Smith MP10 308 Volunteer
By Joe W Gorman
Smith and Wesson’s excellent MP10 Volunteer in .308
Smith and Wesson has been making AR10s (MP10s) for many years and I have finally gotten around to reviewing one. Reviewed today, is a Smith and Wesson MP10 Volunteer X in .308. This rifle sports a 16” Armornite-finished barrel (internal and external), upgraded BCN forend with M-LOK, B5 SOPMOD stock, PWS muzzle brake, Radian Raptor-LT charging handle, ambi-controls, high quality flip-up back-up sights and excellent fit and finish. The MP10 also comes with a 20 round PMAG.
A beautiful summer day on the range with an accurate rifle. Is there anything better?
The MP10 is a classic direct impingement rifle with a mid-length gas system. Smith states the weight of this rifle 10.8 pounds, but I measured it more like 8 pounds 9oz with an empty magazine. That’s good news.
Smith’s machining is first class
Upon separating the upper and lower receivers to oil the bolt carrier before test firing, I noticed small rubber buttons to take up any slack between the receivers when closed. This certainly contributes to the excellent accuracy I observed during my testing.
Smith added small rubber bumpers which keep the upper to lower fit tight! (Circled in red)
Smith also added a serviceable flat faced trigger to the MP10 that broke just under 5 pounds on my trigger weight measure.
Timney makes a drop in trigger for every flavor of AR and many other style rifles.
Testing
After an initial oiling with several drops of Lucas oil, I set out to the range to dent primers. On deck I had some 7.62 NATO military ammunition from MEN Germany and XTAC from PMC. I also had .308 155gr BTHP from Hornady (American Gunner) and 168gr Federal Gold Medal Match because that stuff always shoots well.
After a quick set up on my bench, I zeroed the Volunteer’s sights for 100 yards with 7.62 NATO 147 gr ball. The front sight required several clicks down and I need a couple windage clicks and then I was keeping 3 shots in a 5” bull at 200 yards.
I can still shoot irons and drive manual transmissions! 😊
With the sights zeroed, I fired the rifle from standing, sitting and prone positions. I repeatedly was able to hit brightly painted steel prairie dog targets at 200 yards with irons from both the bench and prone. I noted while the stock trigger was actually pretty good, I knew a Timney drop-in could improve the trigger. I wanted to maintain complete reliability with respect to primer hits. MIL 7.62 primers can be hard and this gun must always go “bang.”
There was a bit more to dropping this trigger in than there was to the Ruger SFAR tested recently. Notably, I needed to remove the ambidextrous part of the bolt catch. No worries, as I have pin punches and 15 minutes later, the AR-10 Timney was installed and the trigger weight was reduced to just under 4 pounds.
Vortex’s excellent Viper PSTII 1-6×24 with VMR-2 MRAD reticle secured in a Vortex 30mm cantilever mount.
Optics Upgrade
With a Timney trigger in place, I set off to install a Vortex scope that has interested me for a while, the Vortex PST II 1-6X24, 30mm scope with the VMR-2 MRAD illuminated center dot reticle. The relative compactness of the Smith MP10 seemed to me to be an first-rate platform for a quality 1-6x LPVO like the Vortex. Featuring XD low dispersion glass and fully coated lenses, the Viper II provides a bright scope picture at all magnification settings. Moreover, the VMR-2 reticle features 10-step brightness control for the center dot.
The illuminated VMR-2 MRAD reticle
After spending time with the Viper PSTII, I noticed just how clear the glass was at a distance. I could see .308 cal hits on paper at 200 yards in bright light and in waning light I could see clearly into grass fields. A lesser scope, in lower light may turn subtle color differences into visual mush. The Viper PSTII painted an accurate picture at the light level I typically encounter 30 minutes after legal sunset.
See those steel prairie dogs out at 200 yards? You sure can through the Vortex Viper!
This is a long way for me to say, Vortex hit this one out of the park. I can wholeheartedly recommend this scope for close/medium target engagement. It’s a good buy for the money.
Shooting Targets for Score
After zeroing the rifle at 100 yards with the Hornady American Gunner 155gr BTHP ammunition, I set out to use the .2MIL clicks on the Viper to nail 3” stickers at 200 yds.
Best 3-shot group fired with Federal Gold Medal 168gr at 200 yards was just under 1 MOA. This is a good round to determine if a .308 rifle is accurate.
Best 3-shot group fired with Hornady American Gunner 155gr at 200 yards was at .8 MOA.
Funny how an entire summer afternoon can get away from you when you have 200-yard rifle accuracy testing to do. It happens all the time to me. My routine was to fire a 3-shot group with the Federal ammo and then fire a 3-shot group with the Hornady ammo. What I learned from throwing 400 rounds of .308 downrange was; this rifle is 100% reliable and this rifle is a solid 1.5MOA rifle. The barrel on the MP10 is not free floating and I suspect that would be the next thing I would address if it were mine. Having said that, for deer and pig and SHTF, it’s perfectly capable out to 600 yards and the Vortex Viper PSTII will easily allow you to see clearly and adjust for elevation at that range.
Range Results with SW MP10 Volunteer .308 from sand bag bench rest
| .308 Ammunition | Muzzzle Velocity | Average 3-shot Group @200 yards |
| Hornady American Gunner 155gr BTHP | 2575 | 2.15” |
| Federal Gold Medal 168gr BTHP MATCH | 2495 | 2.5” |
| MEN German Military 147gr FMJ | 2680 | 4.1” |
Links
| Vortex Viper PSTII 1-6x 24mm (PST-1607) | |
| Magnification | 1-6x |
| Objective Lens Diameter | 24 mm |
| Focal Plane | Second Focal Plane |
| Reticle | VMR-2 (MRAD) |
| Eye Relief | 3.8″ |
| Field of View | 112.5′ – 18.8′ @ 100 yds |
| Turret Style | Capped |
| Tube Size | 30mm |
| Adjustment Graduation | .2 MRAD |
| Travel Per Rotation | 16 MRAD |
| Max Elevation Adjustment | 46 MRAD |
| Max Windage Adjustment | 46 MRAD |
| Parallax Setting | 100 yds. |
| Length | 10.8″ |
| Weight | 22.7 oz |
| Smith and Wesson MP10 Volunteer .308 | |
| WIDTH | 3 in |
| LENGTH | 39.3 in |
| HEIGHT | 8 in |
| WEIGHT | 172.8 oz (my scale does not agree) |
| CALIBER | 308 WIN |
| SIZE | RIFLE |
| CAPACITY | 20 |
| ACTION | GAS OPERATED |
| BARREL LENGTH | 16 |
| GRIP | B5 |
| SIGHTS | FOLDING |
| OPTIC READY | Yes |
| SAFETY | THUMB SAFETY |
| COLOR/FINISH | BLACK |
| STATE COMPLIANCE | N/A |
| THREADED BARREL | YES |
| BARREL MATERIAL | 4140 CM |
| FRAME | ALUMINUM |
| NUMBER OF MAGAZINES | 1 |
Leave a Reply