Shoot an AR10 Haenel CR308.308 Sniper Rifle in Poland

The AR10 is the big brother of the AR15: the same familiar layout, controls and ergonomics, scaled up to fire the full-power .308 Winchester (7.62×51 NATO). Where the AR15 is a light carbine, the AR10 is a semi-automatic precision rifle — the platform armies choose when they need a designated marksman or sniper rifle that can still fire quick follow-up shots.

The Haenel CR308 is a premium German take on that idea. Haenel, from Suhl in Thuringia — one of Germany's historic gunmaking towns — builds it as a direct competitor to the Heckler & Koch HK417, the rifle carried by the French army and, as the G28-based M110A1, by the US Army. The civilian HK417 is sold as the MR308; the CR308 plays in the same league.

What makes the CR308 good is the way it is built: a short-stroke gas piston instead of direct impingement, so the action runs cleaner and cooler; a cold-hammer-forged barrel for accuracy and long life; a free-floating handguard; a fully ambidextrous control layout; and an adjustable stock and cheek rest so you can settle behind the scope properly.

For a European visitor, a semi-auto .308 rifle like this is very hard to shoot at home — strict licensing in the UK, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and Spain keeps it out of reach. In Poland you shoot it on the day under instructor supervision, with only a valid ID.