I wanted .308 after shooting my step brothers SOCOM .308 made by Springfield. It was Beautiful! And way out of my budget. That was 3 years ago, and I have been huntung for an entry level semi auto in .308 since then. A scout would have been sweet too, but out of budget. I bought it near the end of the gun craziness, for $1200, you can do a little bit better now though. Also, in WA, you can't legally hunt deer with a .223, but a .308 will do just fine for any critter or zombie in WA state, The 16 inch barrel is short by about 2.5 inches for the caliber, but in WA where will I need to reach out past 400 yards to kill anything, can't see that far as there are so many trees and bushes here. I chose the aimpoint pro over others due to the fact it's a proven platform, can stay zero with my caliber and I can leave it on for up to 3 years! I was set on an EOTech, but my step-brother said he had seen more EOTechs fail in his time in Afghanistan then Aimpoints. Later on i'll get the 3x magnifier that can flip out of the way. And honestly the LR308 (DPMS) is more of an AR15 then an AR10 if you look internally at the functionallity. Most people I've talked to say it's really just an AR15 with beefier parts. I like it, It kicks like a mule though. I have a universal buttpad I put on it, but haven't shot it since then. I told my 12 year old if he saved up I would split the cost of a .223 with him. Hoby, what is your final price?