AR for hunting white tail

[Settostun]

I'm in the market for an AR style rifle for hunting white tail and possibly wild boar. I've read up on the 5.56 mm and while a lot of people say it's perfectly capable of taking down deer and even boar, I'm just not comfortable with the increased chance of not putting them down. So I've been looking around at the higher caliber ar rifles, and as an example the remington r-25 seems like a good gun but a little on the pricey side. Does anyone have any recommendations for an ar modeled rifle for hunting white tail and boar in the 1000 range give or take a few hundred?

 

[Freedom_fighter_in_IL]

Find one in 7mm.08 and you will be more than happy with cartridge as far as deer and hogs go. I personally believe it is the best white tail round out there. Excellent ballistics, more than enough power, flat shooting, very light recoil so I think it is a perfect round for not only the animals sought, but also a perfect cartridge for the AR platform!!!

 

[janobles14]

6.5 grendel!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[BushyGuy]

you can hunt with the .223 rem cartridge- its shot placement that counts.

6.8 spc and 6.5 grendel are nice AR's but the ammo is more expensive and harder to find.

 

[mstirton]

5.56 has plenty of bullets available capable of taking TX sized deer. I wouldn't use it if I hunted further north, but they usually don't seem to get over 200lbs here.

You plan on taking 1k+ yard shots at deer? In East TX? I don't know if I read that right, but it seems it would be pretty easy to get sub 200 yard shots in your area.

 

[Freedom_fighter_in_IL]

You plan on taking 1k+ yard shots at deer? In East TX? I don't know if I read that right, but it seems it would be pretty easy to get sub 200 yard shots in your area.

Pretty sure he meant $1000 not 1000 yard

 

[Roughneck08]

Yes agreed .223 would be sufficient for our smaller whitetail down here. I personally have not shot a whitetail with one that is what my .270 is for. A 62 barnes TSX is a good canidate though under 150 yards.

 

[TonyM]

I'm in the same boat-- looking for an AR platform. Ballistically speaking I think the 7mm-08 or .308 would be best. The .243 is great (IMHO) but the 7mm and .308 are certainly more versatile.
I too have considered the R25, however given the price, and what I have heard about the trigger I've held off. For 1500 bucks I don't want a gun that I'll need to immediately replace the trigger for another 1-2 hundred.
I'm curious what others have to say. I definitely think 7mm-08 would be ideal-- great balance between knockdown, accuracy, and recoil.

 

[Settostun]

Sorry I didn't make part of my op clear. Yeah, $1000 not 1000 yards I don't know that there's a clear shot over 300 yards in east Texas. :b

But yeah like Tonym said the 7mm-08 or the .308 sound the best. What would be a good model for the price?

 

[Sunray]

If you're going to use a .223, make sure the rifle has the rifling twist for heavy bullets and use a bullet made for deer sized game.
Most factory ammo is loaded with varmint bullets. Varmint bullets are not suitable for deer. They're made to expand rapidly upon impact with little penetration. Deer require penetration with controlled expansion. Like mstirton says, there are lot of 'em available now. Some factory ammo is loaded with 'em too.

 

[WardenWolf]

You could stick a 7.62x39 upper on the AR and take advantage of all the good soft points and hollowpoints available for the more powerful AK-47 round. It's equivalent to .30-30, which is supposedly the most-used deer cartridge in history. This also makes plenty of cheap ammo available. You don't need corrosive surplus to get a good deal on AK ammo. There's plenty of good cheap commercial stuff.