[Gloves]

Got my 16" Spike's Tactical AR-15 with 1 in 7" twist.


I'm gearing up for wild boar and white tail. I know how the AR-15 is a little
light for that game and I have the $$$ saved up for a larger upper. (would
rather not buy a whole new gun).

For now I'm looking at using:
.223 Remington Federal Boat Tail Hollow Point 69 Grain 2950
AMM-209 - Ammo .223 Remington Federal Boat Tail Hollow Point 69 Grain 2950 fps 20 Round Box Gold Medal Match
I would take shots up to 75 yards (not further for fear of an un-clean take-down) I would prefer to have a round that would work as far as 250 yards (AKA, .30-06)

The real question is:
What are my larger caliber upper options? I've seen these around:

• .458 SOCOM (Effective Distance?)
• .50 Beowulf (Effective Distance?)
• 6.8 Spec (Distance is fine, but is it that much better?)

I did some searching and wasn't able to find uppers in .30-06 or 7mm Mauser
(the traditional hunting rounds you can find everywhere). I'm willing to go up
to .338 Lapua Magnum. I'm willing to turn the semi-auto into a bolt action.
Wish I could go .50 BMG (CA restricted).

I did see this thread: http://www.firearmstalk.com/forums/f20/large-caliber-options-ar-15-upper-looks-like-223-round-max-38042/

[canebrake]

Don't hunt hog with a 22! Its cruel and unusual punishment.

It wont tumble in the hog, just bounce off or wound it.

Read this:

The Build Time Has Come!

[WoodysKJ]

Originally Posted by canebrake

Don't hunt hog with a 22! Its cruel and unusual punishment.

It wont tumble in the hog, just bounce off or wound it.

Read this:

The Build Time Has Come!

This total BS, A 5.56 round WILL kill a hog. The problem is NOT the round. It is the hunter. A 5.56 round has an effective killing range of a lot more than 75 yards. The problem is the size of the animal and the kill zone and how low it is to the ground NOT the round. Practice it crucial an you MUST hit either the spine, which is higher, or the heart which is low in the chest cavity. I will be shooting about a 75 gr BT and getting an anticipated .5 MOA at 100 yards.

Yes hogs can get wounded and not "Humanly" killed with the 5.56 or the 223 REM round. That is NOT because of the round.

A 308 round is a .30 cal bullet with a bunch more ft lbs of energy, but like you said it is a whole new gun, not just an upper.

[cpttango30]

Where are you going hunting at? Not many states allows a .224 caliber rifle for hunting large game like the Deer. I'm not going to go into the ethics of hunting with the 223 because they is a big bag of snakes.

As for wild pig get something bigger. Really for pigs I would be looking at nothing smaller tha a 25-06/ 257 roberts shooting Barns triple shock X-bullet.

[dog2000tj]

Why use a .223 when you can use a .458?

[WoodysKJ]

Originally Posted by cpttango30

Where are you going hunting at? Not many states allows a .224 caliber rifle for hunting large game like the Deer. I'm not going to go into the ethics of hunting with the 223 because they is a big bag of snakes.

As for wild pig get something bigger. Really for pigs I would be looking at nothing smaller tha a 25-06/ 257 roberts shooting Barns triple shock X-bullet.

I know Ky and TX allow ANYTHING that is at least .22 cal CENTERFIRE or larger up to 10 ga slug and less than a 50 cal. so 22. cal or .223 and 5.56 IS legal in many states for hogs, which are not even a game in TX in the same way Deer is. They are such a big problem that they really don't care what you kill them with as long as you KILL the bastards. Take a 30 round mag and shot the crap out of them.

Besides, the big ones, especially in TX, may be illegal aliens and or the Taliban in a hog suit, so spray and pray.

[WoodysKJ]

If you have ever seen what a hog can do to a downed deer or turkey, then you will LOVE having an AR with a 30 round mag when you see them.

We hunt them from elevated deer stands in TX and shoot them without any fear of retaliation. In TX you can kill turkey while deer hunting. on a couple of occasions when the deer were not cooperating and the turkeys were, we knocked down a couple of toms. waited for a while to see if any deer would show up and when we got to the downed turkeys, the hogs had beat us too them and they were destroyed.

Trust me a .223 or 5.56 WILL put a world of hurt on a hog, just gotta hit him in the right place.

[lonyaeger]

Originally Posted by WoodysKJ

If you have ever seen what a hog can do to a downed deer or turkey, then you will LOVE having an AR with a 30 round mag when you see them.

We hunt them from elevated deer stands in TX and shoot them without any fear of retaliation. In TX you can kill turkey while deer hunting. on a couple of occasions when the deer were not cooperating and the turkeys were, we knocked down a couple of toms. waited for a while to see if any deer would show up and when we got to the downed turkeys, the hogs had beat us too them and they were destroyed.

Trust me a .223 or 5.56 WILL put a world of hurt on a hog, just gotta hit him in the right place.

So you shot turkeys with your AR?

[cpttango30]

wood did you also notice that the OP lives in COMMIEFORNIA. I know for a fact that hunting hogs and deer in CA with a .224 caliber will land you a nice hefty fine and the loss of that sweet commie legal AR.

We are not talking about Texas I said I know of a few states that allow it. Tx allows hunting with a .224 caliber because 90% of the deer there only weigh in at 90# live weight.

[JonM]

Originally Posted by Gloves

I'm gearing up for wild boar and white tail. I know how the AR-15 is a little
light for that game and I have the $$$ saved up for a larger upper. (would
rather not buy a whole new gun).

For now I'm looking at using:
.223 Remington Federal Boat Tail Hollow Point 69 Grain 2950
AMM-209 - Ammo .223 Remington Federal Boat Tail Hollow Point 69 Grain 2950 fps 20 Round Box Gold Medal Match
I would take shots up to 75 yards (not further for fear of an un-clean take-down) I would prefer to have a round that would work as far as 250 yards (AKA, .30-06)

The real question is:
What are my larger caliber upper options? I've seen these around:

• .458 SOCOM (Effective Distance?)
• .50 Beowulf (Effective Distance?)
• 6.8 Spec (Distance is fine, but is it that much better?)

I did some searching and wasn't able to find uppers in .30-06 or 7mm Mauser
(the traditional hunting rounds you can find everywhere). I'm willing to go up
to .338 Lapua Magnum.

would strongly recomend against using boat tail hollow points on game animals they are for target shooting and do not take game cleanly in a lot of cases. boat tail hp rounds tend to either explosively shred to pieces leaving huge surface wounds or lodge in muscle with little damage. flat based soft points are what you need for deer and hog. these allow for deep penetration with expansion

458 socom superb deer bear hog round effective range 200yds the main drawback is lack of pre-loaded ammo. its almost a reloader only caliber. this round has the widest selection of hunting bullets available to hand loaders

50 beowulf uses pistol caliber bullets. not very many hunting bullets for this round. and also like the 458 socom pretty much a reloader only type thing. another 200yd round max

6.8 nice selection of hunting bullets for the handloader ammo is not terribly common but its getting there. easier to find pre-loaded hunting ammo than the others performance is on par with the 30-30 winchester. pretty much the same range as a 30-30.

i would recomend staying away from bolt action upper recievers too much stress is placed on the lower usually due to the sheer weaight of the upper reciever in such configurations. lower reciever failure is more common in those styles than a standard AR semi auto config.

the main issue is your trying to squeeze the performance of a traditional rifle round like the 30-06 out of a carbine style round. rule of thumb with the ar15 is your pretty much limited to 200yards due to the nature of the case volumes inherent to the short magazine length. this doesnt mean the platform sucks just means you need to live within the limitations of the system.