HM Defense is now selling a new AR-10 style rifle called the Avenger M308.
The Avenger M308 is the first of the company’s new HM10 Monobloc rifles that use barrels with integrated gas blocks. HM Defense has seen previous success with this style of barrel in its HM15 Monobloc rifle line. According to the company, these special barrels help to improve accuracy and reduce felt recoil.
HM Defense Monobloc barrels are made of 4150 Chromolly steel. The barrels are 18” long with a 1:10” twist. According to the company, the barrels are triple honed and button rifled. The gas block is designed at rifle length. As you might expect, the barrels are threaded, and the company ships the guns with one of its own custom muzzle brakes.
The company uses a custom designed lower that is CNC machined from a billet of 7075-T6 aluminum. According to the company, the lower is manufactured to provide high rigidity while keeping weight to a minimum.
For adding accessories – and keeping you from burning your hand – the company uses one of its own 15” free float handguards. The handguard uses the Magpul M-LOK mounting system, plus it has a Picatinny type rail along the top for the easy addition of a front sight should you decide to add one. The upper also has a Picatinny rail for adding an optic or rear sight. No sights ship with the rifle.
These rifles are chambered in .308 Win and will fire 7.62 NATO as well. Although most people assume that a rifle will fire both cartridges, I have seen a few guns that would run .308 Win well but have problems with true 7.62 NATO rounds.
A single 10-round 7.62 Magpul Gen M3 PMAG ships with the gun. While this is fine to get you started, no weapon with a detachable magazine should have fewer than five spare magazines. The ammunition feeding device is a common point of failure, and having spare mags on hand only makes sense. Of course, you can also upgrade capacity to 20-round Magpul PMAGs as well.
The new Avenger M308 rifles has a suggested retail price of $1,895. They are available in two colors: tungsten (shown above) and field dark earth.