AR-10 243 question.

[lameduck]

I recently bought a Remington R-25 in 243. I bought this for an all around gun for deer, coyotes, and cats. I will also shoot hogs with it given the time to make the correct shot. I was wondering what needs to be done to convert this gun to a 308. I was thinking when going out on our yearly hog killing weekend that I would switch to a 308 or 338 fed. Since all these calibers are based on the 308 I was thinking all I would need to do is switch to a 308 or 338 barrel. That seems a little too easy to me so any info would be nice. I read that it is possible to just switch barrels and adjust the pressure but I have no idea how labor intensive that is.

 

[264Magnum]

Barrel and bolt is all you need to change out calibers. You'll also need some tools to do that.

The bolt isn't 100% necessary, but the bolt you use for the .243 will start to fit itself to the .243 barrel.

An easier, but more expensive, option is to just get a second complete upper in .308 or .338. That saves the time of swapping it out, and you won't have to re-zero your optics when you change barrels.

 

[lameduck]

How much time do you think it would take to do the switch? What about the changing the pressure that blows back the bolt? If you cannot tell I have never really taken down a AR, besides for basic maintenance. Thanks for the patience in answering my questions.

 

[264Magnum]

You can have the barrel swapped out in 15 minutes with the right tools. Its pretty simple.

You can't just adjust the pressure on an AR10, not that its needed, anyway. You'd have to put an adjustable gas block on it, or retro-fit it with a piston system. I wouldn't worry about that at all.