Home Forums Hunting & Shooting AR and Tactical Rifles What's the deal with the 30 Remington AR?

Is it dead? Was it ever alive? On paper it looks like a decent round in that platform.

Good question. I am not sure but I think it came along at the wrong time.

.300 Blackout pretty much killed it.

Performance is close enough and you don't have to change bolts or mags.

Not hardly:

The 30 Remington AR is a nice idea, just too much competition to make it relevant. The 30 Remington (vs the 30 Remington AR) is largely dead.

http://www.remington.com/products/ammunition/centerfire/30-remington-ar/30-remington-ar.aspx

Here is the next incarnation:
http://www.olyarms.com/shop/rifles/gamestalker/ossm.html

Wonder how that OSSM feeds in an AR?

I would assume the same as the other WSSM cartridges. D-Tech builds a lot of them, I have no personal experience.

The 30RAR was an attempt to take advantage of the Freedom Groups already flagging 450 Bushmaster. A barrel swap was all that was required to switch calibers. Any chance it had was certainly killed by the 300BO. All of these niche cartridges are hampered by the same issues and will never be the commercial success the 300BO has been. There will always be those guys who spend untold sums of money shooting and reloading them. That Olympic cartridge is nothing short of an abortion.

I called Stag and ask them if they were ever going to offer a Bolt and Carrier in LH for the 30 AR and they said never . After their reply i wrote the 30 AR off and built myself a LH 300 BLK.

Remington supported the RAR about like they do everything else...they didn't and it is dying because of it.
The 300 blk and RAR are both 30 cals but that is where the similarity ends. The 300blk is slower than a 7.62x39 and the RAR is almost as fast as a 308. 300-400fps isn't even close to the same performance.

The 30 RAR is in a different league than the 300BO regarding ballistics.

The 30 RAR offers a 600 fps velocity gain over the 300BO with 125 and 150 gr bullets.

That's a wider spread than comparing the 308 to the 300 WinMag.

The BO is just a bit above 30 carbine level performance (in my opinion), however if you shoot magic bullets like the 110 grain VorTX it performs well for deer.

as has been said many times on this forum, still many don't understand, the bullet and your ability to shoot makes a lot of difference. I have seen 150's out of a 30-06 kill a deer but not exit, I have seen 60 grain TSX 22 caliber bullets shoot thru similar sized deer, I have seen deer lost with big 30's etc.

I consider the 300 ACC a rifle to just play with and i don't take it really serious for hunting, even tho i believe it is capable if you stay under 150 yard with the 110 to 125 gr bullet . I built mine for calling coyotes in the woods. To tell the whole truth i built it because i didn't have one and wanted to see what all the hype was about. I'm using the Speer 125 gr TNT with Lil'Gun, it shoots ragged holes at 50 yards the longest i have grouped it on paper.

I mean to get a 300BO upper put together one day myself. Seeing as I already shoot the 208 Amax in the 308/30-06 rifles, it seems like the only right thing to do....grin.

its capable sub sonic with 194 lehighs to 150 no issue, so I suspect super sonic with the 115 barnes rounds it should be a 200 yard no issue round at a minimum.

maybe the next Military round for the M4

Despite the industry's use of the term Modern Sporting Rifle, I just don't see the need to make the AR do things it was not designed to do. If I am going to hunt deer I am going to bring a bolt gun(actually I usually bring a bow) with ample power, you know, like a 30-30. (do i really need to add a smiley to make people get the joke?)

I have a 300 BO only because I bought a suppressor and the 223 was far from quiet.

Don't under estimate the 300 BLK it is better than the little round would make you think by just looking at it, kind of like the 357 magnum .

that is me, I like to try new things. So far the BO with the 110 Vor-TX is 1 shot for 1 dead deer.

I see the appeal of the 300 BO for use in a suppressed rifle, which is what the cartridge it is based on was designed for specifically. I was more looking for something for hunting and general shooting that had a bit more punch while maintaining the nicer qualities of the AR-15 platform vs. the AR-10 style rifles with the added weight and size. I've looked at the .25 WSSM uppers, and they are neat, but the whole concept looks to me to be something that no one is going to carry very far unless they are training for something.

From what I've seen, I'm guessing it's dead?

The 300 BO is great for doing whatever a 7.62x39 can do as well, not just subsonic/suppressed stuff.

If you really want more power in an AR platform, the 308 is a pretty sensible way to go, and doesn't have to be that much heavier. I have a pair of 223 and 308 ARs set up almost identicaly (SS15 handguard, same Leup scopes, Magpul stocks, etc) except for barrel length (18" 308, 16" 223), the 308 is right about 1 lb heavier. It's also slightly larger in most dimensions, but not unmanageable.

I'm just going on load data and factory ammo here, but the .30 AR is a .300 Savage, at least as far as you can go with 150gr bullets...and the .300 BO and 7.62x39 are no .300 Savage, they are a 30-30. I love the 30-30 in the half dozen levers and a mini-sharps, but it is no 300 Savage/weak 308. Perhaps the .30 AR is the 10mm Auto of rifle rounds. Too bad Remington didn't back what should have been a winning horse. I know, as rifle loonies, we split hairs...but the BO and 7.62x39 compare to this round like comparing a 308 to a 300 WSM/WinMag. I might be exaggerating to make a point, but the two you site seem to be pretty mild in comparison.

if I had your interest it would be the 6.8SPC2 as the right choice, shoot a 110 barnes TSX at 2700! Like that other dude said, and what I see in the field is that bullets matter more than head stamps. Shooting a big +200 pound boar hog in the shoulder with a 308/125 grain Sierra match king might possibly be likened to swatting a bull on the arse with a fraternity paddle; guaranteed to get his attention but sometimes not in the way you had hoped! . Given the choice of a BO shooting 110 Vor-TX or 308 win shooting 125 match kings sub 100 yards, I would bet on the 2000 FPS Vor-TX having the edge. Just FYI I just switched in my .308 from Hornady 150 BTSP's to the Hornady 150 GMX's for this very reason.

The .30AR is definitely superior to the blackout. What killed my interest in the round was Remington's refusal to offer brass for reloading. It's factory ammo only. That's a non-starter for me.

It's much simpler to just get a 6.8 SPC2 and be done with it.

They made similar decisions with the SAUM line.

A 208 A-MAX at 1050fps is a lot of fun. More so if you have a can hanging off the muzzle. AA1680 is your friend.

I doubt I'll have a can, but I would push them supersonic to 1500-ish fps for fun.

It’s a real shame to see the 30 AR fade away. I was real excited about it when it first came out. I think it had the most potential of being a legitimate deer rifle of any of the other ar15 cartridges. Yes, before you start, I know that there several cartridges that can kill a deer. We have killed a few with .223 and .300 BK, but we limit our shots to around 150 yards. I believe that the 30 AR could have stretched that out a couple more hundred yards.

DPMS has some 16" uppers on hand, 16" bull with the metal free float handguard...not too sure about pulling the trigger on one as the standard dies and brass seem to be non-existent. I've got the 556 twin to this upper and it is a great shooter. Factory ammo is available for the moment, but Remington has a habit of abandoning it's offspring if demand isn't sufficient, which is sure to be the case with no real source of rifles.

I was super excited about the 30 remington ar when I first heard about its creation. Then I went looking for one locally?? At that time I was ready to pay the price for one in the r15. I was not able to find one anywhere near where I live. I believe this cartridge was brought out right when the prices went up on all ar type rifles. I think the prices got so crazy and the availability of rifles, ammo, no cases for hand loading all these factors killed this one before it got going. If it sticks around it might find a following. It will fade if they don't start making cases for reloading.

223 is easy good to 300 for deer.