Hello All,

I decided to jump into the long range rifle club and ended up getting a LMT MWS after a bit of research. This will be used from general shooting to practicing my long range (500m-1k) and possible hunting if the opportunity arises and I feel like lugging it around.

I need some help with how to outfit it, what kind of bipod, scope, mount and anything else a newbie to long range shooting may want to consider.

Thanks

Budget?

You can use just about any normal AR mount or even rings since the upper and rail are one continuous piece and you don't have to worry about bridging.  Look for something 1.375-1.5" tall.  I like Nightforce rings or a Badger mount.  Scopes can be a whole other discussion.  If you're trying to save on weight a good 10x will work ok (minimum for me) on a torso out to 1000.  I have a 3-15 Nightforce on mine and have shot it out to 1k.  You can even get something 25x or more zoom if you want to see your target better. Atlas BT10 or Harris SBRM.

My rifle currently wears an Atlas bipod with a 2.5-10x32 NF scope in a NF unimount.

The possibilities are endless.  I would say you have one of the best 308 AR platforms available, use qualitity components to outfit it.

Budget is open, since I dropped decent coin on the MWS already I want to make sure that everything else used with it is of similar quality.

Thanks for the info. It seems that the Atlas bipods are the go-to. Everyone seems to recommend them. Glad to hear you use one as well, I will place an order for that tonight.

I will be doing a lot of shooting in the desert, so I heard that high mag glass can have issues in heat. is x18 the highest I would want to go?

Pretty much this. 3-18 class optics work really well with 308 gas guns.

NF makes a great optic. I really like the mk5.  There are alot of great optics out there

For this rifle, look at the NF scopes and either Geissele or Badger mounts. I do not use QD mounts on my .308 rifles, as I do not have the need to remove and move scopes around  

In fact I have vert few QD  mounts left on any of my rifles....I really like the Geissele mounts, they are top notch quality

The NF scopes will add weight to an already heavy rifle, but you will not be disappointed in the quality and performance.

ETA:  What @RJeff21 said below, I have both the 42 and 50 mm ATACR scopes, witch are excellent.  I like the 42 mm more, cant say why, maybe it is more compact in diameter.  The 50mm is  in a Badger mount and the 42mm is in a Geissele mount.  I also have a few NX8 scopes which are in Geissele mounts.

I originally purchased one of the NX8 scopes for one of the 308's, but that did not work,  as the NX8 has a very small eye box and with the 308 recoil, would not work, maybe of others, but not for me.  Like Jeff said below, research your needs and decide what works best for you.  

Bottom line, you have one of the best 308 rifles out there, I am very partial to LMT and have a number in my collection, so go with a quality optic to maximize your and the rifles capability.  

As far as bipods go, I like the Larue Harris combo,  Larue takes a Harris and modifies it with a Larue QD mount....which in this case does come in handy for swapping rifle to rifle.

Now, I do have some Knights Armament bipods, outrageously expensive ($400) but they are very very nice and well made.  They have an excellent QD feature, push button release and rifle to rifle in 5 seconds.  I would put the KAC on top, better than the Atlas, I did own one Atlas in the past, but considering another one to be dedicated to a bolt gun....which has a USOptics scope, another high quality scope to look at and consider   I do have one of the older USO scopes (2012 purchase), they have changed their line a lot, so again research is needed.

Bronc

NF ATACR 4-16x42 or x50 depending upon what features you want (with your choice of reticle) if price isn’t a concern.  

There are a bunch of high end options out there that’ll work, but that’s what I put on my 16” .308 gas gun and it works very well.  Great glass, very durable, repeatable adjustments with quality ZS/locking turret features, good illumination, and just about any type of reticle you could want.

Couple it with quality rings or an AR mount in whatever height you want and you’ll be good to go.

Atlas or Harris for the bipod.

ETA:  I would suggest doing your own research on which adjustment system you want (MOA or MRAD) as well as what type of reticle you want/prefer, as these features are highly subjective and primarily based on personal preference.  We can tell you which one you should go with, but you’ll get different recommendations based on who you’re talking to and those recommendations may not best suit what you’re wanting.

See my edited post two above, added a lot of comments

Bronc

For LR in the high desert a 3-18X optic is a very nice choice. I'm running a 3-18X MK6 on my MWS and it just flat works well with both the 16" and 20" barrels. As the day heats up, you will need to decrease magnification to reduce mirage but everyone has the same problem there.

While I like the Geissele Super Precision Mount, but they seriously missed the mark with the MASSIVELY long mounting bolts, if you are carrying the gun around in the mountains all day the mounting bolts become annoying as they catch on gear or press into your ABD. The bolts are a through back to the mounts of the 1980's and 1990's. While they can be cut down or swapped out, that is not something that should have to be done on a $325 mount IMHO. Other than the annoying bolts that needed to be swapped out, the mount has provided zero other issues in 100+ heat to sub zero cold for me, even after many thousands of rounds. Badger's Unimount is also something that I would look at if I were in the market today.

For a bipod, I have both a Atlas PSR and a Larue/Harris combo. For the MWS I most frequently will take the Harris with me into the mountains, it just feels better on the MWS IMHO. If the area that I'm going is more sandy I will absolutely take the Atlas and the wider cleat feet.

A good sling is also nice if you are going to hike with the gun, I've been running the padded Vickers for many years and it works well for me with the MWS.

Thank you to everyone who replied. Like every other time I have come to this community looking for knowledge I am not disappointing.

I went ahead and got an Atlas Bipod, some KAC magazines, and Vickers padded sling to get the ball rolling. I just need to spend some more time with the mount and scope I want to go with. Weight is something that I want to be mindful of so I will definitely be sticking with a x18 scope or maybe even a x15. It seems that Nightforce is one of the best options out there but they weigh a bit more.

My biggest problem now is that this rifle will look different than all my other ones with the bipod and scope. So I cant go and tell my wife that I have always had it.

Anyone here lug there MWS around on a long hunting trip or hike through the woods?

Yes, even with a suppressor on it.

I’ve been wanting one for awhile now, who do I contact to get an LMT Industry sub group added? I am an MWS owner myself and I am definitely going to be adding to my collection. It would be nice to have an area for just LMT!

I believe that the industry sub groups are there because the manufacturers paid to have them added

I had a LMT in .308.  Very accurate and utterly reliable.  The weight of their design almost entirely dictates that it should be used with a longer barrel and higher magnification optic.  Trying to make one into a cqb type rifle is an exercise in futility.  A 20” 6.5 Creedmoor with a nice 3x15 power or higher optic  would be a great setup.

Eh, depends on how its set up. As they come OEM? Sure. But with the MKOK chassis and a shorter lightweight barrel they’re damn close to the weight of competitors like the SCAR and KAC CC. I don’t think that’s what it excels at, and I think they execute the concept better, but it’s neat that the MWS is versatile enough that it can approximate a lightweight battle rifle and still scale up to a 24” 6.5 CM.

absolutely love mine, I bought it as a "CQB" which is 13.5" barrel an P/W LMT flash hider, it was very loud and had a fair amount of recoil. I shot it from the bench a lot but I also set it up as a "run and gun" with a vfg and 3.5 TA-11. I didn't like it in that configuration as it is still heavy and still has too much recoil to shoot fast (for me YMMV) I traded the barrel off and got a 16" with AAC muzzle brake and mounted a pst 4-16 FFP. I believe this rifle excels in configurations like this where your shooting more for precision.


I have had zero issues with mine everything is very well machined and the rifle is built like a tank.