handle than a traditional 308. While some long bullets may be a challenge to load due to magazine limits, this will be a great hunting round, but MORE IMPORTANTLY it will be one of many calibers that will help transition the AR15 into the hunting fields of this nation, forever making it a 'legitimate' sporting arms in the eyes of the hunters who FORMERLY held it in distain as an "assault" rifle.

You forgot to mention people usually own them to take 'go to war's training and never go to war
That look has not done any favors for those who hunt with an ar15. The AR NEEDS publicity and a new look. And truthfully, it needs a purpose outside of 'it's my right' and 'because I can'.

 

[melensdad]

You forgot to mention people usually own them to take 'go to war's training and never go to war
That look has not done any favors for those who hunt with an ar15. The AR NEEDS publicity and a new look. And truthfully, it needs a purpose outside of 'it's my right' and 'because I can'.

Good points all

Honestly one of the reasons I have several AR15 rifles that are in bright colors like YELLOW, PINK, PURPLE and brite BLUE is to change the conception and image of the platform.

Seems like 99.7% of the AR15s are in basic BLACK or some TACTICAL military looking TAN or GREEN. A huge % are also basic 16" carbine configurations that mimic the military M4 style weapons.

The hunting and target uses of the AR15 are wide ranging and well known to hunters, 3 gun shooters, etc. The ever widening choice of calibers is also helping from little 17 HMRs to 204 Ruger to the widely adaptable 6.5 Grendel to the deer and bear busting 458 Socom and 50 Beowulf.

I built a bright pink AR15 for my daughter out of an old Olympic Arms Plinker Plus rifle and its gotten some great reactions. Reactions are especially interesting when it sits next to a basic black M4 style gun. Women will comment on how "cute" the pink gun is but say that there is no purpose for that ugly black gun

 

[451_Detonics]

Not too sure about the 300 OSSM but their 22-250 upper certainly is interesting...to me at least

Biggest problem I can foresee is magazines...I really prefer calibers that use magazines that are easily available from different sources. That is the beauty about the 300 Whisper and clones...they use standard 223 AR mags.