Out here in Colorado, we do hunt with our ARs but it's mostly p-dogs. A .223 isn't legal for our large mule deer. I have an A4 I set up for p-dogs and I went with a walnut furniture set because I like the wood and steel look better than the plastic look. It works well in the prairie and I practice by shooting small apples at 450yds with it.



For deer and elk I'm setup with my 1959 Winchester 88 in .308.

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Steve



“Remember, no matter where you go, there you are.” - Buckaroo Banzai 1984
"When you find a find a big kettle of crazy, it's best not to stir it." - Dilbert 2009

I like the walnut on that AR! I think it's the second I have seen and it is remarkable.

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fred d.
Here's my Homepage

and a cheekpeice for a left hander!

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slim

I know that Kentucky, Texas and NC allow .223 for deer hunting. Took my M4rgry out last weekend. I like adjustable stocks on a hunting rifle so you can adjust for additional clothing or mentoring young hunters. Where a flash hinder really isn't needed for a hunting rifle, keep the muzzle thread if it is desired or as some states allow hunting with supperssors legal. A fixed front sight is not needed but diffenitly make it a flat top reciever for mounting scopes or irons. Make the AR in both size (5.56/7.62) and keep it modular as possible. Minimum keep the standard trigger guard as it already drops down for a winter trigger guard. I like a forward assist on my hunting rifles, that way after I climb up a tree I can QUIETLY chamber a round and seat the bolt closed 30 mins before sunrise. Free floating forearm with short picitanny rails for lights and bipods. Barrels should be 16-22" and offer several chamberings. The M16 did have growning pains when first introduce (some not the fault of the basic designs, ie Army mismanagment) and is a proven rifle in any enviroment.CD

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De Oppresso Liber
Iraq: 91',03',04',05',06',08' & 09'
Afghanistan: 09',10' & 11'

AR 10's already have a wide slection of hunting calibers. 243,260,6.5,6.8,308,338federal. If I were going to design a AR hunter it would be in the 264 WM :-)

Heh. I hadn't thought of that for a use for a forward assist. Thanks for the tip.

Olympic Arms adds this.

That all changed with the introduction of the WSSM® cartridges into the world of the AR15. With the 243 WSSM, 25 WSSM, and the newest 300 OSSM cartridge have taken the AR15 to a whole new level. With these true magnum calibers, the AR15 has now stepped up to be a honest big game rifle capable of taking just about any North American big game.

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fred d.
Here's my Homepage

My DPMS 338 Federal is just fine as yesterday I took my first whitetail with it and was amazed at the impact. It went through some brush and had a 2 inch entry hole and a 6 inch exit hole while removing ribs, half the heart and liver then sucking half the stomach out the exit hole the only damage to the stomach was a rib poked a hole in it. No meat damage just ribs. The bullet was a AE 170 gr soft point. I have never seen a bullet do that in all my years of hunting. The bullet struck just behind the front leg and exited the same area passing through ribs this was about a 30 yard shot.

Since the 338 Win won't do that, i frankly think that you didn't have your measuring tape. :-)

Like I said the bullet struck some brush before entry. But you are right my guess was off it measured 1 inch entry and 4 inch exit it just looked bigger with the stomach half out the exit hole. Still it is impressive from a black gun. I wouldn't balk at taking bear, elk or moose with it. I watched a vidio of a hunter hunting griz with a bow and he was using a hat cam and he hit the griz in the heart and it came running toward him so he grabbed a 223 started shooting and it finally dropped 3 paces from him. I would want something bigger for back up.