2 caliber questions regarding deer and ARs.

[Big Phil]

300 Blk, everything stays the same except the bolt and barrel. It is an awesome round, especially if you plan on getting a can! If we weren't in an ammo crisis you would find it on shelves.

 

[RandomHero]

300 Blk, everything stays the same except the bolt and barrel. It is an awesome round, especially if you plan on getting a can! If we weren't in an ammo crisis you would find it on shelves.

300blk uses the same bolt. just a diff barrel. 6.8 uses the diff bolt, barrel and mag. i only ask cause 6.8 is proven, but 300blk is the new kid on the block. im nto looking at taking long shots. just taking deer down and dont wanna use a heavier 223 round.

a 300blk barrel from jse is $200

a 6.8 barrel, bolt and mag would run around $200

 

[RandomHero]

would there be a problem in just having the extra barrel and swapping back and forth as deer season comes?

 

[Big Phil]

That seems like a lot of hassle to me.

Think about it like this: in the time before the panic if you had a mag malfunction on your 300 Blk you just went to the store and bought a new one.
6.8? Not so much, not saying it can't or doesn't happen I've just never seen it.
I'm not sure I've seen 6.8 ammo on stores shelves 300 Blk, yes sir.

I was having the same debate last year and decided on 300 Blk, bought a barrel and everything. Then I changed my mind and stuck with .223.

 

[Texas42]

I've shot two deer with .223. two shots, four holes, two dead deer. Heart and lung shots. Worked fine.

I'd take 6.8 spc over 300 BO. Lot better ballistics, but all the above will kill deer.

 

[SIG_Fiend]

My opinion on .223/5.56 for deer is: Unless you are perfect with shot placement ( head or neck vertebrae ) you are going to lose a lot of deer. They may die, but miles away from where you shot them.

I agree. A majority of shooters I come across do not have the fundamentals in check to be able to consistently make a solid headshot on a deer at any real form of distance, so in that regard I would say .223 is too small. It can be done, for those that truly know what they are doing, as afterall the round has been used to good effect on people from time to time. Of course, shot placement is always the issue. I once met a guy that insisted the whitetail in his part of Texas were "so huge" that he didn't feel comfortable using anything below a .450 Marlin. No joke. I'll say this much, if you can't take whitetail with say a .243, I'll give you a hint, it's not the caliber.

 

[Ericstac]

I was watching one of the hunting channels this weekend and some dude took down a sika buck and a whitetail doe with a SBR AR15, didn't catch the round but probably a 223 or 556

 

[Big Phil]

.223 is more than enough for a white tail depending on distance, bullet weight and placement.

Most shots in Texas (at least where I have hunted) are a short distance, 200 or less. As was said use a good hunting round. Bullet weights go up to near 70 grains. Why anyone would shoot a deer in the head is beyond me. I know the arguments so no need to recite them. I view it as unethical if you miss and blow the deer's jaw off then it dies of starvation. If a hunter is skilled enough for a head shot why not shoot at the base of the skull to preserve most of the deer. Is this a head shot facing the deer or its profile. If it's facing the deer that's even worse. The risk reward is fairly low, a neck shot is much better. You can hit bones, arteries or even the spinal cord and still preserve most of the meat.

If .223 is the only choice, it is capable. .257 Roberts and .270 are good choices as well.

For more proof see here. Not deer but proof enough.
http://www.m4carbine.net/showthread.php?t=94628

 

[40Arpent]

.223 is more than enough for a white tail depending on distance, bullet weight and placement.

Right, but, IMO, those variables dictate using a larger caliber for deer hunting. I hunt 100yd feeder stands almost exclusively in South Texas, but I want every assurance that I can drop a monster buck that might show up at 200 yards and out.

 

[Texas42]

I didn't know you could hunt game animals with an SBR. Looked it up. Nothing against it. Learned something new every day.

 

[TheDan]

6.8spc or 300blk?

I'd go with the 6.8 for hunting. Awesome little round.

 

[M1Garand]

I'd go with 300 Blackout... slow, heavy bullets tend to work wonders.

 

[Acera]

.300 Blackout will be my next build. I like the simplicity of using off the shelf, large number of supplier parts, standard mags, etc. Plus, get a .30 can for it, then you can shoot it on your 5.56 also. Now that it is legal to hunt suppressed in Texas you can take advantage of that option and not worry about ear plugs before you fire. (Not suggesting using subsonic rounds for hunting, but you could use some of the higher velocity loads for it and still get significant noise reduction.)

 

[Mexican_Hippie]

300 BLK will work. 6.8 will work. 223/556 will work.

Think of 300BLK as similar to a 30-30. Those have killed untold thousands of deer in America.
We had a .222 bolt action we killed scores of deer with at one of our ranches. Worked fine.
I don't have much experience with 6.8 but hear its a good round.

I like 300BLK the best because its got a fair bit more punch than 556 and its easier/cheaper to find parts for. I like that I can share mags, bolts etc. If you're on a budget you could even use the same charging handle and bolt from your 556 and save that cost until you can buy a dedicated one for that rifle/upper.

 

[Mexican_Hippie]

You may want to look here for subsonic expanding bullets. I haven't personally used them but they look interesting.
.308 SUBSONIC - Outlaw State Bullets LLC

If you do 6.8 go with the spec II so you can use the higher pressures.

 

[benenglish]

Bullet weights go up to near 70 grains.

Actually, .224 bullet weights of 100 grains (and more, I'm sure) have been produced. I have several boxes of 100-grainers.

That said, in answer to the OP, I'd say that a faster twist than 1-in-12 is indicated. I'd also suggest the OP peruse this: American Hunter - The Myth: The .223 is too Light for Deer

 

[matefrio]

On the stock ar15 platform I'd use a upper conversion for 6.8 spc for hunting. It's not a huge compromize

I wouldn't feel under gunned with a 300 blackout or .223 but there are more compromises.

 

[Mexican_Hippie]

Not knocking 6.8, but.... if I already had a 556 and was going with a new caliber that requires different bolts and mags I'd take the 6.5G over the 6.8.

IMO, 6.8 is just not enough of an advantage over 300BLK to put up with all the duplication of parts and accessories. Everyone has their own preferences though.

 

[Vern1]

Not knocking 6.8, but.... if I already had a 556 and was going with a new caliber that requires different bolts and mags I'd take the 6.5G over the 6.8.

IMO, 6.8 is just not enough of an advantage over 300BLK to put up with all the duplication of parts and accessories. Everyone has their own preferences though.

I only hunt pigs so your milage may vary....
When I first saw the 300BO, I fell in love and had to have one and so did quite a few of my pig hunting buddies.
This was early in the 300s life, so there wasn't a lot of load data available.
Today, two years later, only two still has them and one was talking about selling it last weekend.

Put in the time developing rounds, doing range testing and loving the accuracy.
Then, I spent the better part of a year watching quite a rew pigs shot with well placed shots run off.....
I was using 110gr TTSXs most of the time but even shot a few with 110gr VMax bullets.
It's kinda interesting seeing a 110gr VMax tunnel straight thru an 80 pound pig like an arrow and the pig runs off....
A varmint bullet like the VMax should explode but due to the aneimic speed of the 300BO, they act more like an FMJ.

Yes, there are tons of .30 cal bullets out there but they are designed for much faster guns.
I always thought that if someone came up with a real hunting bullet for the 300BO in the 80 to 90gr range, it would be a much better hunting gun.
Now, the 300BO is a fun gun to "play" with due to the large selection of .30 cal bullets.
A 165gr Sierra OTMBT hitting a gong at 100 yards has a nice "ka-thump" to it!

Fast forward: I wanted to stay with AR platform so I started searching.
Looked at ALL of them and for me, the 6.8 won over the 6.5 as I don't need the range of the 6.5 and there are lots of .277 bullets.
I probably will have a Grendel some time though....LOL!!! It's a sickness, I tell ya!

After researching a long time, I started with an ARP 6.8 barrel and superbolt.
Did load workup, sighted in, and started dropping hogs.
Not shooting, DROPPING....as in dead rght there.
Shooting a 95gr TTSX at close to 3K and a 120gr SST at over 2800fps is simply devastating on a pig.

And it's easy to see the difference between a 300BO on the left loaded with a 110gr VMax and a 6.8 on the right loaded with a 120gr SST.
0-200 yards is flat enough with the 6.8 that I zero at 100 and go with it.

I classify the 300BO as a "botique gun" and it has it's followers like all toys like this!
The 300 works great suppressed and in a SBR if you don't strech the range.

I have a dedicated day and night 6.8.
The night gun has ARP target crown barrel and wears a Pulsar N750 Digisight.
The day gun has a Bison 18" target crown barrel and wears a 3-12 MilDot.
And they both kill the crap outta pigs!

 

[Pilgrim]

^^^Damn, dems be nice guns!