Hunting With Modern Semi-Automatic Rifles—The AR Afield

There was a time when AR-15-style rifles were a rare sight in a hunting camp, but that's all in the past. Today they represent the best-selling rifle category in the commercial firearm business. They are the darling of many shooters, and they have made huge strides with hunters, too. That a company as prominent as Remington supports those trends with two new rifles, the R-15 and the R-25, demonstrates that hunting with AR-style rifles is becoming more and more popular. In fact, just about every manufacturer of AR-style rifles currently catalogs a hunting model or two.

The guns are accepted in hunting camps around the country. Recently, I have encountered quite a bit of genuine interest in the firearms, and several fellow hunters told me they planned on buying an AR-type rifle in the near future. My guess is they will be quite happy with that decision. These rifles are reliable; after all, we equip our troops with the selective-fire, military versions. They also can be extremely accurate, as they prove again and again in various shooting competitions throughout the world. Once hunters get past the cosmetics and mistruths surrounding the guns, they discover that AR-style rifles are wonderful firearms for hunting.

There are two basic rifle sizes here. One is the "AR-15," a name trademarked by Colt long ago and now generally used to describe rifles designed around the .223 Remington/5.56x45 mm NATO cartridges and limited to cartridges of similar length. The larger rifles are often called the "AR-10 type." That name, owned by ArmaLite, is used generically here to describe a larger rifle that accepts .308 Win.-length cartridges.

Today's AR-style rifles are different in design than bolt-action or even other semi-automatic hunting rifles. Although the basic function of the semi-automatic design is the same, the layout of the rifle is different. There is a bit of a learning curve associated with new hunters using AR-type rifles.

One difference in competition shooting and in hunting is the problem of aiming at close targets. Because of the in-line stock of the AR-type rifle, any sights will be much higher than the bore. A scoped bolt-action rifle averages 1.5" between the line of sight and the bore, but an AR rifle can easily double that. Therefore, on particularly close shots, ARs hit low. This vexes me when I forget to aim high at close targets in a 3-gun competition, and it allowed at least one bobcat to live another day. I shot at its chest and put the bullet between its legs. The tom left-in a hurry and well educated about varmint calls. Usually this is a non-issue as most hunting shots are too distant to matter, and it's only a few inches difference at most. On the other hand, the higher line of sight has the opposite effect at long range and the bullet drop compared to line of sight will be less than that of a bolt-action.

Let's look at a .223 Rem. 55-gr. load from a bolt-action with the scope 1.5" above the bore and an AR with the scope 3.5" high, both with a 100-yd. zero. At 20 yds., the bolt gun hits 0.85" below the line of sight but the AR hits 2.45" low. At 200 yds., however, the bolt gun impacts 3.66" low, and the AR hits 1.66" low. So, it's all really a trade-off. Once you understand the gun's characteristics, it's not a problem. Perhaps it is even an asset, as long shots are more common than extremely close opportunities when hunting.

The guns can also be a little noisy if they are bumping against a metal pack frame or if the sling swivels are clicking on the fore-end. Again, a little duct tape and ingenuity can solve the problem. I should note that the same problems are pretty common with any other style of hunting rifle; they are all noisy when they click against a pack frame. The difference here is that my beautiful walnut stock is not getting gouged as it did recently on a backpack hunt with a bolt-action rifle.

Some complain that the safety on an AR-type rifle is too loud and, to be honest, I believe they have a point. The safety is designed to use a strong detent spring and to click solidly into the "safe" or "fire" positions. This ensures reliability and the audible confirmation can be important in some tactical situations. But a noisy safety is a bad thing while hunting. As with any safety, the technique used to push it on or off makes a difference. Putting pressure on the safety lever as you move it can quiet it down. I just did an informal check of 16 different AR-type rifles from six different manufacturers to see how well this works. On all but four rifles it was possible to manipulate the safety to allow it to go into the "fire" position silently, or nearly silently. Of the four rifles that failed, three were from the same manufacturer. The odd thing is that I did this same test with 16 different bolt-action rifles with about the same results; three rifles were noisy no matter what I did. But, even if you have a noisy safety on a bolt-action or an AR, odds are a good gunsmith can quiet it down for you without much of an investment.

I checked with one AR maker, and he told me that taking some tension out of the detent spring and polishing some parts will usually solve the problem. For a good AR gunsmith, that's about 30 minutes' work.

One other issue that an AR-type or any other semi-automatic rifle will have is that they are a bit noisy to load. The bolt should be allowed to slam shut when loading the first cartridge to ensure the gun goes into battery. If you hunt with a guide who insists that you chamber a round only when you spot the game, this could be a problem.

But, the pros far outweigh the cons if you ask me. The removable box magazine is a notable convenience. If you are doing a lot of getting in and out of vehicles, such as when calling predators, it makes loading and unloading the rifle simple. For the big-game hunter, an extra loaded magazine in a pocket provides a fast reload. Where it's legal, the ability to use a higher-capacity magazine is helpful, for example, when shooting prairie dogs. If you pre-load a bunch of higher-capacity magazines you will get in a lot more shooting than your buddy who is loading his bolt-action again and again.

The pistol grip design is another advantage for some hunting situations. For example, when calling predators it is a smart policy to keep the rifle up and ready. Sitting with the gun on your knee or on a bi-pod, (which is easy to do with the round fore-ends of AR rifles) and the stock on your shoulder can tire your trigger hand with a conventional stock design. The pistol grip puts the hand in a more natural position and reduces hand fatigue. It may sound trivial here, but after a long day of coyote hunting it is anything but. The pistol grip also provides a handle for an alternative way to carry a shorter-barreled rifle.

Speaking of predator hunting, I have seen some elaborate and odd systems to mount a light on a bolt-action rifle for hunting at night. But, with an AR, you simply attach it to a rail mount. Most AR-type rifles have several locations either with a rail or designed to add a rail. These rails offer lots of options including said flashlight, secondary sighting options, extra ammunition and just about anything else you would wish to attach to the rifle. They also provide the option of quickly switching scopes. More than once I have seen a hunt ruined by a damaged scope. It takes less than a minute to switch to another pre-zeroed scope and you are back in the hunt.

If you are like me and hunt a lot in the north where it's cold during predator hunting season, the adjustable buttstock that is a common option on AR-type rifles is a great addition. With short arms and thick shoulders I find it hard to shoot with a full-length stock and enough clothing to keep me warm in a sub-zero wind. But, by shortening the length of pull with the adjustable stock, things are cool again. (Pun intended.)

Finally, I see two more big reasons to use these rifles for hunting. One is that they are fun. I have always been attracted to guns that are a "little different," and with an AR-style rifle you can be the guy in camp with something on the cutting edge. The second and more serious reason is to make a statement to misguided politicians-who would take these rifles away from us-that they are wrong.

There are no bad guns, only bad people.