I used to have a rock river lar8. I hated it. It was extremely heavy and bulky and I'm not exactly a small guy. It was almost unbearable to hunt with.

Then the gii came out and I wanted one so bad but wasn't willing to spend $1500 on an ar again. I also dont like Remington....

Somehow I missed the PSA px-10. I like psa stuff despite their shortcomings.

I read that they arent much lighter than the px-10. My lar8 was around 10.5 lbs empty, 20 " barrel. The px-10 is around 8.5 lbs I believe with 18" barrel. Those two lbs alone would be a huge difference I bet.

My question is this-
How much smaller is the px-10 frame? Does it fit better in the hand?
Is it a narrower frame?
Do the proprietary parts make aftermarket unusable?
And lastly, do pmags work? My other gripes with the lar8 was the fal mags, heavy ambidextrous mag release and heavy bolt release. I like the ar platform bc its smooth and positive feel controls.

I'm trying to decide if I should hold out for the px-10 or just get the pa-10. The px-10 is not listed and customer service was not helpful regarding my questions.

The PX-10 is hit and miss with availability. At one point in the “state of the industry” thread DPMS posted that PSA had not acquired licensing to use the G2 design. That may or may not still be the case.

There are other companies that have acquired the appropriate licensing.

F4 Defense has a decent selection of rifles.

Adams Arms has the P1, P2, and P3 models.

Patriot Ordnance Factory has their Revolution series both in piston and direct impingement. It has the highest parts commonality to the AR15 out of them all - at least according to POF.

Colt of course has their CM901, but we won’t be able to get one of those for a little bit.

I think all of these companies have at least one model that can be had for under $1500 except for F4 defense. They all have better handguards than anything that DPMS offers.

As far as proprietary parts, the main ones for any of these are going to be BCG, barrel nut, and barrel/barrel extension.

There are a few manufacturers that make rails for the G2 type rifle including Midwest Industries, Samson, YHM, and SLR. UTG/Leapers has a free float drop in rail that supposedly works with the standard non-free float barrel nut, though I’ve only seen one person on the internet who did this. It was on a different forum, but can’t remember which one. There is a chance that the Centurion C4 free float rails will also work with the standard G2 nut, but haven’t seen confirmation.

The good news is DPMS now has pretty much every single part you need to build a G2 except for the lower receiver, so if you break anything at least you know replacement parts are available.

PMags do work in the G2 series, though the Gen 3 PMags don’t drop free and probably won’t lock the bolt back on an empty magazine without slight modification. I have used DPMS, C products, and older PMags in the G2 and they all work perfectly. The Lancers are supposed to work great as well.

You should really go to a shop and handle both large and small frame AR10s, thats what sold me.  Large frames feel like handling a brick, small frames feel like an AR15 with longer mag.

I bought when DPMS first came out with theirs, and basically spent alot of money building what you can now get complete with the Savage MSR-10.  Mine are arguably better, but if you dont want to mess with 'building' your own, just get a Savage, or Adams Arms or POF.

Under $1500, I think thats Savage or DPMS.  DPMS GII AP4's go for $600-$700AR, Bull barrels go for $800-ishAR, Hunters/Compact Hunters for $1050AR.  I dont consider any of DPMS's offerings 'complete' as IMO they are all flawed packages out the door, but with a few mods they are damn good.  You could get a Bull and have the barrel cut and threaded, end up with a 'Sweet 16' small frame AR10.  Id also put a lighter stock on the Compact Hunter.  All of them could use a lighter or railed handguard, again IMO, +$150-$200.  I wouldnt bother with the AP4, I consider it a $600 receiver and BCG set, keep them for a custom build and toss everything else, should run near $1500, otherwise the carbine gas and short receiver extension make the recoil unmanagable past a few shots.

Or, just get the Savage MSR10 Hunter for $950.  FF railed handguard, intermediate gas, 5r barrel, adjustable gas block (I think switchblock style), all out the box.  Absolutely zero handguard options on the market.  Maybe swap the furniture, if you dont like the Blackhawk! stuff.  Personally, I'd wait until the next Oct-Dec Savage rebate drops in a few weeks, theres a chance the MSR10 could be on there, and buy one before the prices go up to compensate.

Take the easy way out and get a 6.5 Grendel, or a 50 Beowulf. I don't know what your needs are but I bet one of them will fit your needs.

I have both, they are fun and useful. I'll never buy or even carry a large frame 308 AR in the field again. Bench top shooting maybe,  just to shoot up my hand loads, if I don't sell it first.

That savage does look really nice.

I thought about going grendel. Actually I thought 450 BM first, but it lacks penetration. It would be for hunting whitetail mostly, with occasional target practice. Smaller holes are cheaper to make.

Anyway, a good grendel upper is $400+. I can get a psa ar10 setup how I want for 650. More power, a complete rifle, but more weight.

I have a tikka in 6.5 CM and a savage axis in 308. Also a 300 blk 12.5, and 18" wylde.

The 300 and grendel seem to have similar power out to 100 yards. I dont know if I'd be gaining much. And I like the short barrel.

A friend of mine ordered the new gen3 pa-10 from psa, I'll play with it when it arrives but idk where I could handle a g2 style anywhere near me.......I will prob never change barrels. The psa already comes with a MI handguard.