So I'm bit by the AR bug for hunting.

[jimbob86]

After handloading 100 rounds of .223 last night for Youngestdaughter to practice with today ..... I can see ONE advantage to the 300BLK: putting those little tiny 50 gr bullets into that little tiny case mouth with my human sized fingers was like artificially inseminating a gnat ...... if I did a lot of this, I'd HAVE to figure out a way to automate the proceess or get some soft jawed tweezers or something ......

...... once upon a time I considered getting a .204Ruger. Never happen, now..... and .17centerfireanything would be a dirty word in my house!

 

[A pause for the COZ]

KCub.
I mean I keep it under 200 yards. Thats my personal limit with it.
It can shoot better than that. I just dont need it too. I have other options ( AR10 308 win)
If I need to go longer than that.
I look at were I will be hunting that day, factor in the likely ranges.
Then I decide what gun I want to take.

I guess if your only allowed to have one gun. Pick one that you can reach out there with.
Luckily though most are not so we get to have fun with a nice carbine.

 

[stagpanther]

Here's a hot tip: I was just googling around and ran across surplus arms out of Washington state and they have in stock ready-to-go 6.5 264 lbc complete uppers for about $550. IMO you cannot build a finer one from scratch at a competitive price. I know because I have built on from scratch--that BHW barrel is stunning accurate with the right load.

 

[doofus47]

just to stir the pot

Olympic Arms makes a 30 cal olympic short mag and there's uppers in 25 wssm made by several companies.

 

[stagpanther]

Olympic Arms makes a 30 cal olympic short mag and there's uppers in 25 wssm made by several companies.

I've looked at some of those and they are quite interesting though I would call em custom guns (and quite expensive). The 6.5/264 (Grendel with tiny shoulder angle difference) has been around long enough I'd call it "mainstream" like the 300 blk. Heck, you can even get a 50 bmg upper for an AR15 if ya want. : )

One problem is that building an HBAR type longish barrel AR starts tipping the scales up there into the "AR 10" weight range which starts to defeat the purpose of an AR 15 IMO.

Having built a 6.8 spc and 6.5-264 IMHO I felt these were reasonable extensions of the original AR15 once you consider over-all portability, ammo etc. I sold both of these but still have a couple of AR's in the safe that I'm considering new upper builds for. I've been especially interested in the new 6.5 special hybrid of sticking a 6.5 bullet into a 6.8 necked down case. I think 6.5 is the way to go in a light-weight AR15 platform. ; )

 

[mxsailor803]

I'm a little bit of odd ball you can say. I like the .300blk and the 6.8spc. I do reload for both. Granted I had to buy the 6.8 brass and I made the 300blk from range surplus 5.56 Lake City brass. I do like them both though. The one round that I haven't heard or seen much discussion about is the 25-45 Sharps. I recently found out about this one and am seriously considering this as my next upper. I mean I can still use the 5.56/.223 brass, cut to length just like a .300blk, and use a .25 cal bullet. From my standpoint as a reloader, the only thing I would need to make my own would be dies and bullets (don't have anything in that caliber size). And while I'm discussing parent 5.56 cases, how about the .277 Wolverine? Same concept of .300blk or 25-45Sharps, just using .277 bullets. Realistcally, that will be my next upper since all I would need is dies and a barrel, as I use the same bullets in my .270's as well as 6.8spc.

 

[A pause for the COZ]

The next upper I am going to do is a 7mm TCU. Already have the die purchased. Just keep getting to many other great deals pop up in my way.
maybe before spring.

 

[kcub]

I wish the 6x45 / 6mm/223 were commercially loaded. I think that's as big a bullet weight upgrade as makes sense for the limited case capacity of the 223. It would not just be a better hunting round but a better everything round than 223.

But all these other oddball 223/AR alternative spinoffs have the market all fragmented, saturated, and therefore too buggered up for any one to get traction just like the 6.5 Creedmoor/260Rem/26 Nosler/6.5x55/6.5x54MS crowd.

 

[sevt_chevelle]

Can you buy brass for 30AR or are you stuck buying factory ammo for the brass to reload?

 

[CarJunkieLS1]

Sevt_Chevelle I have seen once fired 30AR brass online but it is very expensive...when it comes to buying new brass it is non exisistant and to get brass you have to buy loaded ammo.

But 30AR ammo w/ a 150gr Core-Lokt is easy to find online for less than $20/box.

 

[agtman]

I don't know, ... a lot of caliber choices discussed here.

But when you really think about it, ... once you step up to .30-cal land from the 5.56/.223 cartridge on the AR-platform, there are only two realistic economical choices, unless you're some type of hermit who spends more time reloading for niche cartridges than at the range or out in the field shooting them ... because they're sooooooo unobtainium at the LGS.

Those two cartridges are:

the 7.62/.308, which, on the AR-platform, has been around for quite a while but which also requires one to spend for a new rifle ...

... and the .300BLK, a relative newcomer, but which is less costly to get into since it requires only the cost of a new upper or merely a barrel (if you've got an upper receiver that's switch-barrel capable, like LMT's MRP).

 

[tirod]

Nope. If you want to shoot economical .30's, there are none.

.308 isn't readily found surplus, most is used in MG's and there aren't any hunting rounds adopted by NATO. To get those off the shelf you have to pay the going rate of $1 a round.

.300BO isn't military issue anywhere, no surplus at all, right back to the store shelf, same prices.

Which means to get either cheap you set up your mountain top retreat and sit at a bench reloading to get it.

If you stick to 5.56, will you find cheap ammo? Sure - but just like those above, no hunting round cheap as NATO 5.56 and the US doesn't issue them in bulk. Back to the store shelf.

It's the FMJ plinking ammo for practice that GI surplus excels at, and why 3Gun settled on it as many competitors can pick it up and use it, being 3Gun is a skill of fast acquisition and hits on torso targets, not 1" bullseyes. The issue 2MOA ammo is plenty accurate being used for it's actual intended target size.

Cheap plinking ammo is why 7.62x39 is so popular, too.

At one time there were numerous complaints about one certain cartridge being "pricey." It was as if a campaign was spreading across the internet to trash the round because there was no cheap surplus to shoot up.

Lately I see a lot about how .300BO is "affordable," when in reality standing at the ammo shelf I see the same prices - except for XM surplus 5.56 or import x39.

Since it's about hunting, for the most part it's NOT about cheap FMJ plinker ammo, so we are standing together looking at boxes of ammo side by side and choosing what we see - or, reloading. Hunting bullets aren't cheaper than FMJ sitting on the bench either.

Do the math - you don't pick an alternate cartridge for "cheap," because it won't be. You pick it because it has the ballistics you need shooting it. About the only time cheap comes into play is when you shoot paper and make a lot of little holes for fun. Shooting game, the ammo isn't cheap - but we don't plan on blowing away hundreds of rounds of that into a gravel berm, either.

Hunting ammo in bulk isn't a big deal except for contract hog hunters. The rest of us rarely use more than two or three boxes of expanding point hunting rounds a season.

 

[jimbob86]

unless you're some type of hermit who spends more time reloading for niche cartridges than at the range or out in the field shooting them ... because they're sooooooo unobtainium at the LGS.

It's a pretty safe bet that I shoot more because I reload, than if I shot factory .... yeah, I do spend a lot of time rollin my own, and my kids' own ammo, but how many other 11 year old girls get to shoot 100+ rounds of 5.56 ammo every time they go shooting?

BTW, all the practice rounds paid off: Both my son (13) and youngest daughter (11) got their first deer on their first shot this year. She used my AR, with 53grTSX over a max load of H335 ..... through and through both shoulders @135 yards ...... certainly lethal enough, but the 3000f /sec impact velocity made a mess out most of both shoulders and much of the ribs...... the boy's deer lost less meat at a similar range with a 139gr 7mm bullet @ 2250 f/sec ....... and was every bit as effective .......

...... I'm going to look into a heavier bullet ...... Hornady has a 70gr GMX, I understand ....... if that is still too messy ..... maybe on to .277Wolverine.

 

[zukiphile]

The last time I ran my numbers I am under 2 bucks for a box of 20 rounds [of 300 BO].

I don't reload, but I found this impressive.

 

[tahunua001]

I do reload and I still find that impressive.

he must be the guy that melts down all his childhood toys down for lead and hoards buckets of chicken poop to turn into gun powder.

 

[Jayhawkhuntclub]

My experience with the 6.5 Grendel has been favorable when it comes to deer.


But it's my 300 Blackout that has earned the name "the deer hammer." But out past 150 yards, I rather have the Grendel.

 

[Unlicensed Dremel]

Been there; done that. Nothing wrong with it, but went back to turnbolts. Whatever floats your boat though.

I think past mid-40s, one starts to appreciate lighter a bit more. For anything larger than mule deer, the AR15 platform starts to get slightly iffy, and the AR10 platform gets really heavy.

I'm generally in favor of anything which normalizes modern sporting rifles to the general public, so I say, go for it.

 

[bamaranger]

less than 9 lbs!!!!!!!!!

Gosh I hope so. If not, you might as well get a Garand.