MSR for Deer

[Willard]

Recently taking up old hobbies I'd relegated to later on for decades for various reasons. Was thinking Browning BAR Safari vs Benelli R1 for deer in south eastern US. But then thought why not just get an MSR and have something that can cover multiple situations, esp with current world events?

Any recommendations for an MSR that could cover deer and be good for other purposes as well? Any reasons I should just get one of the two above and forget the MSR thing? I am not looking at buying a La Rue for $4K, but if I am closing in on $1.5K for Benelli or BAR, willing to put a bit more to it if needed for additional functionality. Thanks.

[Suvorov]

Recently taking up old hobbies I'd relegated to later on for decades for various reasons. Was thinking Browning BAR Safari vs Benelli R1 for deer in south eastern US. But then thought why not just get an MSR and have something that can cover multiple situations, esp with current world events?

Any recommendations for an MSR that could cover deer and be good for other purposes as well? Any reasons I should just get one of the two above and forget the MSR thing? I am not looking at buying a La Rue for $4K, but if I am closing in on $1.5K for Benelli or BAR, willing to put a bit more to it if needed for additional functionality. Thanks.

If I was looking at an AR platform rifle to hunt medium game with, the new Ruger SFAR would be my first stop.

[pangloss]

I shot a doe with a 5.56 last season and was underwhelmed. Consequently, if I were setting up a hunting MSR, I'd look carefully at the 6mm ARC. I think Geissele makes 6ARC uppers now, but they are pricey.

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[Paul D]

I am looking to replace my Aero M5 with a Sig 716i Tread. I tried it out at the range. It is nice. Trigger is good and the accuracy is way better than the Aero. It is $1500 everywhere online. Its downside compared to the BAR and the R1 is its weight. Like all AR10, it weighs in about 8.5 lbs which is at least 1 lb heavier than the BAR and R1. (The Ruger SFAR is 6.1 lbs but I have never seen it in person) If you are hunting from a stand or a blind, I guess the weight won't matter. The R1 would be great for stalking at 7.1 lbs.

[Duelist]

I have a 16” 6.8 SPCII with a carbon fiber tube that I built for my kid to learn to hunt with when he couldn’t hold up a regular bolt action .243 long enough to take a shot. It weighs like 6.5 pounds with the scope.

I carried it one day at the end of last season, and it was quite a nice thing to have the shorter barrel and lighter weight to haul around. Inside of 300 yards, where most deer are shot anyway, it should do fine. I hunted with my M70 FTWT .270 the rest of the season, but since the only buck my brother and I saw was a little spike hiding in someone’s back yard, it really didn’t make any difference what I was carrying.

[rd62]

I think I would also look at the Ruger SFAR.

[GJM]

.300 HAMR is worth a look.

https://www.wilsoncombat.com/ar-calibers/300-hamr/

[Tannhauser]

An AR in 6.8 SPC or 6.5 Grendel is a great answer. Lots of internet arguments over which caliber is better. At typical Eastern hunting distances, any performance difference is irrelevant in a practical sense. The deer certainly won’t know the difference.

I started hunting deer in Virginia with a 6.8 SPC upper as VA does not allow rifles below .230 caliber for deer. I’ve killed multiple deer with 6.8 SOC carbines.

[Rick R]

.300 HAMR is worth a look.

https://www.wilsoncombat.com/ar-calibers/300-hamr/

I built my own HAM’R last year and used it to take a nice 8 point at 50ish yards. One round, saw the bullet hit thru the scope, found the deer 30 yards or so from where he was hit. 130gr HotCore destroyed all the plumbing over the heart and both lungs.

The nice thing about an MSR is you can have your deer slayer upper with a matching HD/SD/practice upper in 5.56 and shoot relatively cheap 5.56 most of the year until time for deer season tune up.

[HCM]

Recently taking up old hobbies I'd relegated to later on for decades for various reasons. Was thinking Browning BAR Safari vs Benelli R1 for deer in south eastern US. But then thought why not just get an MSR and have something that can cover multiple situations, esp with current world events?

Any recommendations for an MSR that could cover deer and be good for other purposes as well? Any reasons I should just get one of the two above and forget the MSR thing? I am not looking at buying a La Rue for $4K, but if I am closing in on $1.5K for Benelli or BAR, willing to put a bit more to it if needed for additional functionality. Thanks.

Does your state / potential hunting location states allow 5.56 for deer ?

If yes, 5.56. proper ammo selection and picking your shots will work.

If not, MSRs in 300 Blk with supers and 7.62x39 mimic the ballistics of 30-30 which has take a lot of deer over the years. 6.8 SPC is an excellent medium game round as well.