Alternate AR-15 cartridges for hunting?

[Guy Miner]

Just out of curiosity... Which of the avail cartridges would you recommend for hunting deer sized game, other than the .223/5.56 ?

The .223 isn't legal for deer in Washington State - though I know it can be effective, I've used it myself.

So am thinking about the cartridges avail, and I don't know much about them. For instance:

6.8 Rem SPC (a real short .270) with a 115 gr bullet at about 2575 fps, or a 140 at 2400 fps.

The .300 Blackout with a 125 gr bullet at about 2200 fps...

I'm thinking the 6.8 looks pretty good for a general purpose deer-type cartridge.

The bigger .243 Win/.260 Rem/7mm-08 & .308 Win cartridges require the larger AR-10 type platform, which I don't have. I do have a good little AR-15 that could make use of a different, larger-caliber upper though...

Your thoughts?

Thanks, Guy

 

[FOTIS]

6.8 would work for me

 

[nvbroncrider]

What about the 6.5 Grendel?

 

[DrMike]

I would think the 6.8 would be just great in an AR.

 

[Guest]

There are really four good deer rounds, in my opinion:

6.8SPC - This one is the least "good" in my opinion, but only because I like velocity. There is a very light E-Tip available for this one, though - 85gr, running at ~2900fps out of a 20" barrel - that might make it more interesting.

6.5 Grendel - This one seems like a great round, and I don't think any deer will argue with a 100gr Partition at 2700fps, either. It would be strongly in the running if I had an AR.

243WSSM & 25WSSM - These are the "sleepers" as fewer folks know they'll readily work in the AR platform. With a 20-24" barrel, for the 243 variant, you'd be looking at a 90-100gr bullet at something like 3k on the slow end of the spectrum, and maybe as fast as 3200-3300fps. That's more medicine than any deer would want, and might be the kind of thing that would stop a cow elk, if that 90gr was the E-Tip. On the 25cal side, you can have 100/110/115/120gr bullets running along at 3k and better, so again, the deer, antelope, and other stuff, is going to dislike that choice.

Now, of the four, the most practical is the 6.8, because brass is most readily available and likely to remain in production. If I was starting into a WSSM, I'd buy no less than 500pcs of brass, and for an autoloader, I'd probably start with 1000pcs or maybe double that. I figure the WSSM brass is only going to get harder to find in the future. The 6.5 is not going to be as common or as easy to get as the 6.8, but it's going to be easier, I suspect, than the WSSMs. The 6.5 can be made from 7.62x39 cases in a pinch, but the 7.62 uses a large rifle primer, where the 6.5 uses a small rifle primer. Ultimately, I think the 6.5 is going to be tougher to find, but not impossible. And it could be made from readily available brass supplies. Not so for the WSSMs, or at least not as easily so.

Now, what would I buy? I'd probably buy either the 25WSSM or the 6.5Grendel. But that's only because I already have a 243Win and I think the 6.8 is the least appetizing of the four. Oh, and yes, there are other chamberings avaialble, but these four represent some of the very best deer rounds for the AR platform, most certainly.

 

[Anonymous]

For standard AR receivers, I think the 6.8SPC shows the most promise. I just don't think the receiver will take a big enough case to launch a .308 bullet at interesting velocity. While the WSSM line can fit, with my limited knowledge of the cartridge and receiver I just don't see it being very practical or even available longer term.

The 6.8 is sort of a ".270 Lite" and while it's not the ideal deer cartridge, I can't think of many better that I could cram in an AR receiver.

 

[IdahoCTD]

6x45 (.223 case necked up) or 6x47 (.222 magnum necked up) would be about the best for trajectory short of the WSSM's

 

[russ808]

I like the blackout. Seems to be working for us.
Russ

 

[wildgene]

...I'd do a side by side comparison of the Grendel & 6.8, I think the Grendel is a better choice, especially now that it SAMMI. There's quite a bit of info on WSSM AR's on the WSSM board if you're so inclined...

 

[HomerOz]

G'Day Fella's,

Guy, one of my all time favourite Small to Medium size game hunting cartridges, is the 7.62 x 39 Soviet!
I can only speak of it's use in an SKS semi-auto rifle but that combo, was my all time best for culling big numbers of pigs!!!

I hope that helps

Doh!
Homer

 

[SJB358]

I think Brian will have some fun with the 243WSSM. Its Ackley fast and seems to be pretty easy to load. I'm pretty sure if I would do an AR, it would be a Grendel or WSSM.

 

[Woodycreek]

Lots of good options for the AR in a deer round. I have a Dtech 243 WSSM on order with plenty of brass (300) for loading. The 6.8 SPC is cool if you go with SCP II chamber. Kinda like the difference in 223 Rem and 5.56 NATO. Some really good wildcats like the 6x45, 6mm HAGAR, 6mm AR Turbo (6.5 Grendel necked down), 458 SOCOM.... It's easy to find a good deer round for the AR, but finding an upper is going to be tough. Uppers and parts are getting harder to come by! Dtech is two months late on the 243 WSSM.

http://www.6mmar.com/site/mobile?url=ht ... .html#2970

http://www.dtechuppers.com/

http://shopwilsoncombat.com/Complete-AR ... ments/123/

http://6mmhagar.com/

 

[meatmachineman]

6x45 (.223 case necked up) or 6x47 (.222 magnum necked up) would be about the best for trajectory short of the WSSM's

This is one I've been toying with the idea of. As to other options, I'm not sure of its viability on deer, but a friend in OR just finished up a 458 SOCOM.

 

[Woodycreek]

6x45 (.223 case necked up) or 6x47 (.222 magnum necked up) would be about the best for trajectory short of the WSSM's

This is one I've been toying with the idea of. As to other options, I'm not sure of its viability on deer, but a friend in OR just finished up a 458 SOCOM.

You and me both! Swap out the barrel to 6mm, neck up 223 brass, and you have a 6x45. Works just fine with a standard AR bolt and mags. I wanted to get one a few years ago along with the 458 SOCOM. Starting to like the idea of necking down 6.8 SPC to 6mm (6mm HAGAR).

 

[wayno945]

Dtech also has some wildcats based on the 6.8 case. The 6mmDTI or 25DTI look like awesome medium game cartridges. http://www.dtechuppers.com/ar-15-dti-up ... ivers.html

 

[IdahoCTD]

The 6.8 is a shorter fatter case so it probably hold just a bit more powder unless you AI'd the .223 or .222 Magnum cases and then they'd probably be about equal.

 

[SJB358]

The 6.8 Rem is basically a 35 Rem or 30 Rem case right? Should have enough powder to do some decent stuff as a 6mm.

 

[Mortis]

I'm with HomerOz..... the 7.62X39 is better then most give it credit for. I often us it hunting feral hogs.

 

[ajvigs]

While on my recent hog hunt a gentleman was using a 30AR. It did a number on the two hogs he harvested, and it is on the same 5.56 platform as you already have.

 

[filmjunkie4ever]

I would vote for the 6.8 if you're going to be shooting a little farther...the 300 Blackout if its closer range like Western Oregon or Washington can be. The 6.8 is the better cartridge of the two in an all around sense in my humble opinion. But I must say this, I've never taken game with either.