An basic answer to the age-old question “why would you hunt with an AR?” is the same as answering the question “why would you hunt with a lever action rifle?”
“Because I want to!”
If it’s legal in the jurisdiction you’re hunting in and for the game you’re hunting, go ahead. Make your life harder with an AR-style rifle. Wait. What? Impede?
Yes. AR makes hunting more challenging than it should be. In my opinion. And you know what they say about opinions…
Now that I have your attention, if not your anger, let me explain. An AR-style rifle is functionally no different from automatically loaded hunting rifles that have been on the market since the early 20th century – Winchester M1905, Remington Model 8, Winchester M-100 from 1960, Browning’s High Power from 1967…
The mechanisms are slightly different, but all “self-load” from the magazine, using the energy, either inertial or gaseous, from the previous round fired. The shooter then pulls the trigger to fire the next shot. Fast. With minimal disturbance to the rifle other than recoil.
The benefits this provides are questionable. Faster follow-up shots? Sure, but it reinforces the hunter’s wrong mindset. You assume you’ll miss first? Or does the autoloader falsely inspire sloppy shooting? “Don’t worry, I have plenty of backup photos!”
Of course, you can overcome this and train yourself to be a killer first shot hunter with an autoloader, but it takes a bit more effort. And once you’ve trained yourself to make that first shot count, quick follow-up shots and high-capacity magazines won’t make much or no difference, so why bother with them?
So back to our original question. And the answer remains: because you want to.
MORE FIREARM COVERAGE IN OUTDOOR NEWS:
Dan Ladd: Is another ammunition shortage on the horizon?
How to Make Your AR Gun Compliant with the New York Safe Act
Be especially careful when mounting the scope
Many hunters, especially those who trained in the military with an AR-style rifle, feel comfortable on this platform. Others just like the look and feel of one of them. So what should you look for in a hunting AR?
First, the right input. The AR-15’s low action limits you to a .223 Remington cartridge. This minimizes potential power, keeping the inserts in the medium/medium power category.
For example, the popular Grendel 6.5 fires a 120-grain bullet at approximately 2,500 fps with a muzzle energy of 1,666 foot-pounds that drops to 1,000 fp at a distance of 350 yards. The effective short-range range for a 6-inch target is approximately 260 yards.
Upgrade to a slightly longer .260 Remington in a low action AR-10 and you’ll add 500 fps to the same bullet! You will have a much greater reach. But if shots are never longer than 100 or maybe 150 yards at the hunting ground, why bother with the Remington .260?
My point is that you should choose your rifle platform after choosing your cartridge – or at least consider them simultaneously.
Additional suitable AR-15 cartridges include 6mm ARC, 6.8 SPC, 7.62x39mm, and several 22 centerfire cartridges such as .223 Rem., 224 Valkyrie, and .22 Nosler. The .30 Remington AR from 2008 was an excellent option, but poorly advertised and now little known, if not obsolete.
If you are restricted to the straight wall cartridges you hunt, the .350 Legend, 400 Legend, and .450 Buckmaster are your best choices. The less popular .458 SOCOM is slightly more powerful, but has a bottleneck.
Another option is to go subsonic, and the best option here is the .300 Blackout with the newer 8.6mm Blackout (with a .338-inch bullet) offering more power. The little .300 Blackout throws a 165-grain bullet at 1,850 fps, which sounds pathetic compared to the 308 Win. at 2,700 fps, but is faster and more powerful than the .30-30 after about 100 yards thanks to the higher BC bullets in the Blackout.
Of course, MV above about 1100 fps is supersonic. To achieve the subsonic effect, you need .300 Blackout cartridges topped with 190- to 220-grain bullets, powered. They kill with a rush, and the bullet’s weight drives them deep, causing them to hemorrhage.
The 8.6 blackout does the same for bullets weighing 285 to 340 grains passing under the sound barrier. The idea is to add a suppressor to the rifle. This combination keeps the muzzle blast at a decibel level that does not cause hearing damage. Some say it also confuses the game so it doesn’t necessarily explode on the first shot.
Upsize the action to an AR-10 and you’ll have plenty of options around the regular .308 Winchester length, including 243 Win., 6.5 Creedmoor, 260 Rem., 7mm-08 Rem., 338 Federal, 358 Winchester, and of course the 308 itself. Each of them extends the effective range to 300 meters.
Another advantage of AR is the ability to change the chamber relatively inexpensively. All you need is a novel upper (barrel) and you can go from, say, .243 Win. up to .358 Win. or .223 Rem. to .458 Bushmaster. That’s versatility!
Given this firepower, why do I consider AR-style rifles to be a hindrance to deer hunting? Part of it is my vintage Fudd grounding. I grew up recognizing the balance and glossy operation of established lever and screw mechanisms.
But above all, my opinion is based on pragmatism. Most of the features and attributes that make an AR effective in battle and altercations are irrelevant when it comes to hunting game. Here is a partial list to consider.
The pistol grip is not as glossy and quick as a established straight grip or an open-curved semi-pistol grip. May facilitate maintain lateral stability.
A large-capacity magazine is not needed (even legal in some states) and may interfere with shooting from a prone position.
The slotted hand guards on most ARs often get caught on brush and limbs. They are not needed to attach sights, flashlights, etc.
Quietly inserting a round into an AR is a challenge at best compared to a bolt-action, pump-action, or single-shot action. For safety reasons, I hike and still hunt with an empty chamber most of the time. When I spot a buck I want to shoot, I can start a round almost silently with my bolts or single shots. Not so still and basic with AR.
Am I nitpicking? Probably. But that’s okay. Most hunters love the rifles they choose for reasons that are often vexing. And this is one of those tiny but wonderful things about the USA. Freedom!
Largely free to choose to hunt with a high power magnum rifle, a standard rifle with a low power scope, an open sight lever action rifle, a single shot rifle, a bolt action muzzleloader, a flintlock magazine, a handgun, a crossbow, a compound bow, a recurve bow, a bow long or AR!
The final thing you might want to consider before purchasing an AR hunting rifle is its legality on a state-by-state and country-by-country basis. If you hope to one day hunt in a state that doesn’t allow such rifles, you’re going to be out of luck.
If you dream of sheep or caribou in Canada, they will not allow your AR to accompany you. Africa, New Zealand, Argentina… Many, if not most, political jurisdictions do not allow autoloader hunting.
