Hello all,
I'm looking for insight from you all to help me decide whether I want to build an AR. The genesis of this idea comes from my first deer hunt this year with my very target oriented .308. It's a bolt Savage with a thick, 24" barrel and a 5-25x scope so it weighs about 11 pounds. This gun is great at the bench but it was certainly more than I wanted for hiking into my tree stand. I kept the scope at 5x the entire time and probably could have used more like a 3x in the thick forest where I will be hunting.
So, I've decided that a much lighter gun is in my future. I also like the idea of building an AR from the thousands of options out there. I also like the idea of a multi-purpose gun, fun to use at the range and for hunting. I thought that the bolt .308 would be that gun, but it's looking more like a range-only tool, which is fine.
The AR that I would build would be a 6.8 SPC, at least to start. It would have to be in the 5.5 lb range without a scope to make me happy. I know that I will have to pay for this, and that's fine. I've always been one to build my stuff, computers, flies for fishing, fly rods, I load my ammo. This tinkering aspect of the AR really appeals to me. The playing army man, or tacti-cool aspects do not appeal to me at all, so that's not part of my line of thinking. So I guess the big questions, before investing a few thousand dollars on an AR, are these. Please give me your opinions on these questions.
1. Is the compromise between best AR deer hunting round and a more powerful, more traditional round for deer hunting a big deal? If I was to buy a lightweight bolt, it would probably be a 7mm-08 or 6.5 Creedmoor or 260, which seem like a sweet spot for low recoil vs energy. My hunting distances will be within 200 yards.
2. Are the ergonomics of a lightweight AR good for deer hunting. I will have to make some compromises with the stock and grips to make the weight that I'm shooting for, do you think that I will be disappointed with the comfort of the gun?
3. Will I be happy with the gun at the range? I love making ammo and testing at the range. Can I expect the AR platform, with a quality but light 16" barrel, to deliver at least MOA results from the bench if not better?
Another caveat. I'm Left eye dominate, so I shoot lefty. This makes finding the exact gun that I want pretty difficult, unless I go custom to a certain degree. This could be a nod to the AR. I can pretty easily trick one out to be lefty friendly. I don't care about brass flying in front of my face, as long as it's not hitting me. I own both right and left hand bolts and a few guns that are ambidextrous. I have enough experience to know that I want a gun that's set up for left hand. If not an AR, I'll probably end up getting a dedicated, lightweight bolt gun for hunting. I could always get a cheaper, heavier AR to tinker with later. I just want to feel people out as to whether an AR in 6.8 SPC could be the ultimate deer rifle while also being more versatile than a featherweight bolt that I wouldn't look at unless I'm developing hunting loads or hunting.
Thanks!
I'm looking for insight from you all to help me decide whether I want to build an AR. The genesis of this idea comes from my first deer hunt this year with my very target oriented .308. It's a bolt Savage with a thick, 24" barrel and a 5-25x scope so it weighs about 11 pounds. This gun is great at the bench but it was certainly more than I wanted for hiking into my tree stand. I kept the scope at 5x the entire time and probably could have used more like a 3x in the thick forest where I will be hunting.
So, I've decided that a much lighter gun is in my future. I also like the idea of building an AR from the thousands of options out there. I also like the idea of a multi-purpose gun, fun to use at the range and for hunting. I thought that the bolt .308 would be that gun, but it's looking more like a range-only tool, which is fine.
The AR that I would build would be a 6.8 SPC, at least to start. It would have to be in the 5.5 lb range without a scope to make me happy. I know that I will have to pay for this, and that's fine. I've always been one to build my stuff, computers, flies for fishing, fly rods, I load my ammo. This tinkering aspect of the AR really appeals to me. The playing army man, or tacti-cool aspects do not appeal to me at all, so that's not part of my line of thinking. So I guess the big questions, before investing a few thousand dollars on an AR, are these. Please give me your opinions on these questions.
1. Is the compromise between best AR deer hunting round and a more powerful, more traditional round for deer hunting a big deal? If I was to buy a lightweight bolt, it would probably be a 7mm-08 or 6.5 Creedmoor or 260, which seem like a sweet spot for low recoil vs energy. My hunting distances will be within 200 yards.
2. Are the ergonomics of a lightweight AR good for deer hunting. I will have to make some compromises with the stock and grips to make the weight that I'm shooting for, do you think that I will be disappointed with the comfort of the gun?
3. Will I be happy with the gun at the range? I love making ammo and testing at the range. Can I expect the AR platform, with a quality but light 16" barrel, to deliver at least MOA results from the bench if not better?
Another caveat. I'm Left eye dominate, so I shoot lefty. This makes finding the exact gun that I want pretty difficult, unless I go custom to a certain degree. This could be a nod to the AR. I can pretty easily trick one out to be lefty friendly. I don't care about brass flying in front of my face, as long as it's not hitting me. I own both right and left hand bolts and a few guns that are ambidextrous. I have enough experience to know that I want a gun that's set up for left hand. If not an AR, I'll probably end up getting a dedicated, lightweight bolt gun for hunting. I could always get a cheaper, heavier AR to tinker with later. I just want to feel people out as to whether an AR in 6.8 SPC could be the ultimate deer rifle while also being more versatile than a featherweight bolt that I wouldn't look at unless I'm developing hunting loads or hunting.
Thanks!