The 7.62 AR Question

Been reading a lot about the potential benefit of having an 'all purpose' AR platform shooting .308/7.62. I am looking to downsize my collection and love the idea of having a black rifle as my shooter, hunting rifle, home defense gun. But for every positive I read there are also negatives..
I was just hoping that there are enough of you guys with experience on this subject who could give me feedback on the whole accuracy, ammo, recoil, thing, maybe its just too good to be realistic.
I currently hunt with a Rem 700 in 7mm Mag, and its deadly accurate but really too much gun for the whitetail hunting I do. In addition, now I am in thicker hardwoods rather than the open stand I used to have access too..

Not to get into another which manufacturer to go with discussion, just curious as to who has gone that route, and what your personal experiences are with ammo, recoil, and accuracy and if you'd recommend it.

Keep in mind that I have never had an AR in any caliber, either.

Thanks in advance

 

Downsize????? But why?!?

 

If I were you I would get the 308. It will serve all you purposes like hunting, target shooting, and home defense. They make the .308 in so many different loads from heavy hunting rounds to ammo like TAP for home defense to target loads. I almost bought a DPMS .308 about a year ago but wound up changing my mind.
One down fall about the AR type .308's are the price. The tend to be pretty expensive. Not sure if this helps but just my .02.
My favorite .308 has always been the Springfield M1A1.

 

Damn man, what a first post to come out shooting What's wrong with this question anyways? He had it in the right spot. And ARs are badass.

 

My buddy has a sks that shoots the 7.62x39 and he likes everything about it, i know its not a AR but i do like the ammo

 

ouch...back off dude. theres nothing wrong with asking that question. didnt ur mother ever tell that if u dont have anything nice to say then dont say anything at all? haha

 

x2 and ARs aren't badass... they are really badass!!!

 

Why is this question in this forum? Last time a checked an AR was a gun and this is the guns and hunting section. Swallow a midol and take a few deep breaths.

An all purpose gun is a nice a idea but not really practical IMO. The AR does a lot of things well but trying to make it do too much is going to detract from it's effectiveness. A home defense gun should be 16 inches while target and hunting setups would do better at 20. My advice would be to have a single lower receiver with a couple or three uppers that you can just change out to suite your need at the moment.

 

for what its worth ..the best gun to clear a room with in a small space is a handgun...semi auto...because..there is less likey a chance of exposing yourself with the long barrel of a rifle or AR..personally.id take a SIG P229 with night sights and a .40 cal..

and also..if it had to be a rifle..id go with a shotgun..due to the spread factor..but with either #4 buck or special HD rounds that wont go through walls

 

take it back a notch! He is in the right place, but maybe you arent.

 

damn, that was about a 10 on the richter scale. This is the right place to ask this question. the "guns and hunting" section.... maybe your in the wrong forum.

as for the OP. AR's are not gerneraly used as a home defense gun. Maybe try a shotgun or handgun for that. as for hunting, Remington makes a AR platform now, they have .243 .223 and .308 and a few others.
http://www.remington.com/products/firearms/centerfire_rifles/model_r-15_VTR.asp

 

^^^ yeah x2..dont blast the guy for jsut asking a siple question...so what..why do we flame those who have questions...this is why people are afraid to ask for what is needed these days..because they feel like they will get flamed..

 

I looked a picking up a POF .308 AR based platform, but went another route, which is good since they are having all kinds of problems. I have an AR in 5.56/.223, a Shotgun (Beneli M2 Semi-Auto), a rem 700 sps tactical .308, and a glock .40. I think a dedicated firearm will be your best bet. I think a .308 for home defense is a bad choice IMHO due to fact that you will have some major over penetration. I have a family at home so would not work for me. The rem 700 sps tactical has a 20" barrel so it would be easier to get around with in the brush, and its synthetic stock with rubber makes it stand up a little better in the elements.
If you go the multiple upper route your getting to have to spend some good money. Good luck and let us know what you go with!

 

Good point. I would agree that the two best choices for home defense is a pump shotgun and high capacity pistol with night sights and a sure fire flashlight. The AR would be my third choice but I forgot to make clear in my previous post that this should be ONLY .223. Anything larger than this is not going to fragment and spawl when it hits drywall or wood. A .308 will overpenetrate and then you're risking hitting something or someone you didn't mean to.

Long guns are easier to shoot and usually more accurate because of this which is why entry teams use carbines or subguns as their primary. However they have the element of surprise and are also laden with body armor which means exposing more of themselves is not that big of a deal. For most people a pistol is the best choice.

 

but isnt .223 kind of a varmit round? i mean i know shot placement is key and all..but wouldnt like a .556 or something of that nature be more sufficient?

 

.223 and 5.56 is basicaly the same round. just different units of measurement.
for deer hunting i would not recomend it. it can be done and there are people who do it though. I use a 7mm-08 and I have several friends that use .270's bigger bullets for more knockdown.

Maybe you should try going with a shotgun. depends on how far your shots will be while hunting. if they are not that far go for it. a Slug barrel for hunting, another barrel for HD.

 

The AR platform is accurate, modular and badass in every caliber. Have you thought about a 7.62x39 AR? You could use the same lower for a 5.56/.223 upper as well.

 

and then switch the upper to a .50 cal beowolf

 

You could, but I like guns that take the most popular and available ammo.

 

true true, I looked to see if you could even buy any .50 cal and everyone was sold out of the beowolf stuff...

I like the option of getting ammo locally too..

but it would be badass to have one when the russians invade. "Red Dawn" haha