AR15 caliber

If you were building this rifle with a 16" barrel for use on pigs what would be the optimum caliber, bullet weight and barrel twist in your opinion?

In what type of terrain do you hunt, and at what distances do you expect to be shooting?

Longer distances I use my 6.5 Grendel, in the river bottoms I really Like my 7.62x39!
Also use a .50 Beowulf.

Personally I shoot a 224V but I would recommend a 6.8spc or 6.5 creed or grendel, but you will get a thousand different replies based on opinions, some here get strangely emotional about how you must use their preferred caliber.

I'm not real emotional about it, but in an AR15 I think the 6.8 is hard to beat at normal ranges. I shoot the 115 Fusion but mine also likes the SSA 110 Accu-Bonds
The pigs don't seem to care much for either.

I've been thinking 6.8 or the Grendel. 6.5 cm requires the ar10 and I don't want that, Had one and sold it. I want to stay with the lighter wt. AR15 frame. But I transgress, I am familiar with the 6.8 but really know nothing about the Grendel. Can I get feed back on this cartridge and comparisons between it and the 6.8. Thank you.

Terrain ranges from thicker brush/trees to open fields. Distance ranges from 30yds to 200yds. Don't care for the long range shooting. Question, would you use the 6.8 deer hunting in east Texas forests?

I only hunt pigs and not thin skinned lightweight stuff.
Tried a few calibers in AR15 platform on pigs including .223/5.56, 300BO, 7.62x39, 6.8 and 458 Socom.
Keep coming back to the 16" midgas 6.8 with AR Performance barrels shooting 120gr SST handloads.

My shots range from 40 to 200 yards.
The terrain varies from thick brush to scrub mesquites with openings.
Most of my hunting is from a box blind but sometimes hunt out of Mule.

.22 cal is OK for single shot situations where you can take dead aim and if they are running, they will still be running after you shoot them unless you get a luck shot.
300BO is also OK for single shot situations or if you want to use a silencer and range is limited - fun gun and accurate but didn't cut it.
7.62x39 is accurate, works pretty good(can be fussy about magazines) and ammo is cheap but cheap ammo really hurts potential - I found myself handloading 123gr SSTs to bring out full potential of the round so the cheap ammo part went out the window.
458 Socom was fun, accurate and devastating not only to what it hit but killed optics like a flyswatter and was prohibitively expensive to shoot.

During all this, I always came back to the 6.8 as it does what I need and does it well with 120gr SST handloads.
I have also loaded up some 85gr TTX ammo with info from Harrison, the guy behind AR Performance.
They are lazer beams out to 300 yards but the solid copper bullets are twice as expensive as the 120gr SSTs.
I generally shoot a couple of hundred rounds a year so it adds up quickly.

Hope that helps.

I just went thru the process of deciding what caliber to get in an AR for hogs. I ended up going with the 6.8 SPC. I haven't shot it yet, but I should this weekend.

JR

6.8 with the 120 SST ammo works great for hogs and deer. The 115 Fusion is also a good round.

The 6.8 has the most power of the standard AR 15 calibers. It's a good one. The 6.5 Grendel is a little higher dollar round with longer range and precision in mind. It is close to on par with the 6.8.

I prefer the 300 blk out. It uses the same 223 mags and is simple to use and shoot. When running the 125 grain hunting bullets fast, like the 125 SST and Ballistic Tip, they perform VERY well. I hunted with it for the last 4-5 years now. It's a great round for basic hunting out to 200 or 300 yards. Inside of 100 yards, it's awesome. It's cheap to shoot and performs very well for it's size.

Hey Chad...do you prefer 1:7 or 1:8 for supersonic rounds (I shoot your 125 grain SST load). I am about to buy a better barrel for my Blackout.

6.8 120 gr. SST is a hog and deer killer...... I would recommend also considering the 300 HAMR. 130 gr. Speer Hotcore. There is a very informative thread currently in the rifle section on the Wilson Combat 300 HAMR. I own both.

If I didn’t have several 30rar I’d be a over the 300 HAMR can’t beat the 30 cal

Is the 6.8 a common round to find at academy or bps and is it expensive?

Yes it is common and those stores usually stock it but, they usually don't have a wide selection like other calibers.....I order online through ammo seek.

IMO, for a dedicated pig gun at normal ranges - 300 BLK. Bullet weight 11O -125 depending. Barrel twist 1:7. The 300 blk is inexpensive to shoot and it works.

My dedicated night time pig gun is a Remington R-15, (wanted to be different) with an 18” Wilson Combat match barrel, shooting suppressed with an Omega can, trigger job, and an old Pulsar N-750. Ammo is 110 Gr Barnes, it’s a tack driver and I love it. This rifle has several hundred pigs under it’s belt. Rifle was built for the sole purpose of seeing what I could get out of a 300 Blk with factory ammo shooting at extended range at night doing eradication work in the corn crop country. Compared to others it is a slow round, about like a 30-30...but especially shooting suppressed I love listening to her wisper and the THUD and watching them fall. I’ve never understood why some folks say it’s a good “first shot” caliber. That’s silly.

I love the 6.8 SPC. It’s an awesome round and have some experience with it. It’s hell on pigs too. GREAT round. My oldest Son shot his biggest boar with one, Big boar but he shot him in the forehead with the SPC at 100 yrds and blew a big hole in the skull. 100 yrds dead between the eyes at night but the pressure popped that skull pretty bad lol. Was going to do a Euro anyway because it would have been cool, but lost that head and 5 others during Harvey.

I personally have no experience with the Grendel yet, but have a buddy that swears by it. He not only uses that round on pigs on a regular basis, he and his Son also shoot Comp with the Grendel.


If you shoot a good bullet in the 300 BLK you will kill the hell out of pigs under 200 yrds. Lehigh Defense also makes some damn good ammo for the blk.

We shoot pigs with 17 HMR’s & 17 WSM’s and drop them, they’re pigs. Just shoot them, and eat them every chance you get.

Either works fine, but if you had a choice, the 1:7" will help with a little more bullet expansion. The faster RPM's help the bullet upset more. But either will work fine. My Rem bolt gun is a 1:7", but's it's a 5R rifling. 2 of my AR's are 1:8", and one of my AR pistols in 300 BO I'm building now is 1:7".

Hard to choose between the Grendel and the 6.8 I like them both and they work just fine. Easier to find 6.8 factory ammo so far. The BO is a nice accurate round with out the range of the other two. Just got an upper for the BO and expect it to perform well enough, much better and more versatile than the 223. If you are a good shot and can make CNS hits every time even the 223 will do a fine job.

My personal opinion is either a 6.8 SPC or a 6.5 Grendel. Performance-wise they are very, very close to each other. Technically they say they 6.8 a bit better 200 and in, and the Grendel is for sure better if you are going to stretch it out. With the same shot placement on game I doubt many folk could tell the difference one way or the other at normal ranges if they didn't know which one they were shooting.

I built a 16" Grendel for myself just because I like 6.5 bullets and I had a bunch of them from different projects already laying around. Plus I tend to like to stretch things out a bit and the higher BC of 6.5 bullets in general plays into that. I heavily considered the 6.8 though and think it is every bit as good as a general pig gun. IMO there isn't a wrong answer between the two.

If you reload Starline makes good Grendel brass at a reasonable cost. Maybe they make 6.8 as well, to be honest I haven't looked. Shooting pigs with a Grendel there are several good bullets to look at. 120 Ballistic tip, 120 Sierra, 123 SST, Several ELD's to choose from, lots of folks say the 129 Accubond LR works very well since it is designed to expand down to lower velocities. Benchmark, TAC, 8208 XBR, CFE 223, plus a few more, all these powders work well. I don't know about loading the 6.8 because I have never done it.

The Grendel

Just my .02,
LeonCarr

I love the Grendel. Shockingly effective against hogs. Most of mine are taken at 210 yards and 90% of the time the hog drops in its tracks. Probably more effective - for me at least - due to shot placement. The low recoil helps reduce shot anticipation which makes it an awesome shooting caliber for me.

been running 6.8s for a good 10 years.. ran pretty much all bullets and ammo and use the 120 SST factory load the most..
flat out just works

^^^^

So....I'm not the only one!

My SOCOM killed a Weaver Classic Extreme (1.5 x 4.5) after about 800 rounds. Replacement has held up so far...but I also backed off on some of my hotter reloads for the rifle.

The scope while not top tier...was also not bad quality (made by L.O.W. Japan) and a decent scope (for what was offered 10 years ago). Still the SOCOM killed it.


https://www.chuckhawks.com/weaver_classic_extreme_1-4.htm

Two cheap scopes went first, then after only 3 shots, it converted an ATN Gen 3 NV into an expensive hand scanner!

My 375 & 458 Socom and the 358 Winchester are 3 of my favorite guns to shoot

458 below

This deal cannot be beat

https://www.ar15performance.com/inc/sdetail/38016/53884

Fits your request to a “T”

Complete BCG with non-melonite bolt as recommended by barrel seller : $ 69.00

https://www.bearcreekarsenal.com/bca-6-5-grendel-type-ii-bolt-carrier-group

LOTS of good recommendations so far BUT none will give you the performance for the dollar that the above will....

450 bushmaster, ammo is $23 a box. It thumps them

Perfect choices

300 HAM'R, it's a .30-30 with higher BC bullets out of a AR15 platform. EXTREMELY effective on hogs and deer. A lot of info on it over in the gun section of the forum.

Decided on the 6.8SPC. Ordered the 16" 3R 10 twist scout and the m-16 complete 6.8 SB BCG Parkerized from AR Performance. Will build on Aero Precision upper and lower. I'll be hand loading so what wt. bullet ya'll like for hog and deer?

Finally got to the farm this weekend to shoot my new AR 6.8 SPC. I did the break in process of shooting once and cleaning (9 times), shooting 3 rounds and cleaning (3 times). Pain in the rear, but I did the same with my Remi 700 25-06 and it really does shoot great.

I think I'm going to like the AR. Got the Thermal sighted in with it, so i should be good to go next time up.

JR

what thermal did you go with? Wondering about the price point .

I've got a Pulsar Apex can't remember the specific model. I also have the Helion monocular - the clarity is unreal.

JR