The AR-15 is America’s favorite rifle, and since its initial release, it has been altered and redesigned in a million different ways. The Stag Arms Stag 10 Marksman AR-10 is one of these variants.
The development of the AR-10 platform has heralded even more revisions of the rifle. The AR-10 is a .308 chambered version of the rifle, and today we are going to take a look at one of the variants of the popular 308 rifle from Stag Arms. The Stag Arms Stag 10 Marksman, an AR-10 chambered in 308 Winchester.
Stag Arms
Stag Arms has been manufacturing AR-15s and AR-10s for a long time, they were one of the first manufacturers to embrace the left-hand versions of the rifles.
They have since broadened their line of rifles to include almost every size and type of rifle imaginable.
The Stag 10 Marksman rifle that we are looking at today is a large-frame AR chambered in the powerful 308 Winchester.
The rifle comes with either a sixteen-inch or twenty-inch barrel, we will be testing the latter.
The Stag 10 uses traditional SR-25 pattern magazines, it also includes furniture by Magpul. The PRS Gen 3 buttstock makes customization of the Stag10 a little easier. The rifle uses a Stag Arms two-stage trigger as well as a VG6 Gamma muzzle brake threaded to the muzzle.
A full-length handguard and optics rail allows the installation of countless accessories and optic options.
History
The Stag 10 is a derivative of countless design advancements over the years, and like most Stag Arms models, it is also available in a left-handed model as well. With its 20-inch barrel, the Stag 10 takes full advantage of the powerful 308 cartridge.
It does this while still retaining the features that make the AR-type rifle so desirable, and so many of its parts are interchangeable with the adult tinker toys that the AR-type rifle has become.
Stag Arms began doing business in the state of Connecticut, like many firearms companies that began on the East Coast.
But as we all know, these states have been far less than friendly to the 2A community. Stag Arms has since moved its operation to the much friendlier state of Wyoming, where it continues to thrive.
THE STAG 10 MARKSMAN
The Marksman title suggests the rifle is made for sharpshooting, and the 18-inch barrel takes full advantage of the popular .308 Winchester’s potential. With features like reliable direct impingement, a full-length handguard, nitrided components, and the precision rifle buttstock, the Stag 10 promises a sharp performance.
I opened the box to see a handsome black rifle with a fantastic finish and look to it. The impressive size of .308 AR-type rifles always catches me off-guard. I checked the chamber and ran the charging handle a few times to get a feel for it.
The Stag Arms two-stage trigger felt good, as did the whole ensemble when shouldered. The muzzle came fitted with a VG6 Gamma 7.62 muzzle brake, which promised to keep recoil to a minimum.
The full-length handguard is also M-LOK compatible to make adding your accessories easy. I added a Magpul bipod mount to the front of the handguard, as I wanted to see how this rifle shot on paper.
Range Prearations with the Stag 10 Marksman
I also added a good scope, as I had a Primary Arms GLx 3-18X44 scope handy. It sat in a ZRO Delta scope mount, making it very easy to drop onto the Pic rail of the Stag 10. With the scope mounted and a quick installation of a Harris bipod, all I needed was a selection of ammunition to hit the range.
Read more about the Primary Arms Scope here
I went to my filing cabinet and pulled some Desert Tech 175 Match ammunition, as well as some Fiocchi and Magtech 147 ball ammo. I wanted to see how this rifle did with both precision ammo and your typical ball ammunition.
With targets and other gear in hand, I headed into the mountains to find a quiet spot where I could get serious with the Stag Arms Stag 10 Marksman AR-10 308 Winchester.
On the Range
First, I wanted to do was bore-sight the rifle to avoid wasting my ammunition. I set up my target at 100 yards, and using the Fiocchi ammo, I quickly got a zero. Then it was time to shoot a few groups. I would load five rounds at a time in the Magpul SR-25 20-round magazine.
The rifle shot very well with all ammunition I tried, but the match ammo performed better, as you might imagine. Groups typically were around 1 MOA, while the ball ammo spread a little bit. But even shooting fairly quickly with the ball ammo, it was easy to keep groups around 2 MOA.
With the scope zoomed out to 3X, it was easy to engage various targets at closer ranges. I say easy – meaning as easy as it can get with a 18-inch .308 rifle. I imagine this rifle would be fantastic for shooting pigs at nearly any range. Up close, the rifle was powerful and reasonably fast to get on target, or you could drop down on the bipod and engage targets out to 500 yards or more.
The muzzle brake was effective at reducing recoil, and the size of the rifle helped. It was very pleasant to shoot, the recoil impulse was quite mild, and I never noticed any significant gas in my face. I shot using 20- and 10-round magazines, and the 10-round allows better ground clearance for the rifle when shooting uphill.
GOING LONG
The adjustable surfaces of the buttstock were a nice touch, allowing me to customize the rifle to my needs. This made the next task even better, as I wanted to stretch the rifle out a little bit and see how it would do as a marksman rifle.
I picked out a small white rock surrounded by soft mountain soil on a distant hillside. My rangefinder measured the distance at 487 yards, which I figured would be an easy job for this rifle. I checked my dope chart for the .308 Match ammo, and I knew it would be close but not perfect. I dialed the 2.7 MRAD into the turret of the GLx and favored into the wind.
The next three shots all landed within a fist’s distance of the little white rock. Surely no larger target would have escaped me at that distance. And it’s nice to have .308 horsepower at those distances. I know I can do the same thing with some of my 5.56 rifles but with nowhere near the power.
Stag Arms Stag 10 Marksman AR-10 Features
ACTION
The direct impingement action of the AR-type rifle has become one of the most common in America. There are some great benefits to it, particularly a tried and proven design with countless subject tests.
The Stag 10 uses a rifle-length gas tube to funnel the pressures generated by the cartridge into the action. There it is used to push the bolt carrier back, unlocking the bolt and compressing the buffer spring. The spring’s energy then pushes the bolt carrier back forward, stripping a fresh round into battery.
The safety and trigger designs are extremely well-tested and quite reliable. The whole system works like a Swiss watch when everything is right, and the Stag 10 had it all in place.
GRIP
The grip of the Stag 10 is a standard AR pistol grip, specifically the Magpul MOE Grip. has a great angle and is perfectly comfortable from almost any shooting position.
The foregrip area of the handguard is of machined aluminum, the facets of the handguard are ideal for gripping the rifle.
BUTTSTOCK
The Magpul Gen3 PRS buttstock is adjustable for length of pull, as well as adjustable comb height.
This makes the rifle easier to customize to the shooter, and the additional features like QD sling-cups and pic rails for mounting accessories like a monopod make it a very nice addition.
TRIGGER
The Stag 10 comes with Stag Arm’s standard two-stage trigger. It’s a step above a mil-spec trigger but nothing out of this world. It’s certainly serviceable. That said I wouldn’t mind upgrading it to something better if I were going to spend much time shooting this rifle.
There was a slight scratchy feeling on the second stage, but the pull weight was still quite good, and it certainly didn’t prevent me from shooting the rifle well enough to impress me.
BARREL
The twenty-inch barrel of the Stag 10 is made from ChroMoly steel and is finished with a nitride coating. It’s threaded at the muzzle with ⅝-24TPI threads which allow you to use a variety of accessories, muzzle brakes, and suppressors.
The barrel uses a 1:10 twist, which is ideal for a variety of ammunition for bullets as heavy as 210 or more grains. The Stag 10 comes standard with a VG6 muzzle brake to help reduce recoil, and from my experience shooting the rifle, it works very well.
HANDGUARD
The Stag 10 handguard is M-Lok compatible, with M-Lok slots at the three, six, and nine o’clock positions on the handguard. This is very handy for adding accessories like a bipod, additional grips, or whatever else you’d like to add to the rifle.
The full-length Picatinny rail also leaves plenty of room for additional optics options like night vision or thermal clip-ons.
How where does Stag 10 stand on our 10-point scale? Here are the scores:
Accuracy: 7/10
The Stag 10 was consistently under one MOA with match ammo and around two MOA with ball ammo. Solid all around.
Ergonomics: 8/10
As an AR, it feels familiar in the hands, but it’s very large. All that length and weight might not be ideal for everyone.
Fit and Finish: 8/10
The Stag 10 doesn’t skimp on quality components, coatings, and engraving, giving it a professional appearance.
Features: 6/10
The rifle includes essential features but lacks more polished options like a larger ambi charging handle and higher-end trigger.
Reliability: 9/10
The rifle put on a flawless performance throughout testing, handling various ammunition types without a single issue.
Value: 6/10
While the Stag 10 is a fair value, its price point puts in in league with rifles that pack in a lot more polish.
Pros & Cons
THE GOOD:
- Ran flawlessly during testing
- Significant firepower
- Loads of accessory space
- Includes the Magpul Gen3 PRS buttstock
- Highly accurate, especially with match-grade ammunition
- Comfortable despite its size
- Available in both right and left-handed models
THE BAD:
- Big and long
- Small charging handle makes it a bit challenging to operate
- So-so trigger
- Perhaps a little Overpriced