Home Forums Hunting & Shooting AR and Tactical Rifles Which Caliber AR-15 for Deer and Black Bear?

Choices are 350 legend, 458 Socom, 450 Bushmaster. Maybe 6.5 Grendal. Cost for ammo and reloading components are to be considered. I think the standard 223/5.56 bold can handle the 350 legend. Others require new bolt as well as barrel or complete upper. I have seen 350 Legend in stores recently and I've heard it is equivelant to a 30-30.

350 Legend is in the stores from what I've seen. As well as 300 blackout, but that one was not on the list. One of my buddies has a 350 Legend and he really likes it..

.223 and .556 work great for deer and big feral hogs here at the Ranch. With the proper bullet, of course. I prefer the 62 gr TSX bullet in mine in .556. As do the 300 BO, the 6.8 and 7.62X39, in my personal experience.
Next AR I build will be a 6.5 Grendel. Several friends of mine are killing deer and hogs with them with no problems reported. Got another friend that really likes his 450 Bushmaster upper for hogs.
Never killed a black bear, but I seriously doubt they are much harder to kill than a big ole feral hog boar.

Shot distance would be the deciding factor for me between the .350 and 6.5. Both are pretty cool little rounds for what they're designed for.

Yep. Distance is a factor.

A 6.8 with bonded bullet would likely work. 7.62x39 154gr SPs have likely killed a lot of bears… don’t know, but that’d probably be my pick over the legend….unless there’s some 180gr or heavier factory liad that runs over 2k fps like the 357 max or 35 rem will. 300HAMR would also work. The 350 ‘Almost’ would likely work, but there’s other choices that’d work at least as well. I’d have no issue shooting anything under 500# with a good 277 or bigger bullet….but that’s my cutoff where I’ve seen a difference on med game vs 6.5 and smaller bullets. Not that smaller won’t work…..just hasn’t seemed to work as good, unless I can only take CNS shots for culling or such. I’m sure others have far more and different anecdotal input.

There is also the 375 SOCOM. Tosses a 200gr bullet out at 2400fps. Unfortunately, the only suitable lead core jacketed bullet readily available is the Sierra Flat Point, which sheds velocity pretty quick.
There are some nice monolithic spitzers made by Maker Bullets from 175gr to 220gr, but they can't be driven as fast.

Tony

A 223 will do all you need with a 62 grain TTSX or 62 grain Bear Claw. I’ve liked dozens of pigs with them.

I’ve killed a lot of stuff with 62+ grain 224s. Still wouldn’t be my FIRST choice for deer/black bear or especially in the thick woods. Everything else mentioned is a better fit.

We been using 350 legend with 150’s in Ohio. Has worked very well on larger sizes deer. A sample of about 10 but no lost deer. A couple didn’t exit but left decent blood trails and all dropped within 45-50 yards. We aren’t unhappy at all.

I’d prefer 6arc but not legal up there

All fine choices if ammo availability is not considered. Of those I would go with 6.5 Grendel shooting 120gr Fusion / Gold Dot simply due to range with runner up being the 350 Legend.
Some on this forum have mentioned the 224 predator or arc are solid wildcat offerings and I see that position has a lot of merit; however,
one problem I see with those 224's (other than being a wildcat) is that they don't sell 90 grain fusion / gold dots as components (they have to be acquired from Valkyrie pull-downs).
The reason I like the fusions / gold dots is toughness / expansion and hunting-good BC.
Other than that those 224's look attractive in terms of performance (SD, velocity, energy etc).

just a standard 5.56x45 with a hand loaded 64grain Winchester power point kills deer and hogs pretty dead.

True. My experience has been the blood trails aren’t anything to write home about though, generally speaking. I still use the 223 for deer and pigs.

In an AR I’d go 350 if the purpose was deer and similar sized game. I like the Grendel a lot but prefer it in a bolt action.

I'm not a 22/6mm fan. No need to argue it, it's been done.

Given those choices, the 45s win over the 350.

Call the 350 a 35Rem. And it's "obsolete, under powered, range limited".
But since it's new, everyone wants one. It's as good as a 35, which is
what it is. Great old round for deer at "normal open sight range.

The Grendel intrigues me, even with my prejudices.

Or, I'd buy a good solid bullet and shoot one of the 5.56 ARs sitting around here.




Gotta ask why though?

Just want to hunt an AR? Don't own any other deer rifle?

We can't use them here, no semis for deer,only recently
have they approved semi 22s for small game.

If they were legal, I'd use one. At least for a deer or two.
Can't imagine preferring one to the Tikka Swede.

Just out of curiosity.......In what world is the .35 Remington 'under powered' for deer and bear?
I've killed both, easily, with a 7600 carbine and multiple deer with the legend.
I can say the same for the .450 postmaster and haven't noticed any difference.
The Legend will get the nod for blackbear this year, just because.

George

That's the world of " hunting " magazines,
the same world that says 30/30s make a 90degree
turn down into the dirt at the 100 yard mark.
I've heard all that and read it in national
magazines since I was a teenager.
I read an article a couple of years ago that
a 45/70 was a hundred yard gun no matter
what you did to it.

Oh well. . . .

Yep. Those old 64 gr WW Power Points worked well. As did the 60 gr Nosler Partition

Nowadays, I prefer the 62 gr TSX as my go to bullet in .556 for Deer and Hogs.

I picked up 200 of those TSX bullets recently. I still have 400 of the Winchester 64 grain PP to use up first. Hope to get around to trying the TSX out on a deer before Thanatos comes knocking.

.223/5.56 are death on deer and hogs out to about 250 yards. Never shot a bear with this caliber but doubt they are much more bullet proof.

That's it.
Along with a lot of hunters who read them. Or talk to those who do.
I'm right in what was once lever gun territory, along with pump gun central.
Both are fading.