No shit, there I was. . .

Today I was in a local gun shop when I heard this interesting phone conversation:

Employee (answering phone and relaying to apparent owner of store ten feet away):  It's Beta.  They want to know if you want to get on the waiting list for the new .308 mags.

Owner:  Uh, sure. . . wait.  .308 what?  .308's just a caliber.  What .308 is it for?

Employee:  They say it's for M14.

Owner:  Oh, M1A?  Sure.  Put me down for. . . uh. . . four.  Wait! How many rounds?  What's the retail?

Employee:  100 rounds.  Do you want smoke, clear or black?

Owner:  How much is it?

Employee:  $400

Owner:  Tell 'em to call back when they're ready.

----------------------------------------------------------

Now is it  just me or does a Beta Magazine for M14 / M1A seem slightly impractical?  Per www.fas.org, the M14 weighs 11.0 pounds with a full magazine and sling.  It's 8.7 pounds empty.  Let's say the sling is a non-contributor to weight.  For argument's sake, let's say a magazine weighs half a pound.  That's saying that 20 rounds weighs 1.8 pounds.  Then 100 rounds would weigh 9 pounds.  That makes for a 17.7 pound rifle!  Keep in mind that most M14s are full-length rifles.  The SOCOM variants are relative newcomers.  Also keep in mind that over in the CENTCOM AOR, Beta magazines have not fared well in the sandy environment.

Other than ARFCOM bragging rights, this seems like a shitty way to spend $400.  $400 can buy quite a few USGI magazines, plenty of ammo and / or a new gun.

So did you pre-order one from him?

I Stopped by the Beta booth twice at SHOT. The M14/M1A version will be released "soon", but isnt ready to be shipped. They werent sure of the price yet.




And they do plan on an AR10 and FAL tower. ETA late this year, early next year. They thought the FAL tower would be a challenge.

Quoted: So did you pre-order one from him?

Yeah, I ordered a whole friggin' case of 'em.

Now it's off to the Bentley dealer to order a new beater or two.

Someone at BETACO needs to lay off the crack pipe....

M1A, bipod, Beta Mag, shoe string...light machine gun.

no shit! light trigger, flip up buttplate bipod, sounds like some fun to me.......but NOT for $400.00

More pimpshit for rifles that are not made to have pimpshit.