[PTsouthpaw]

As some of you may have read in my introduction, i picked up my first semi-auto rifle tuesday, a Stag 2TL. I have been out with it three times, shooting a total of 300 rounds. This is the first AR i have ever shot, and i love it. After the excitement of shooting this gun, and reading the stories of the excitement of those who have built their own guns, i have decided to do this as well.

Before i undertake building an AR platform gun i have a few questions.
First, my uncle and grandfather, neither of whom had ever handled a gun like this, both inquired about the hunting capabilities. So my biggest question is, does the 5.56/.223 round have the ability to take down a whitetail?

The other question i had was the price/round of reloading ammunition. My gun shop carries reloading supplies, and i was considering getting the basic equipment to start reloading rounds for the range. If anyone has any ballpark estimates on what they spend to reload their ammunition, your input would be great.

My idea for building an AR would be for long range shooting, either hunting or strictly long target shooting (mostly because my 2TL is a tactical rifle with a 16" barrel, i need to balance out)

I see what you guys mean about getting addicted to this stuff

[RL357Mag]

Welcome to the AR club! As you've discovered, they can become addicting. As far as deer hunting, yes, the .223 is a good round for deer when the proper bullets are used, and these are mainly assembled at home. Also, some state's require a 5 rd. mag max capacity for hunting. I reload for mine and get very good accuracy using heavier bullets in the 62-69gr range - heavier wolud be better still, but the 75-80gr. bullets require single loading due to their greater OAL. My RRA NMA4 has a 20" Stainless bull barrel with a 1:8" twist. Using match grade components it costs me approx. .45 cents per round to produce ammo that would sell for over $1.25 per round. I use Sierra HPBT Matchking bullets. I know of some fool who accidentally killed two deer with a Ruger Mini-14 Ranch rifle - he shot the one and didn't see the second standing behind it.

[PTsouthpaw]

Thanks for the great information. Im very excited to build a rifle for hunting. I love knowing how my stuff works, so building my gun should be fun. I figure spending money on pieces and parts, and reloading equipment/ supplies will be more productive than buying case after case of ammunition.

[Gus556]

I have harvested 7 deer with my AR-15 A-2. I use the sierra 77gr. BTHP with around 27gr of Hodgdon Varget powder and it does a fantastic job on white tail. Like RL said, you have to hand load and watch your OAL or it wont fit.