Tactical, hog and coyote AR

[TAJ45]

Sitting here ruminating over a mid caliber, 300 - 700yd or more capable AR. Of course the 6.5 & 6.8 are taking up mental space......
How about this throwback?
6-250,
25-250
6.5-250
Pros:
Availability of cases
Tapered case = reliable feeding.
Not a biggie if a case or two gets lost in the heat of battle.
A LOT of projos to choose from...A LOT
Simple neck up process.
Annnnd if ya just gots to have a bahstid 6.8 projo, have at it .
CONS: ???

 

[603Country]

Not too long ago, my favorite grandson took to the woods with my 223 AR and a pocket full of 63 gr Sierra SMP loaded rounds. He was looking for the large hog that was digging up some of my pasture. And he found him. Put the first round through the lungs, the second (now on a slowly running hog) in the guts, and the third through its right ear. Fourth bullet missed. We found the hog the next morning. It had made it about 200 yards. The GS said to me “I love that AR, but we might need a caliber with a bit more thump”. So, I got us (him, really) a 6.5 Grendel AR. And we have a new big boar hog working the back pasture. After we exhaust the stock of factory Hornady with 123 gr SSTs, I’ll load us up some 100 Nosler BTs. That should be just the ticket for coyotes and hogs out to 300 yards or so. The Grendel AR is an Odin Works and is very accurate.

I had looked at the Grendel, the 6.8 SPC, and the 300 Hamr. After much thought, I chose the Grendel, and part of the decision was that I had plenty of the reloading components for the Grendel and none for the 6,8 SPC and very little for the 300 Hamr. And, I wanted a flatter trajectory than the Hamr could provide. So, Grendel it is…

 

[Twdmar]

If you're looking at an ar10 and you only want to go 700 yards, the 308 is the easy button, then maybe 6.5 creed.
Small AR, do one of the grendels 6 or 6.5.

 

[Mark M.]

Another vote for 6.5 Grendel

 

[South Paw Sammy]

I’ve got both the 6 and 6.5 Grendel’s hogs and deer no problems. Either will work just fine.

 

[6bra1k]

the simple answer is an ar10, 308 win with lite bullets...skip trying to make a small gun do a large gun job

the mil uses 223, 308 300 win mag and 338 lapua mag...they each hove an area they are best in

 

[Toddmack]

I love my 6.8 for deer. That being said, I've never had it past 360 yds on game. At that range it still dropped a decent muley buck, but 400 would be about the limit that I trusted the round and myself to get things done.
This was with Barnes 95TTSX @ roughly 2720fps out of a 16" barrel. There is a large variety of .277 projectiles.

I've never had a chance to shoot at hogs but have taken coyotes around 200 w/ a 90 grain bullet.

 

[204 AR]

TAJ, if you're meaning the 22-250 necked up, that would require the large platform AR. It's possible, but actually the tapered case is a detriment to feeding. They don't stack in the straight mags well at all. I've never tried it for this reason, and because on the big platform it's just so easy to have a 243, 260, or one of the creeds that there's no reason imo to fight it.

I have a pair of DPMS G2's in 243, this is a mid-size gun that's much smaller/lighter than the normal ar10-lr308 pattern rifles. They're hard to find, but out there non-the-less.

If sticking with the ar15 size rifles, the WSSM rounds take you to a level untouched by anything else, available from Dtech. Another round is the 30 RAR, a factory round and rifle Remington came out with, then abandoned.

As for stuff that's commonly available and capable of reaching 700, well you're back to the Grendel and 6 ARC.

 

[mac86951]

Platform being the key decision first.

Small format AR: 223 not getting it done;
6mm-223; or 25-223 (25 sharps). Easy button on rifle you've already got.

6.5 Grendel /6.8 SPC (and all the derivatives). Near easy button on rifle you've already got. Needs mags.

The above choices can be fitted to your rifle, or just get a second upper only.

If you're wanting to go full 2nd rifle; it'll be easier to get running with small platform; but if you want to go large platform, I'd recommend taking a look at Aero Precision (Funny name, i doubt they're aerodynamic)
M5 platform has good support. Be prepared to do research, large formats are not exchangeable like the small, so there are a lot of dependencies to build your own. Large format if you're trying to go light is like buying a used boat. Plan to spend some $. That said; you can do cool stuff with large format too. 308 and all it's derivatives (375 raptor, 338 federal?)
Creedmoor and all it's derivatives are a solid choice too. OR... Shhhh, there are some of us that found magnum faced bolts for our large format AR, so 300saum, 7saum, wsm, etc. Plan on hand tuning everything the more off the beaten path you go.

What ammo do you have available, locally; or are you handloading anyway?

-Mac

 

[TAJ45]

204AR: THAT info was my main question.... cons, re the tapered case not being a good mag dweller. The DPMS G2 was news to me.

Mac-also good hard info re the interchangeability issues.

Yes, l reload a variety of cases and if the Creed is a viable option, l'm running a 6XC .400 long neck, Palma or Peterson srp, bolt gun.

Back to the taper in the .250....do you think AI would do the trick?
I'm not stuck on it but do have a lot of brass and like the redux in case capacity compared to the .243.

Hmmm DPMS G2 - something to look for at a gun show.

 

[204 AR]

I'm not sure how it would handle the 40* shoulder of the AI. I asked around about that very thing once and got as many different answers as people I asked.

 

[Twdmar]

204AR: THAT info was my main question.... cons, re the tapered case not being a good mag dweller. The DPMS G2 was news to me.

Mac-also good hard info re the interchangeability issues.

Yes, l reload a variety of cases and if the Creed is a viable option, l'm running a 6XC .400 long neck, Palma or Peterson srp, bolt gun.

Back to the taper in the .250....do you think AI would do the trick?
I'm not stuck on it but do have a lot of brass and like the redux in case capacity compared to the .243.

Hmmm DPMS G2 - something to look for at a gun show.

You can get a 6xc barrel for an ar10 but a 6 creed is the same case and probably easier to find. The taper of a 250 case will give problems. Look at the curve of an ak47 magazine compared to an ar15 mag because of the respective case tapers.
The ar10s in anything other than 308 are more finicky. I know a guy with a 6brx ar15, it's super finicky. He said cycling was so violent that it barely functioned. I would only do a parts gun ar10 in 308 because you find yourself buying a couple different bcgs and buffers to get it to rub.
John scandale did a write up about doing a dpms g2 in something like 6xc or a Creed and he decided there is not enough metal in the bolt to make it safe in anything other than 308.

 

[TAJ45]

It looks like "Back to the drawing board" w my musings. That doggone devil toying w the details. :/
However, I'm missing the connect twixt an XC and 308 being safer, pressure wise - I'm guessing? Meat surrounding the same dimension for ea bolt?

 

[Twdmar]

It looks like "Back to the drawing board" w my musings. That doggone devil toying w the details. :/
However, I'm missing the connect twixt an XC and 308 being safer, pressure wise - I'm guessing? Meat surrounding the same dimension for ea bolt?

I believe that bolt was small in diameter and scandale didn't feel safe putting in a higher pressure round. JP recommends a different bolt for a large AR with 308 than the 6.5 creed.
A 308 with 155s or 169s will get you to 700 just fine, especially with a longer barrel and a longer gas system.
If don't want a heavy pig, get a Grendel with a long barrel or maybe the 6arc although I think their desire to load heavies to mag length took away too much case capacity.

 

[Ricochet007]

I have a Wilson Combat AR 15 chambered in 6.8spc. It is a high quality firearm for sure.

 

[Sandstorm]

Just go with a proven Grendel upper in 6mm or 6.5..you wont be sorry
just my 2c...the easy button.

 

[natdscott]

the mil uses... 308....

Not for long.

 

[6bra1k]

Not for long.

SIXTY EIGHT YEARS AND COUNTING...
THE 7.62X54R IS ONE OF THE FEW STILL IN USE WITH LONGER HISTORY 1891!

 

[natdscott]

SIXTY EIGHT YEARS AND COUNTING...
THE 7.62X54R IS ONE OF THE FEW STILL IN USE WITH LONGER HISTORY 1891!

Yep. But you're talking about past events, and I am not.

It seems pretty likely that .300 WM is going to be the only Thuddy in use except in crew-served weapons. For example, the Army made good on their plan to "eventually" see the need to covert their long action M24s out of 7.62x51.

 

[6bra1k]

Yep. But you're talking about past events, and I am not.

It seems pretty likely that .300 WM is going to be the only Thuddy in use except in crew-served weapons. For example, the Army made good on their plan to "eventually" see the need to covert their long action M24s out of 7.62x51.

no this is CURRENT...both rounds are still in mil use today