AR-15 hunting rifle idea

[johnbearross]

I appreciate the response, and your time, sir.

Best,
JBR

[champ150]

just buy a 25 WSSM upper

[Hoot]

I have a Gamestalker upper in .300 OSSM that throws 150-180gr pills at .30-06 velocities and fits an AR15 (such as your 450 Bushmaster) lower. It currently has 126 rounds through it, 48 of which were a proper "Ed Brown" break-in. If I can line up a deal on a similarly used LR-308 with the 24" bull barrel, I will be listing it, along with Hornady Custom dies, brass, shell holders and one box of 150gr commercial ammo made by HSM in the Marketplace forum some time in the near future, in case anyone is interested. Almost forgot. I also had the muzzle threaded and a Miculek style brake fitted for it.

Despite having a 22 inch SS barrel, it's slightly lighter than my 450 Bushmaster upper, which makes toting it hunting slightly easier.

Hoot

[Jim in Houston]

Has anyone seen a comparison of larger caliber rifles built on the AR15 platform? I have emailed Gun Tests magazine a couple of times to see if they would do a comparison of several "readily" available models, but so far no response.

[Hoot]

Personally, I'd like to see a .44 caliber thumpette based upon a .308 case cut off at the shoulder. Brass would be abundant and would not cost $1.00 each, which pretty much guarantees no manufacturer would consider it. On second thought, they could modify the .308 case such that if you wanted to make your own from surplus .308 cases you'd have to buy reamers and perform tedious touch labor to recreate it.

EDIT: The .308 case diameter where the shoulder starts is the same as the .444 marlin (.453) so seating a .44 caliber (.429) bullet has already been demonstrated. It wouldn't hold as much powder as the .444 Marlin since the case would only be 1.56" long as opposed to 2.25, but still a lot more than the .44 Magnum at 1.28".

Hoot

Well it's out there in the form of the "44 Claymore". A fellow over on beyond556.com has produced a couple. He has successfully modded a couple of .223 mags, but the problem is not spewing out the entire mag worth of cartridges. More like the occasional FTF. Otherwise, it tosses a 240gr .429 bullet loaded down right now to 2200 fps, with room for more powder. Uses readily available .308 Brass trimmed to 1.555 with no other PITA mods needed.. and a 7.62x39 bolt. Uses Lil Gun, H110, W296 class of powders and large rifle primer.

Here's a link to a youtube video of his neighbor shooting a round. IMHO, it needs a longer barrel...

Here's his best 3-shot 200 yard group:





Hoot

[BillytheKid]

Here is a link to CalGuns.net where a manufacturer is taking a poll if folks would want a .308 upper for the AR-15:

http://www.calguns.net/calgunforum/show ... p?t=438323

After reading his description of how it would use the gas system to side eject, and then just hold the bolt open for you, I think this is the wrong direction. One could just buy a complete bolt action rifle.

The real answer is to design a semi-auto upper in .308 for the AR-15.

The empty .308 brass should fit through the standard AR-15 magazine well. A design that uses the magazine well as a downward ejection port, and is magazine fed from the side like the old Sten gun should allow a true semi-auto .308 upper for the AR-15.

Your thoughts?
Bill

[commander faschisto]

Just a random thought here (the kind I have most often..): Why not just go with a 6.5 Grendel upper? Ballistically, it equals and/or exceeds the .308 all the way out to 600 meters.

[BillytheKid]

Just a random thought here (the kind I have most often..): Why not just go with a 6.5 Grendel upper? Ballistically, it equals and/or exceeds the .308 all the way out to 600 meters.

Great question, and I was all over the 6.5G idea for awhile. But when you get past the hype, and read deeper in the blogs, it turns out that a small anount of wind is a huge factor at distance. Where as the .308 appears to not be affected nearly as much as the 6.5G round.

Then, of course, factor in the low cost of surplus ammo, and the .308 round wins. The design I am thinking of isn't new, and shouldn't be so difficult to make. And, being the first .308 semi-auto upper for the AR-15, I believe it would sell!

Just trying to think outside the box here.

Bill

[commander faschisto]

I thought you were trying to "think outside the upper"...

My bio-computer's memory file on this has been corrupted, but I'm sure I've seen one or two instances of the mag well being used as an ejection slot for some nonstandard calibers, just can't quite put the details together at this point. So, your overall concept has been made to work, at least.

First thing to go is your memory, and danged if I can remember the second one now...

[Jim in Houston]

Don't know if this belongs here or not, but on Wednesday night, 9 pm EST on the Discovery Channel, Sons of Guns will reinvent the Bushmaster 450 without all of the compatibility aspects of the Bushmaster. Per the channel notes, "Will and the RJ crew create a muscled up, silenced, night stalking AR to take down the wild hogs that are tearing up Louisiana farm land."

Can't wait.