AR 15 or something else?

[oppo]

I do not believe that the person that is asking has ever actually been hunting so he is just curious what the hunters say about it. He is a buddy of mine from work.

Good for him for being wise enough to ask.

I see nothing wrong with an AR for deer. An AR 15 can be built in a variety of calibers that will work just fine for deer and are light enough to carry and can be plenty accurate, especially for the shots most hunters take. The ability of the hunter to make an accurate shot under field conditions is far more important than a small difference in the rifle's accuracy. If you are hunting from a stand, weight won't be an issue.

For elk, weight of the rifle will be an issue and I would be partial to a good bolt action but an AR platform in a potent caliber could be used. With quality ammo, my opinion is that a 270 or 7mm-08 or larger would be sufficient. The key here is bullet construction. A cheap cup and core 150 grain 30 caliber bullet could blow up on an elk shoulder. A good bonded core 180 will punch right on through. Bullet construction is key with large animals or when using marginal calibers. If you were using a 223 for deer, you wouldn't use a 40 grain varmint grenade but a 55 grain x-bullet or 60 grain partition would get the job done.

 

[tacticold]

I wasn't being critical, I was just curious if there was a secondary purpose for the rifle. That could alter the responses as well. My biggest issue with that platform for hunting is there are too many moving parts to foul up or have issues with, but that doesn't mean that you can't use them, and in many situations (deer stands on ranches, for one) they would work just fine.

 

[IronworksTactical]

Good for him for being wise enough to ask.

I see nothing wrong with an AR for deer. An AR 15 can be built in a variety of calibers that will work just fine for deer and are light enough to carry and can be plenty accurate, especially for the shots most hunters take. The ability of the hunter to make an accurate shot under field conditions is far more important than a small difference in the rifle's accuracy. If you are hunting from a stand, weight won't be an issue.

For elk, weight of the rifle will be an issue and I would be partial to a good bolt action but an AR platform in a potent caliber could be used. With quality ammo, my opinion is that a 270 or 7mm-08 or larger would be sufficient. The key here is bullet construction. A cheap cup and core 150 grain 30 caliber bullet could blow up on an elk shoulder. A good bonded core 180 will punch right on through. Bullet construction is key with large animals or when using marginal calibers. If you were using a 223 for deer, you wouldn't use a 40 grain varmint grenade but a 55 grain x-bullet or 60 grain partition would get the job done.

Only addressing the could be accurate enough comment. Most quality ARs these days will out shoot the shooter. Both my 6.8 and 5.56 AR15 are 1/2" guns. A quality builder can lap and true the receiver face to ensure the bolt is square to the extension and the lugs all lock up equally just like in a bolt action.

 

[Maxx2893]

Ammunition choice is a big factor. My go to ammo is Winchester Ballistic Silvertip.

 

[oppo]

Great bullet for deer sized game. I have used them myself. They open pretty fast though. I would use a tougher bullet for elk. The accubond is basically the bonded version of the ballistic tip and so is the Swift Scirroco. Other good choices would be the partition, a-frame, x-bullet, even the old core lokt or the newer version they have now and several more.

 

[Maxx2893]

Yeah was looking at Nosler's website. The E-Tip looks promising for larger game

 

[IronworksTactical]

The Barnes TSX and ttsx are very well proven hunting rounds. I use a 95TTSX in the 6.8 for nearly everything I hunt with that rifle now days including black bear. Although the 100 accubond are proving to be the elk round in the 6.8.