AR or Bolt action for whitetail???

N

nossaw

Inactive
Ok, I know... Yeah, yeah... Oranges and apples. It's been done. I get it. Please hear me out. Please! I'm 36 and want to hunt whitetail for the first time.

I want to hunt whitetail in southern Indiana where I live. I have a Mossberg 500. It kicks too hard with slugs for my liking, so I've talked the wife into spending $1000 for a rifle. This is an all in price. (rifle, optic/sights, ammo, mags, slings, etc) Indiana just opened up .30 cal for whitetail. This has limited me to 308 or 300 blackout for realistically finding ammo, as I don't have the capabilities of handloading, although that may be in my sights for the future.

I am looking at two entirely different rifles. They are as follows:

I have narrowed it down to a browning AB3 combo in 308 with a 3-9x40for $600. I would prefer the xbolt, but money talks... I have chosen the Browning, because it is comfortable. I handled the remington 700 and 783, Savage Axis II, TC rifles, Ruger American, mossberg patriot and 100 and howa.the Browning is the most comfortable.

The next is an Anderson combo. The one that I found is a complete lower with a complete 5.56 upper (that I can't hunt with in Indiana, but would be fun) and a 300 Blackout upper for $700. I would have to get BUIS, and save for optics, but at least I'd be set for hunting season, and fun on the cheap with 5.56. Another thing that sways me toward the anderson is the m16 BCG and that I can set it up for ambidextrious (since I am ambedxtrious, and my brother and father-in-law is lefty) and upgrade in the future.

For what ammo I can find locally, 300 blackout and 308 is running neck and neck for price. As far as preference goes, I'd prefer something like a 300 win mag for the bolt action, but can't find the ammo 'round here, and don't want to deal with the recoil until I have more experience under my belt.

What do you guys think?
 
If you're going to buy an AR buy it before the election. However I would recommend a bolt gun. $1000 is a fairly generous sum for a first deer rifle. I've heard that the A Bolt is a good rifle, but instead of the combo I would buy just the rifle, and spend on a decent scope, as combo scopes are usually bottom of the barrel. I recommend the Nikon Prostaff. At the outdoor store I work at we have them for $179.99 and Nikon has an Excellent warranty.

If recoil is a concern, I would look into finding something in 7mm-08, which is a necked down .308 that shoots flatter and has less recoil. Both cartridges will kill whitetail just fine.
 
For a bolt-action rifle, I wouldn't settle for anything but a Winchester model 70 in either 270 or 30-'06.
There are too many excellent lever-action rifles for me to even be tempted by any AR. Winchester, Marlin, and that marvelous contraption, the Savage 99, all come to mind, long before an AR.
Besides, I've never seen Walnut stocks on any AR, nor any other nice wood.
 
Buy a bolt gun in 308 or similar caliber for deer hunting. With a $1000 budget and careful shopping you can almost get a decent AR in 5.56 and a decent scope for your bolt gun. Maybe your wife will find a way to squeeze about $200 more into the budget. Or buy one now and the other later.

I wouldn't fool with 300 BO; the 5.56 does everything better including kill deer. These laws are made by people who know nothing about hunting or firearms. Hunt with the bolt gun in 308, use the AR for other uses.

I'd not hesitate to use an AR to hunt with an AR if it were the only rifle I owned. But a bolt gun in a more powerful caliber will really do everything better from a hunting perspective.
 
The new law, which passed as HB 1231, allows deer hunting on private land with rifles chambered in .243, .30-30, .300, .30-06 or .308 with a minimum case length of 1.16-inches. Hunters are restricted to carrying a maximum of 10 cartridges in the field and the use of full metal jacket ammo is prohibited.
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All things considered I would be going with .308 Winchester in a bolt gun. With any luck a slightly used and scoped older Remington 700 or even any of the other bolt guns you mentioned. I am not saying an AR is a poor choice for hunting as there is no shortage of those hunting with an AR. I am just saying the I prefer the .308 Winchester cartridge (wide range of bullets) in a bolt gun for hunting.

Nice to see Indiana and several adjoining states coming around and opening hunting seasons for deer in rifle.

Ron
 
There are lots of .30 deer rifles for far less than $1000(all inclusive). If the .308 Win is legal, I'd certainly go with a bolt gun for hunting.
The 300AAC has some very significant restrictions on use as a deer round which the .308 Win doesn't.
If you really WANT an AR, you'd better get it before the upcoming political catastrophe.
If you really want a .223 AR and intend to use the .300 deer hunting option to help justify the purchase, make sure you do some range work to determine how far you can hit and much killing effect that hit will have. Trajectory may be close to what you're used to with slugs--not very good past 100 yards. Effective hunting ammo for the .300 is available but some works far better than others. If you're used to paying $2+ each for slugs, you shouldn't be bothered by $1.50 for each round of premium .300.
I haven't yet shot a deer with my .300 but I've used the similar 7.62x39 on several and I'm just not all that impressed(vs. what you can expect from a 308 Win).
 
rifle

I agree with jar completely. A bolt action rifle in .308 will work great on whitetail. Heck you could even step up to a 30-06 or .300 win if you wanted to. But, beig that you aren't a fan of recoil, the .308 will do the job just fine. I have a couple of .300 blackouts and use them exclusively for pigs inside of 150 yards for supersonic loads and inside of 100 for subs. I will be testing out some new ammo this year in BO built for deer hunter's. It still will not be anywhere near the neighborhood of the .308 Winchester capabilities. Now if you wanted to up the ante a bit, a AR10 platform could be big fun too.

dave2rifles.png
 
Using any .223 for deer isn't legal in Indiana. Only .243" diameter or .308" diameter bullets are legal. Plus the pistol calibres and a few others from before. Only 10 rounds on your person when hunting too.
Oddly the civil servants making the decision think 7.62 x 39 and 7.62 x 54R use a .308" bullet. Seems they don't know what they're talking about.
http://www.in.gov/dnr/fishwild/7389.htm
Aside from the fact that no deer anywhere requires a magnum of any kind to kill, if you think a 12 gauge slug has recoil, a .300 Mag is worse. Using a 150 grain bullet at 3320 fps, out of an 8.5lb rifle, it has 23.5 ft-lbs. of recoil energy. A 1 oz slug at 1180 fps has 17.3 ft-lbs. out of a 7.5 lb. shotgun. Using a 20 gauge slug isn't much less. The action type matters though. Semi-autos, either rifles or shotguns, tame felt recoil really well. No mention of semi's not being legal that I saw. Didn't look very hard though. You should if you opt for one.
 
If I were in your position I'd get the AR but not on 300 BO. I'd get 6.8 SPC. The reason is that you can get bolt actions later if we still have any freedoms left, but for now the AR is the one they want to ban first.
I have made a lot of 6.8s and a lot 300 BOs and if you are not going to run sub-sonics with a can, I can see nothing the BO does half as well as the 6.8.
 
gun

6.8 is one heck of a multipurpose round. One of my buddies has a Wilson in 6.8 and it's all he uses for deer,hogs,predators and whatever else is left. If it's legal ( usually max 5 rounds in gun during deer season) for you to use, the 6.8 is your answer. Ammo is redily avaiable at all big box retailers too.
Outstanding suggestion. I was caught up in it had to be a .30 cal projectile or it wasn't legal.
 
a gun that pushes bullets in one direction and hits the same relative spot every time... that is the gun that is best for whitetail. bullets for deer is a bigger factor than the rifle.

I started hunting with a bolt action. it was a bolt action 243, I had a terrible flinch, and all I ever got for instruction was "stop flinching". well I kept shooting and shooting all the cheap junk remington ammo I could get my hands on and finally even though my flinch diminished my accuracy had not improved. well finally one day I was forced to buy federal brand ammo instead of remington ammo, took one box to sight it in an get alright looking groups and that year I finally got my first deer. repeated the process every year after that until I joined the military. after that I tried cheap ammo again and proceded to lose 3 deer in the same year. that was the last time I took that rifle out hunting, even though I'm convinced it was an ammo issue, I still don't want to risk wounding and losing another deer with it.

the year after that I used an AR15 in 9mm, did it's job admirably, put meat on the table.

the two years since then I have been using an AR15 in 6.5 grendel and got a deer both years. both deer made it less than a full stride before hitting the dirt.

one caveat to the ARs I used, both used premium ammunition, the 9mm was a handload I spent my entire summer developing and testing. the 6.5 was premium factory ammo. the ARs are heavier, less comfortable to lug around, and in general, not really necessary. however they are both shorter barreled rifles so they are easier to pack through brush, thickets, and trees without getting the gun snagged on everything.
 
Few people seem to be reading the OP. A 6.8 (.270) is not legal in that state. The OP apparently has never hunted before, and knows nothing about guns, or ordering ammunition. I have known many guys that went hunting one or two times and simply did not like it. A thousand dollars is a lot of money on a whim (Especially if you are married). I would suggest borrowing a rifle. If that cannot be done, go as cheap as you can when you go gun shopping. Get on line and go to Gunbroker.com. Then go to ammunition sites. Yes, you can get ammo delivered to your house, if legal in your area.
 
Humm. Gunplummer is right. I missed that.
30 cal huh?
CAn it be 30 or larger, or is the new law specific to 30 cal?
If larger is ok, how about a CZ 527 in 7.62X39 Or for that matter, if you can find one, a Marlin M-94 in 357 mag? Or any good Marlin 30-30.

Of course the Browning 308 he posted about it just fine too. In fact I can't see any reason to recommend against it. if recoil is a factor get a break put on, or get the BOSS system right from Browning.
 
Just for some Clarification with regard to Indiana.
Event Description:
The Department of Natural Resources has received numerous questions regarding recent legislation that legalizes certain rifles for deer hunting beginning later this year. Most questions have to do with calibers and cartridges allowed under the new law
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.

These are the new laws.

Interesting in that Ohio recently enacted some similar legislation but here in Ohio cartridges like the 444 Marlin and 45-70 Government are welcome but in Indiana prohibited. Much of Ohio like Indiana being relatively flat with a high population density I was surprised when Ohio became open to rifle. I always made the trip to West Virginia for my deer hunting.

Ron
 
Do you still hit WV? I have been going down for over 20 years. It is not as good as it used to be because of the increased doe tags, but public land is still pretty good to hunt.
 
Do you still hit WV? I have been going down for over 20 years. It is not as good as it used to be because of the increased doe tags, but public land is still pretty good to hunt.
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Nope, my sister had 100 acres just out of Clarksburg which she sold and my old friend and hunting buddy down in Webster Springs WV passed away a few years ago. Love the countryside and enjoyed hunting it but haven't even hunted for a few years now. WV was some real enjoyable hunting for me.

Ron
 
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