Gastro Gnome - Eat Better Wherever

Who uses an AR style rifle for hunting?

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Nope... couple buddies have them, they are definitely a kick in the pants to shoot but I never understood the utility for hunting.
 
I have a couple of them, one of which is my favorite coyote rifle a custom made 204. Also great for Prairie dogs and hogs!
 
I am conflicted. I don't own an AR but in my career put thousands of rounds downrange with A2s and M4s. I find them easy to shoot (even with crappy triggers). I liked shooting the A2 much more than the M4....I could just never get the LOP I wanted from the 4 or any sort of cheek weld. I have considered for some time getting a budget At for plinking, yote and pdog duty and may still. the only hunting experience I have had with them was when the Hunting Princess took her first animal with a loaner AR at a ranch in Texas. After less than an hour of transition from her Cricket to the AR at 8 years old she was able to fill up the target. Off we went to the blind and she double-lunged a sow at 90 meters. There is definitely a place for them but I guess in the end I want the tradition and "feel" of cycling a bolt gun for my big game hunts.
 
I would have 1 or more wolf tags punched this year if I had been using an ar. So I'm considering it.
The new savage msr10 comes in 308 and 6.5creedmore and it's very affordable. Trying to restrain myself.
 
How did not having an AR prevent you from filling even one wolf tag? I can't imagine that scenario.

Yeah. No kidding. And a double with a rifle would be tough, much less multiples above that. An AR ain't gonna kill ya more woofs. mtmuley
 
I don't currently own one but I would imagine this style firearm to come in handy for quickly filling 7 muley doe tags in region 7 this year before the whole herd has a chance to get onto private land.
 
half a dozen wolves on the move with a bolt action magnum rifle. I wasn't a good enough shot and I had an over powered round. I couldn't reagust fast enough. A moving target on any animal is tough and unethical but I let the landowner down. He wants them gone. But I just need to be a better hunter
 
No, you need to be a better shot. And an AR won't get you there any better than what you had, if you couldn't connect with the first shot.

Unethical is unethical.
 
No, you need to be a better shot. And an AR won't get you there any better than what you had, if you couldn't connect with the first shot.

Unethical is unethical.

I hear what you're saying concerning ethics, but for predator hunting an AR platform with low magnification optics is just plain faster target accusation than a scoped bolt rifle.
 
I use an AR15 in 300BO for pigs but with its light recoil is perfect for getting young kids into deer hunting. In southeast Oklahoma most deer hunting is in the creek bottoms and oak thickets with the occasional shot across a hay pasture so it's a perfect starter gun. The likelihood of longer shots out west is greater so accuracy plays a bigger factor which is where bolt guns shine.
 
I would have 1 or more wolf tags punched this year if I had been using an ar. So I'm considering it.
The new savage msr10 comes in 308 and 6.5creedmore and it's very affordable. Trying to restrain myself.

I just bought one of the savages in 308. Just got the scope mounted yesterday so I haven't shot it yet. Got the gun for under a grand.
 
Perhaps because you can buy it off the shelf in some configuration that works, some of this may make sense. But I keep wondering what it does that I can't do with a traditional firearm except spray and pray (or prey as it were). I have shot ARs a few times only. And I own but rarely shoot a Krag bolt rifle, but I can find lever guns and single shots that are fast handling, quick pointing, greatly accurate, and easy to carry. I know that for certain, because there is a pile of them in my safes.

I occasionally think I should buy an AR just to have one. But I cannot for the life of me think of why I need one.

Maybe you just need more practice. Check out these guys - the shooting starts at the 3 minute mark and don't let the language stop you. You don't need to speak Norsk to understand what's happening here.
[video=youtube;4cnAwRJc7Sw]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4cnAwRJc7Sw&t=712s[/video]

PS. Spoiler alert: The semi auto guys lose
 
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Hm. Spray and pray.. Need more practice..

Are there any videos I can post to counter your prejudice, or would it be beside your point?
 
Perhaps because you can buy it off the shelf in some configuration that works, some of this may make sense. But I keep wondering what it does that I can't do with a traditional firearm except spray and pray (or prey as it were). I have shot ARs a few times only. And I own but rarely shoot a Krag bolt rifle, but I can find lever guns and single shots that are fast handling, quick pointing, greatly accurate, and easy to carry. I know that for certain, because there is a pile of them in my safes.

I occasionally think I should buy an AR just to have one. But I cannot for the life of me think of why I need one.

Maybe you just need more practice. Check out these guys - the shooting starts at the 3 minute mark and don't let the language stop you. You don't need to speak Norsk to understand what's happening here.
[video=youtube;4cnAwRJc7Sw]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4cnAwRJc7Sw&t=712s[/video]

PS. Spoiler alert: The semi auto guys lose

Or.... bolt guns are inherently more accurate because they have fewer moving parts, the bolt guns had heavier and more rigid barrels, the bolt guns were heavier overall and therefore more stable than the semi guns. There are honestly too many variables to account for but overall bolt guns are more well adapted to long range precision shooting.
All that being said, there's nothing that says AR platform rifles can't be accurate if built to tight tolerances and tuned properly. It's honestly amazing what off the shelf guns will do with the right loads and maybe a drop in trigger.
 

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