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

I'm very intrigued by this cartridge and really hope it goes somewhere. It looks like it closes the gap between the intermediate AR rounds and the "thumper" rounds pretty well.

I remember hearing that, in magazines and in conversation with guys who typically had bigger rifles. That was before I learned more about shooting and how to come to my own conclusions.

I've shot deer at ranges closer to 200 yards, and one at 236 yards, with a simple ol' M94 Winchester with peep sights. Load is a 170 Hornady flat point started out at 2125 fps, nothing special.

To address the original question, I have two ARs I can use for deer and bear. a .458 SOCOM and 6.8 SPC. Virginia, in it's infinite wisdom, does not allow a .224" for big game.

450 Bushmaster, the old 245gr boat tail hp Barnes solid copper or newer 250gr Tipped MZ at 2300 fps, no black bear or buck deer ever lived i wouldn't punch out to 250 yards, my old Bushmaster wears a Minox ZA5 1.2-6 in QD rings.

How well do heart/lung shot hogs bleed with the Barnes bullet in .224??

They bleed out right up until they are dead. 😜😂😂
Sorry, I couldn’t resist. 😬

But seriously, I’ve never lost a pig I’ve shot with one. They rarely make it beyond 20 yards when hit in the heart, and maybe 40 yards with a lung shot.
The hogs tough skin / hide seems to seal off after small caliber wounds like from a .223 caliber projectile, in my experience.
Still, the 62 gr TSX bullet kills and anchors hogs very well in my experience.
Usually don’t get a pass through on bigger hogs with a .556 round unless I’m using the 62 grain Federal Green Tip military load. Which does not put hogs down near as quickly as the 62 gr TSX bullet.
And I’ve shot a ton of hogs with both bullets here at the Ranch over the years.
A heavy barreled Remington R-15 lives in my Ranch truck 24/7 just for hogs and coyotes.

The only rare times I’ve literally seen big hogs “bleed out quickly” Is when shooting them with my WW 94 Trapper 44 magnum, using my 250 gr LBT WFN hard cast bullet handloads at about 1600 FPS out of its 16” barrel.
I’ve seen a few hogs spurt blood in a stream like a gusher when my heart shot hit the aorta with that load. Those hogs were shot out of my bow blind at about 25 yards with that Winchester rifle.

Even when shooting hogs with my deer calibers, like my 264 Win Mag, or 7-08, I rarely see huge blood trails on hogs I’ve had to trail for up to 50 yards.
Unlike deer I’ve shot with those two rifles, which usually leave a blood trail a blind man could follow.
Hope this was helpful.

Yep.......and I built my .450 as a result of your build.
I did slap. 1.5-6x Meopta with a German 4 reticle on it. Seen about perfect for what I want it for.

You bet my friend Dogman George, that hog you hit was that little Barnes copper HP load, bet you didn't get that bullet back. LOL

I've built probably 20 or so AR's in different big bore calibers going back to the 1990's and out of all of them, the 375 SOCOM is really my favorite. I think the bullet situation is really holding it back from going main stream.
For most of my hunting, which is under 150 yards, I use a Howa Mini chambered in 375 SOCOM.

Tony

6.8 SPC for me, perfect out to 300 yds, have many bullets,brass and powder. Kills quickly with little recoil from a 16" tube.
Perfect short deer gun for me, 31" collapsed, accurate with very quick follow ups if needed.

I just don’t have a need for bigger than 6.8 or something like 300 HAMR or 7.62x39 in an AR15. If I did, the 357 AR Max would be a ‘want’, over the 350 ‘Almost’. I guess if I had bears or such and hunted them with an AR, one of the 473 case head cartridges might fill some niche. I just don’t see it, but good on ya if it’s your thing. I have no problem jumping to 308-based guns/cartridges, when they’re really what’s warranted.

How about an R-25 in 7-08.

Can't beat the 6.8mm!

i still haven't seen the reason to switch from a 77gr tmk either loaded hot or from Black hills

how i see it they are 450 yard guns. 6arc, 6.5 grendel, 6.8 spc aren't vastly improving on what can be done with a 77..

the 22 grendel and lvr with 75's is a hell of a platform in theory

but if im plus side of 450 i'm probably outpacing my hit ratio with a gasser anyways.

if i need more i grab a manual operated device and sling great bullets and have a lot simpler recoil impulse.

inside of 450 i put the TMK through the pump house and hooves go skywards real fast.

I'm a fan of he 6.8, and have setups in AR and bolt platforms. That said, while I'm sure that the 6.8spc would kill a bear, I prefer a larger hole.
That's nothing but personal preference........I grab my 45-70 vs an '06 despite knowing full well that the latter is more than adequate.

George

45-70 or '06 in an AR??

No Sir..........just a comparison for the 'bigger hole' comment.
The black bear upper of choice is the .450 Bushmaster, but it's a rare day that I don't carry my Marlin.

A 223 would probably work, but to be on the safe side, I'd probably use a 556, which is over twice as big.

If you like .35 calibers, check out the .358 Yeti from MDWS.

Hell...........450 Bushmaster shot a 460 lb dressed weight bear with a Cutting Edge Bullet 240 gr. bullet fell over dead.....went and developed the Cutting Edge Bullet 160 gr been using them for years for deer most just fall over dead with one put in the chest cavity.....

My son has a Yeti, almost a 358 Win in an AR15.