Looking for guidance from AR rifle hunters (ammunition)

[LD36]

Are you willing to take head/neck shots? If so, then 5.56 will be fine and I would choose it over 7.62x39 or .300 BO. If you're going to stick with normal body shots, it'll still work but you need to put more effort into picking a good bullet, IMO. Personally, although I usually try for head/neck shots I still use Barnes ammo in case I need to take a body shot.

I think there are good reasons to pick up a .350 Legend but not overwhelming ones. A 6.8 or 6.5 would really make more sense unless you plan to hunt with the .350 L on public land in Indiana or one of the other states that allow it for deer.

Whatever you choose don't be a cheap *** on ammo. You're planning on taking the live(s) of animal(s) and likely expending time, money, and effort to do so, cutting corners on ammo cost is beyond foolish. Also, spend some time studying hog anatomy diagrams. They are built differently than deer and a typical lower 1/3 chest shot equals a gut shot hog unless it is placed tight to the shoulder.

I appreciate the reply. Trust me, when it comes to hunting, I would never go cheap on ammo. I have too much love and respect for animals to ever make an unethical shot or use insufficient ammo. I'd want to make sure it was a quick, clean kill. I do plan to brush up on the hog anatomy and plan to do plenty of long distance testing with both the hunting ammo I decide to go with and the rifle itself. You have given me a lot of food for thought and I'll be doing some research. Thank you again, I really appreciate it!

 

[DocIndy]

I agree. I also chose Grendel as my hunting AR of choice. Ballistics are great. But right now it seems ammo is hard find, but seems 300BO is always in stock.

Locked and Loaded has Grendel in Hornady Black in stock.... $27.99/box though...

 

[JAL]

If you go .300 AAC Blackout . . .
While it allegedly uses the same magazines, and will with most, the PMAGs notoriously have trouble feeding it, with Magpul creating a separate PMAG for .300 Blackout. The issue is the rib inside the magazine along the side of the rounds pinching the .300 Blackouts together at the top of the stack. Hexmag doesn't have that problem. Nor do any of the metal mil-spec ones in good condition that I've read about. Numerous articles on the Interweb about it. Brownell's has a good video about it. As with any other combination of caliber, firearm, cartridge and magazines . . . ensure it they all play together well before relying on them in the field or for defensive use.



if I were going to use something other than a 16" or longer 5.56x45, I'd go with .300 Blackout in a supersonic load.

 

[Mgderf]

If you have questions about effectiveness, go big.
I just assembled my new Ingo lower with an AR Stoner upper in .450 Bushmaster
That's a .45 cal 250gr bullet leaving the barrel at 2200 fps.
It's only really accurate out to 200-250 yards, but whatever you hit is going to drop if you place the bullet properly.

 

[SmileDocHill]

While not allowed in Tenn apparently, here is the night setup for Hogs in Texas...

They don't know what hit them.

View attachment 261225

This will also help in camp at night if you feel you're being stalked by North Vietnamese. Sorry, I couldn't resist. That is a thing of beauty!