Home Forums Hunting & Shooting AR and Tactical Rifles Which AR Caliber for Deer and Home Defense

So I have a couple ARs, all in 5.56 and want to explore other calibers in the platform.

I absolutely want an off-the-shelf complete upper, not in to custom at this point.

I have a .30 caliber suppressor so want a suppressor friendly round of .30 or less.

Brass or ammo should be semi-available. Not interested in a bunch of fire forming or creating oddball cartridges.

AR (5.56) magazines would be a plus.

Should be suitable for home defense and medium game. Mostly within 100m, but 200-250m would be nice.

I know there are a lot of rounds released over the last ten years and I haven't really been paying attention but wonder what the gurus here recommend.

TIA

300 BO or 6.5 Grendel would work well.

I like the 6.8 , but seems like the cartridge is sort of falling by the wayside..........


ammo and components are usually available


a good killer on deer IME

Had one for awhile. It worked OK for Deer & hogs.
But like the 6.5 Grendel, it requires different magazines than the .556

That’s the one thing that makes the 300 BO more appealing


I still plan to build an AR pistol in 6.5 Grendel, though, one of these days. Neat little round.

Hornady has really been cranking out the ammo, how about the 6mm ARC.

The 5.56/223 could easily handle those tasks, if it's legal for hunting in your locale.

The 6.5 Grendel or 6mm ARC might be the most sensible routes if you are looking for a complete upper in a somewhat popular chambering.

Myself, I have a couple of uppers in 7.62x39. One is a floated 20" barrel. It's a good shooter too. It was a complete upper from AR15Parts.com.

If you go down that road, make sure you have an "enhanced firing pin"...(it's a little bit longer) it will give reliable ignition on the deep seated and hard milsurp ammo primers. Most of the people selling 7.62x39 BCGs include that, but make sure.

https://ar15parts.com/upper-assemblies/7-62x39-uppers-ar15/

I have a 300 HAMR.

30 cal 125 TNT at 2,500 FPS just flat has to hurt at home defense distances, and Bill Wilson developed it for hog hunting out to about 250 yards, so deer are in play.

Much more amenable to hunting weight bullets in the 110-150 range than a 300 BO. Wilson claims, and it plays like, a 30-30 in an AR.

I have a 6mm ARC as well, but the HAMR has 28 rounds in the mag, and that's gotta count for something.

The Hornady 55 SP in a 223/5.56 isn't anything I'd want hit by, either.

I have a 6.5 Grendel that I am going give a go deer hunting this year.
Need to figure out what optics to put on it pronto.

6.5 Grendel or 6 arc for off the shelf ammo. Grendel mags work for the arc and the asc 6.8 mags are exactly the same as the 6.5 mags, just a different stamp on the follower.

Only heretics shoot 7.62x39 😁

6x45 or .300 HAMR.

Anything bigger than 22 if you don't have neighbors.
A lot of calibers penetrate sheet rock. One consideration of several. More information needed to narrow down.
I would consider 9mm for home defense, but not white tail.
There's lots of options.
Grendel has harvested a lot of deer, but so have many others.

25 Sharps

350?

6.8 SPC

Crappy Hamper giving AR advice? LMAO
Here's the sum total of Crappy's AR experience.
Crappy figures if he's watched a YouTube video he's qualified to give advice.

6/30/20 - (HC finds that an AR15 is too much for him to handle)
"I was told many moons ago that I shouldn't get an AR.
I was told that you can't put them in the mud and expect them to run like you can an AK.

Another did me the favor of letting me shoot his.
I'm plinking away, and after a magazine or two I'm wondering why my trigger finger is sore? That's never happened before.....
He told me that I must not be using it right.

Ok then, show me how it's done.

After seeing my trigger pulling technique was kosher, he said it's just something that I have to get used to.
I never got one to see if I could get used to trigger slap."

Hold into the trigger slap.

A 5.56 pmag or MFT will hold a several rounds of Grendel without issue. That's what we do. It's a snug rattle free fit in the lower because sides of the mag bow out slightly. Been killing deer like that for a few years now

The 6.5 Grendel, 300 Blackout and 350 Legend are the most widely chambered. The Grendel is the ballistic frontrunner. Think much flatter shooting 30/30 performance on game.

Just about everyone makes Grendel uppers. You can swap a 223 over with barrel and bolt changes only.

You can get frangible 223, it'll still penetrate body armor at close range, just keep firing until you get the results you want. Watched a demo on this at Thunder Ranch, when Clint was making a point about frangible ammo is still a problem if you're wearing body armor.

God knows what it'll do on a headshot, but safe to say the headache won't last long on the receiving end.

Anyone mentioned suppressors? Shooting unsuppressed indoors is NOT for the faint of heart, or for people who need to hear for a livin.

And did I mention the 55 grain Hornady SP for deer?

Holy schitt....
The Crapster is now a AR expert too.
The AR is brutal on the trigger finger huh???🤣🤣🤣

Watch out Crapster the AR is the Debel,s wpn.
That was the sting of satan you was feeling on your finger.
A friend told me so.

TFF!!!!

about the only gun i am will to shoot inside of a house is a BB-gun . if some one was to enter with some ill intentions and i have a BB-gun he would have to know he is going to get shoot . not maybe ,count on it . if you dont think getting hit with a BB hurts and BTW can kill think again

1 BB in the nutsack would kill!!!! Ouch..

Well this went downhill quickly. Thanks for all of the replies, I am leaning pretty heavily to the 300 Blackout for my first one, maybe a 6.5 after that. I already have the 5.56 so I'm looking for something different to play with. I like the 350 but it's too big for my suppressor. I found a couple 300 BO uppers for reasonable money I can play with this winter.

NVhntrBiden,

Just like always, you can't speak the truth even if it was in your best interest.
Anybody who read my full post in the context of the original thread knows that I refered to the lousy AK trigger as opposed to the AR trigger. Anyone who ever shot them knows you are just a lying piece of work attempting to discredit those you obsess over. Get lost you mangy dog.

Good point on hearing protection.
If someone has a suppressor, I think that their home defense weapon would be the place to put it. I use electronic ear muffs.
Peltor is my current brand. The price was good, they're comfortable if they are removed periodically while in the stand. The company was nice enough to replace the circuit to boost the volume for me.

As to 22 caliber varieties, I've never used them for deer.
Someone told me they took some down humanely with a neck shot. What range is that 55 grain good to?

6.5 Grendel and 6.8 SPC
I took an antelope at 238 yds with the Grendel. I don't have a 6.8SPC, but do have a 30 HRT and I like the case (6.8 necked to 30 cal)

Both will kill 2 legged critters too, but yes, it might be the last thing you hear.

The date of your post is right there with the quote. Anyone interested can find it for themselves.
Let's see a picture of your AR or AK.
Truth is you couldn't afford either one.

I like the 6.8SPC about the best.
I have made and owned a few 6.5Gs too, and I killed several deer and antelope with the 6.5s, but the 6.8 does a better job under 250 yards. I killed 7 game animals with my 6.5Gs and I have killed 34 with my 6.8s. So the test is lopsided and I admit that, but I just came to love how well the 6.8 puts deer and antelope down.

I have no love for the 300 Blackout. I'd prefer a standard AK47 to the BO myself.

300 Body Odor only makes sense if you want subsonic. If no subsonic then 7.62x39 in an AR built to run it.

The truth is that anyone who has ever shot a communist block AK knows what the trigger is like. They aren't exactly a Geissele dmr.
The truth is I don't post pictures of myself, family or personal property because there are too many wicked thieves and dishonorable unmentionables.
The truth is, it's none of your business how much money I have or what I own, so quit asking.

The truth is you are a pathological liar.

I'd be happy to put up another batch of your posts proving such.

Maybe you forgot all the 6.8's out there, just in TX. Same same with barrel and bolt.

Homeowner: “Hold on a second and let me put my hearing protection on before you come any closer , Mr intruder”

I'm interested in the 7.62 x 39 ar...do you have to change magazines in addition to the upper and bcg?

The parts you need to change,

- Bolt (I picked up entire BCG, but just a bolt swap will do.)

- Enhanced firing pin (To ensure consistent ignition on hard and deep set primers in the milsurp/steel case ammo)

- Barrel (or complete upper)

- Magazine (C-Products DuraMag, AR-Stoner, and ASC Magazines have all worked for me)


I've got three uppers in 7.62x39 at the moment. A 20", 16", and 10.5". They all run just fine.

223/5/56 with 65 gr. Gamekings will do all you need.

While the Grendel works ok for both I opt for the 6.8, have had both and the 6.8 is better for my use in a 16" bbl, the 6.5 is weak from that bbl length.
My hunting AR is 31" collapsed which makes it very handy to get around with.
very accurate and stomps Mr. deer at practical distances.

Never had a sore trigger finger from any AR I've ever shot?

I never did either.
My comment was obviously about the lousy AK trigger.
Read again...A K as in Kalashnikov.

As to the inventor of the Grendel, Bill produced an 18" hunter model. His original idea was to get a contract to convert the M4s to his caliber. You are certainly giving up velocity per inch, but not as much as will effect reasonable hunting distances.
For a designated hunter an 18-22" unthreaded barrel would be fine. If weight or brush were an issue, I'd go with the standard M4 configuration. Bill went with an 18" fluted lightweight version dipped in a sweet kryptek honeyglaze for the magazine circuit. I forget the weight, but it's built for carry.

I dont think the 6x45 falls within the ops parameters, but it's a hell of a nice cartridge. I wonder why they haven't commercialized it yet. Its been around since 1965.

77 & 80gr SMK killed the 6x45.

Really looking into the 6.5 Grendel concept.

This ^^^^^^^^^^^^

But for a pure home defense gun, especially suppressed, hard to beat a .300.

MM