AR-15 vs. 300 aac vs. AR-10 Deer Hunting

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  • Which Semi Auto is best for deer?

    • AR-15 5.56

      Votes: 0 0.0%
    • AR- 15 .300 aac

      Votes: 14 22.2%
    • AR-10 .308

      Votes: 41 65.1%
    • other

      Votes: 8 12.7%

    • Total voters
      63

    charlie3587

    Member
    Aug 16, 2020
    40
    DUNDALK
    Which would be best for a rookie shooter to hunt deer with? (mid to close range)
     

    bigjohn

    Ultimate Member
    Jun 29, 2007
    2,752
    I’ve used all 3. I lost the first one last year with the 300bo. It was at 200 yards. I’ll vote for the 308
     

    1time

    Ultimate Member
    Apr 26, 2009
    2,258
    Baltimore, Md
    Between those three, the 308. If you are building or buying and like the ar15 platform either the 6.8 spc or 6.5 grendel. I built a 6.8 for my son when he was in the 70lb range. It is effective on deer and easy for him to shoot.
     

    steves1911

    Ultimate Member
    Dec 2, 2011
    3,026
    On a hill in Wv
    For a rookie id go 308. 223 can be effective on deer but bullet choice and shot placement are critical. 223 also skirts the line of being legal in MD. 300 bo should be effective with a good supersonic bullet but you mentioned "mid range" which could mean different things to different folks but I personally see the 300bo as a 200yd max deer rifle. Not saying it cant be effective past that but if ranges past 200yds are expected its not what I would want. The 308 has a much greater range of acceptable loads from deer. Sighted in 2.5" or so high @100yds and your good to go out to about 300yds with a center hold. Past that you'll need to be aware of your dope to make clean hits but with enough practice the 308 is capable out to 600yds on deer.
     

    GUNSnROTORS

    nude member
    MDS Supporter
    Jun 7, 2013
    3,620
    hic sunt dracones
    Agree with Steve.

    Voted other though. Focussed on "rookie shooter", which might not have been the OP's intent.

    Rookie shooter, deer hunting, mid to close range - I'd recommend a bolt action, common cartridge, low-power optic. Good platform for learning and versatile for hunting.

    If I had to go with one of the other options, it would be the AR-10 / .308. However, this (or any AR) would not be my choice for for my son/daughter during their first season of deer hunting. Nor would it be what I would hand to a "novice adult shooter", out on their first deer hunt. Now for an "experienced shooter" out on their first hunt, that would be different. Anything legal and adequately lethal. In that case and given the choices in the poll, I'd opt for the AR-10 / .308.
     

    Archeryrob

    Undecided on a great many things
    Mar 7, 2013
    3,062
    Washington Co. - Fairplay
    Other also, but of the three I would say .308 but the AR10 is much heavier than the AR15 to carry around.

    My daughter wanted an AR15 and wanted it to shoot deer with it. She just bought a 6.5 Grendel 18" upper and lower kit and will later add a 5.56/.233 upper as a target shooter. We live in a Rifle county so it is a long shooting round.

    If you want a short shooting round in the AR15 platform, and live in a shotgun county maybe 350 legend.
     

    Archeryrob

    Undecided on a great many things
    Mar 7, 2013
    3,062
    Washington Co. - Fairplay
    Here is a 6.5 Grendel upper you could order today and get the lower and parts kit locally. You'll need specific mags for 6.5 grendel as standard ar15 mags don't always feed properly.

    Here is the 350 legend but they are rare and all sold out at this store. This is one guys are buying now as it is a legal rifle round for shotgun counties now

    223/556 is the same upper and same caliber just measures as Caliber/millimeter. Same as .308/7.62 for the AR10. It is imperial caliber vs NATO designations. 5.56×45mm NATO. 7.62×51mm NATO

    300 blackout was created by cutting and necking down 556 casings and adding a larger bullet. It is also a better suppressed round, hence why it became so popular in Special force and why people want to buy it. I just don;t like the sound of long range shooting with a 10" barrel.

    If you go to Palmetto under uppers you can see all the available calibers they have in uppers.
     

    Pale Ryder

    Ultimate Member
    Jan 12, 2009
    6,232
    Millersville
    Of the three choices 308, but they usually weigh a good bit more than a bolt action. Is there a reason it has to be an AR? I normally hike in deep, so weight is important.
     

    lazarus

    Ultimate Member
    Jun 23, 2015
    13,673
    Of the three choices 308, but they usually weigh a good bit more than a bolt action. Is there a reason it has to be an AR? I normally hike in deep, so weight is important.

    AR-10 with an 18" fluted HBAR I just built is 9lbs even with scope and an empty 10 round PMAG.

    My Sako Forester, also in .308, with scope is 8lbs 3oz. I mean, you NOTICE that extra weight for sure. But it's not exactly extreme.

    I did go through a few hoops to make my AR-10 lighter, but not to the extreme. A light contour barrel probably would shed a further 5-7oz. 2-3oz for going to a 16" barrel.

    That said, my 18" 6.5 Grendel AR-15 is 8lbs even with scope, sling and empty steel 10 round magazine. Also a fluted HBAR barrel. Does use a GWACS polymer lower receiver which helps shed a few ounces. Jumped through a ton of hoops, short of a pencil or shorter barrel to shave weight or going to extreme expense. It was originally 8lbs9oz, WITHOUT magazine, when I first built it. Lighter handguard as well as swapping out some steel bits for aluminum or Ti bits helped. Lighter scope rings helped a fair amount too.

    Ti gas block and a different linear comp on there will likely shed about another 1 +/- a couple tenths of an oz. Towards the end of the gun too.
     

    Speed3

    Ultimate Member
    Aug 19, 2011
    7,816
    MD
    I wouldnt suggest a .223 for hunting whitetail(64gr barely meets the requirement). Dont get me wrong, kills them well, but doesn't exit reliably enough for me and a novice hunter isn't going to have the best shot placement. I'd vote .308 if the person can shoot it well, they wont notice the recoil when they pull the trigger I promise. .300 is fine, stay with a lighter(110-125gr) hunting bullet.
     

    ZeroCool

    Active Member
    Nov 8, 2006
    330
    Glen Burnie
    is that even a thing? i've only heard of .223, 5.56, and .300 aac for AR-15's

    Yes, the AR15 platform is offered in tons of different calibers. For deer hunting I'd say 6.5 grendel, 300 legend, 450 Bushmaster or 50 Beowulf would be worth looking into.

    300 legend, 450 Bushmaster and 50 Beowulf have the additional bonus of being straight wall cartridges so they can be used in previously shotgun only counties here in MD as well.
     

    Pale Ryder

    Ultimate Member
    Jan 12, 2009
    6,232
    Millersville
    AR-10 with an 18" fluted HBAR I just built is 9lbs even with scope and an empty 10 round PMAG.

    My Sako Forester, also in .308, with scope is 8lbs 3oz. I mean, you NOTICE that extra weight for sure. But it's not exactly extreme.

    I did go through a few hoops to make my AR-10 lighter, but not to the extreme. A light contour barrel probably would shed a further 5-7oz. 2-3oz for going to a 16" barrel.

    That said, my 18" 6.5 Grendel AR-15 is 8lbs even with scope, sling and empty steel 10 round magazine. Also a fluted HBAR barrel. Does use a GWACS polymer lower receiver which helps shed a few ounces. Jumped through a ton of hoops, short of a pencil or shorter barrel to shave weight or going to extreme expense. It was originally 8lbs9oz, WITHOUT magazine, when I first built it. Lighter handguard as well as swapping out some steel bits for aluminum or Ti bits helped. Lighter scope rings helped a fair amount too.

    Ti gas block and a different linear comp on there will likely shed about another 1 +/- a couple tenths of an oz. Towards the end of the gun too.

    Maybe it’s just me, and haven’t put them to a scale, but my Win 70 in 30-06 just carries better and seems lighter than my DPMS AR 10.

    I bought to DPMS with the plan to make it a deer hunter as well as a f u to Fudds, but I prefer the bolt gun. Oh well, such is life. :)
     

    alucard0822

    For great Justice
    Oct 29, 2007
    17,643
    PA
    AR-10 with an 18" fluted HBAR I just built is 9lbs even with scope and an empty 10 round PMAG.

    My Sako Forester, also in .308, with scope is 8lbs 3oz. I mean, you NOTICE that extra weight for sure. But it's not exactly extreme.

    I did go through a few hoops to make my AR-10 lighter, but not to the extreme. A light contour barrel probably would shed a further 5-7oz. 2-3oz for going to a 16" barrel.

    That said, my 18" 6.5 Grendel AR-15 is 8lbs even with scope, sling and empty steel 10 round magazine. Also a fluted HBAR barrel. Does use a GWACS polymer lower receiver which helps shed a few ounces. Jumped through a ton of hoops, short of a pencil or shorter barrel to shave weight or going to extreme expense. It was originally 8lbs9oz, WITHOUT magazine, when I first built it. Lighter handguard as well as swapping out some steel bits for aluminum or Ti bits helped. Lighter scope rings helped a fair amount too.

    Ti gas block and a different linear comp on there will likely shed about another 1 +/- a couple tenths of an oz. Towards the end of the gun too.

    There is a ton of AR15/10 stuff out there that can be built for light weight. I'm primarily a varminter where weight and power isn't as much of an issue, but build rifles and compete in 3 gun so farmiliar enough with the AR platform. PA still restricts big game hunter to manual action, we are still in the stone age for deer rifles, so no first hand experience hunting deer with my ARs though. Nothing wrong with most any 1200FPE + caliber in an AR based platform provided a proper bullet, but would probably opt for the more powerful 6mm-30cal variant, probably 6.5 grendel, or most any caliber in an AR10 would be fine. If you go with a light-midweight barrel/handguard and keep furniture weight down, you can build a sub 6# AR pretty easily, go with 5 seven stuff and lightweight internals, and go sub 5#. I built a V seven with 16" Faxon gunner barrel, came out to just under 5#, and topped with a 1-4 steiner it weighs in at 6#5oz, about the same weight as a Ruger American hunter bolt action without an optic. It's a little tougher to build a really lightweight AR10, 7# before optics is generally considered decent, but as the DPMS/SR25 pattern is getting to be kinda standard there are a couple receiver sets that can get down under that.
     

    lazarus

    Ultimate Member
    Jun 23, 2015
    13,673
    Maybe it’s just me, and haven’t put them to a scale, but my Win 70 in 30-06 just carries better and seems lighter than my DPMS AR 10.

    I bought to DPMS with the plan to make it a deer hunter as well as a f u to Fudds, but I prefer the bolt gun. Oh well, such is life. :)

    Oh, my Sako balances WAY better than my AR-10. My AR-10 is just too heavy in the back. I need to work on that some I think. My AR-15 grendel has much better balance in that respect. It balances just in front of the magazine well/lower receiver at the barrel nut. My AR-10 balances somewhere in the magazine, maybe a third of the way forward. Basically balancing like 2" or so further to the rear than my AR-15 6.5 Grendel does (my .223 16" HBAR has balance a bit closer to my AR-10, but it also weighs 6lbs 5oz, so it isn't nearly as noticeable).

    But I really like the balance on my 18" Grendel. Maybe more than my Sako (toss up, they are both awesome).
     

    Biggfoot44

    Ultimate Member
    Aug 2, 2009
    32,876
    So many amswers , so many different contexts


    In a Vacuum : Of the three , .308 is more better- er , as a cartridge


    In the absolute : All of those three can kill Bambi . Albeit one of them has little margin of error for power or shot placement .

    Both AR platforms are available in metric butt load of different ctgs ( albeit the list of cals that used to be readily available in wally world , when wally's sold guns ) is much shorter .

    My mild suggestions aren't on the original list :

    6.5 Grendel OR 6.8 SPC . Distant honorable mention for 7.62 x 39 .

    Because AR-15 is lighter easier to handle , and less $$ than AR-10 .

    6.5 has better trajectory than 6.8 , but either would work for my interpretation of the OP's parameters .
     

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