close range whitetail...what should I do with this rifle?

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BerdanSS

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This rifle is chambered for 5.56 (kinda;)) I literally poured my heart and soul into this thing for over two years. Each component hand selected. It was made to go hand in hand with a specific round, that is absolutely not going to be found anywhere..components to reload come dearer than I'm willing to pay. Can I shoot 62gr wolf poly out of it? sure, but that would be like drinking the finest scotch out there from a dixie cup. A rifle like this for me living in Indiana has literally no use. It was the pipe dream of all pipe dreams. I want it to serve some purposes and I currently have no deer legal cartridge rifles.

looking at 3 options

(1) re barrel it for .458 and buy a new bolt.

(2) Say to heck with it, shove it back into the safe and buy a 24" barreled rossie 44 magnum lever gun I can get a great deal on.

(3) Throw together an Encore in a caliber of my choosing...most likely .35 Rem

I've never so much as shot a rifle in .458, but also no personal experience with .44 magnum rifles and their effectiveness on deer.

The .50 Beo is not an option due to parts and ammunition availability, not to mention I'd have to open up the ejection port on a high dollar upper that (for the time being anyway) cannot be replaced.
 
Maximum range I'd be shooting is 80 yards on 160-210 # deer unless something bigger that hasn't been seen on the ground wanders in.


.44 magnum out of a 24" barrel at that range? is a one hit show stopper given same placement of a 16ga slug or .50 roundball over 75 grains of powder?
 
Beautiful rifle, but I'm not a fan of using 5.56mm on whitetail. Too many negatives to counter the few positives.

Given your choices, I would go with the Encore in .35rem. Just because I've always liked the Encore and am a fan of "odd" cartridges.
 
Well, it's paid for, right? So stick a Weaver K-4 on top, get some appropriate ammo and go kill Bambi. You can worry about "What to do..." in 2014.
 
Maybe I'm out of the loop about something but how can a rifle be "kinda" chambered for 5.56?

There are truckloads of 5.56 and .223 in all the local gun stores here in Northwest NC. If I were you I'd leave it as is and load the 60 gr partition or 55 or 62 gr Barnes TSX. Last time I checked Midway had all three of these bullets in stock. I have taken several deer with a .223 and a .220 swift

Of your three listed options, I would pick option 3 if .35 rem brass were easier to find. But if you don't already have some it's pretty scarce right now, as is factory ammo.

Judging by the calibers you mentioned, I'm guessing the Indiana law is .35 caliber or larger to suit the "primitive weapon" season that some other states such as Louisiana have adopted.

With that in mind, I would recommend either a Handi-rifle or Encore in .35 whelen. Brass can be formed from .30-06

But the .44 mag Rossi isn't a bad idea either.

I personally wouldn't want to hunt deer with a .458 socom
 
You already have the rifle, decent hunting ammo will take deer no problem if you put the bullet where it needs to go. If you have no confidence in the round, why not pick up another upper in something a little heftier? A 6.8 or .300 Blackout upper can be had for about what you'd spend on another rifle.
 
Maybe I'm out of the loop about something but how can a rifle be "kinda" chambered for 5.56?
Click to expand...

I'm not a black rifle aficionado but a gun is either chambered for a round or it isn't.

Anyway, plenty of 5.56 around. Buy a few boxes and see what shoots well out of your rifle. You might have designed the gun with a certain loading in mind but that doesn't mean other commercial rounds won't work well.
 
Unless I am mistaken he is saying that the caliber is not lawful to hunt with in his state. That is a fine looking rifle that you should be proud of. I would not change a thing! That is a great battle rifle keep it around for home defense, range fun and varmint hunting. Get a second gun for hunting deer. I think a lever action 44 like you said would work well at short to medium range. The Encore is a good option too.

All my opinion of course.

:D
 
Nice rifle. Pretty functional looking on the outside. Have a question. Do these aftermarket kit rifles command the price of a factory built colt upon their resale? (Just curious is all.)

As far as a 35 Rem Encore. A neighbor of mine has the Contender model {I think? Although it may be a Encore? I'll have to ask to make sure.} anyhow He has a 35 barrel. And always on the scout for brass. He told me once his barrel will only accommodate reloaded 35 brass two or three times before their necks split. I'm sure at this time He no longer shoots his 35-barrel at all. (no to low reloadable brass amounts is his problem) but He also has other barrels too. I suspect you already know this particular 35 cartridge just may be on the road to obsolescence. {No one really knows what Remington is up too these days concerning their 35 Rem bulk brass discontinuance.} I'm starting to think If a cartridge head stamp doesn't state Winchester you best be weary. Believe it or not. I have a old 32-40 here that's easier to find brass for than a 35 Remington.
 
Save the EBR.

Pick up one of the Handi Rifles currently on sale at Dick's for $199. If you're a smooth talker, you can also get them to apply the discount for "$20 off any rifle under $399" ...for a sale price of $179.
.357 Mag, .44 Mag, and .500 S&W aren't too hard to find. And, the .500 S&W model comes with open sights, so no scope would be necessary.
 
no way

Given the current political climate, I would not part with an AR short of saving the family or farm from the poor house.

Yeah, I think the drift here is that the OP wants a deer rifle and in IN, only pistol cal carbines are legal. So he's thinking of parting with the AR to fund a more "practical" purchase. Have we all been there???!!!

The HR in .44 mag, or gosh.....500 SW will be grim death on whitetails, and you will shoot it better, in the field on game, than any handgun.

But I would not sell the AR off.
 
First, don't get rid of the gun! Get another upper if you want. .458 SOCOM would get the job done at that range, but ammo at last I saw was expensive! And not sold everywhere.

The H&R would probably be your cheapest option and would certainly get the job done.
 
Well to answer some questions..yes guy's our rifles must be over .357 in diameter longer than 1.16 but not over 1.625 in case length. So I was just looking to drop in a .458 barrel and bolt into the existing setup. No way would I sell 90% of those parts. But after seeing the cost, and wait time involved with swapping to the SOCOM. I settled on a 44 mag rossi.

Picked up the last one in stock just last night, did a quick sight in and loaded the truck up for this morning (opening day here in Indiana) Which yielded this:D



At 140-150 on the hoof It's no prize winner (never hunted from a tree stand before, looked much bigger 19' up :o) ....but considering the fact that I never even so much as saw a deer all last season. 35-40yard headshot, entry just behind the ear with a 240gr jacketed fiocchi lead nosed flat point. No trailing :cool:


So the MK12 Mod O will be nestled back in the safe as is :rolleyes:
 
Also to clear up confusion I may have caused....yes the rifle shoots 5.56, .223 and so on....BUT....it has a Douglas Premium 18" sbr match barrel by CLE. The chamber, twist, length....every detail on that barrel is an optimized glove fit with the MK262...while they will, they are not intended to shoot M193 and certainly not any wally world 55gr fodder.

Believe it or not that rifle has never so much as chambered a round. It may seem silly, but I put a lot of time and money making it just right, my dream AR. I wanted her first time to be with the ammunition that was designed to go hand in hand with it. :):o
 
Whoa! You went from talking about modifying your rifle to buying a Rossi lever gun to shooting your doe in onl 4 days! What kind of groups did it shoot when you sighted in?
 
Initial problem solved--obviously. :)

For further discussion of this particular AR, a thread on it would be just fine in the SA Rifle forum.
 
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