I think I’ve finally hit on the magic combination for actually KEEPING an AR15. I’ve bought, sold, built, borrowed and hunted with AR15’s for over 10 years. During that time I’ve put up with them hanging up on every stinking thing that I wear, walk through or sometimes even just stand near. I’ve cursed the improper fit (for me) of most of them, and general uncomfortable feel compared to my beloved bolt action rifles. However, those reasons were never really the overriding factor for me deciding that I just didn’t want to hunt with an AR. It’s the caliber. Jeff Cooper called the black rifle a ‘mouse gun’. As far as I’m concerned, he was right, and my thought process was ‘why am I putting up with these shortcomings for a rifle that I don’t feel confident shooting anything larger than coyotes with’? The venerable .223/5.56 will certainly kill pigs and deer, but the limitations of the cartridge make me feel that it is inadequate as a hunting round for the animals I pursue in north Texas.
For many years I’ve hunted with bolt action rifles of various calibers. I have a ‘blueprint’, so to speak, that all my bolt action rifles fit: good triggers, stainless/all weather materials, exact scope height and placement on the receiver, as well as accuracy enhancing stock treatments such as free floating or glass bedding. My rifles handle smoothly, are accurate from either offhand or shooting sticks, and I can bring them to bear ‘lightning quick’ even when slung on my shoulder. Take that you clumsy AR’s..
But I still had ‘that itch’
Shooting semi-automatic rifles is fun! Being able to fire another round to almost the same point of aim without having to take the rifle off your target, or your hand off the trigger in order to cycle a bolt, is also very good when you may want to shoot more than one pig. Pigs can go from standing still to Mach 5 at the sound of a gunshot, and if you’re not fast, you’ll never get a second shot, whether needed for follow up or another target. I’m pretty decent with my bolt actions but I can’t hold a candle to the speed of an AR15!
So here comes my buddy Glenn with his new AR15, custom built, in 6.8SPC. Now I had read about that cartridge and it sounded like just what the AR15 needed to work well in a field full of variety. I used Glenn’s a few times and even killed a couple pigs with it. I begrudgingly gave it a rating of ‘fun, lethal and fast’-that being the overall package of cartridge and rifle. Still the AR just wasn’t getting me excited as a hunting platform. Of course, Glenn was stacking critters up with his and keeping me abreast of his success as good friends always do. ‘Wow. That thing sure seems to be working for him’ kept rolling around in my head. So I set to the task. I knew it would happen and this time I would be prepared when black rifle fever fully took hold of my OCD induced over analysis and ‘I want-it-itis’!
Going to the dark side
Everybody else saw it coming before I did. Well, I saw it coming but just didn’t want to admit it. I had spent some time badmouthing the AR platform for all it’s damnable traits, and yet here I was waiting my turn to dance with the devil. I felt like a sellout.
So, before I came to my senses, I ordered an AR15 parts catalog from Brownell’s. Man, those parts sure were sexy sitting there on that page. Just THINK how cool my AR would be if I had THAT flip up sight and this free float hand guard. Oh LOOK, they even have dust covers that can be engraved with logos! You could get match grade widgets and battle worthy gadgets…but WAIT! Stop the OCD. I knew what I needed, the criteria was easy enough! Hunting! Not zombies, not showing off at the range-just hunting. I wanted to carry the rifle in the field without hassle and getting so mad with it that I wanted to throw it in the nearest pond, plus being able to bring the rifle quickly to bear without ripping my shirt off in the process. Ok, I can focus, really, I can. The solution (configuration) was so easy it almost made me laugh. Instead of a rifle festooned with widgets and flip up devices everywhere, rails on every possible surface to grate against me, and weighing in like the sumo wrestler of hunting rifles, all I needed was a basic service rifle. An Eotech sight with flip away magnifier, a place to mount a light, a decent trigger, 6.8SPC caliber and viola-the little black rifle that could!! No wonder I never saw it coming-it’s too simple!
So now what?
So far I’ve only killed two pigs with my little 6.8. I know the limitations of the cartridge, my limitations, the rifle’s limitations, and I also know that this one rifle will serve me for whatever game I typically pursue. And you know what else? I haven’t wanted to toss this one into a pond! That’s because my rifle was thought out by me from the beginning to be hassle free, match my ergonomic requirements and is topped with a sighting system that has the speed and ease of target acquisition that, as far as I’m concerned, cannot be matched by anything else. If pigs were scared before, they ought to be terrified now!
