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Varmint Hunting With The AR-15 Type Rifle - Part I |
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Which brings up problem number two with the AR-15 and its dislike for some types of 223 Remington ammunition. This was a ringing theme song all through my evaluation of the AR-15 rifle. Believe me, when you turn to the AR-15 as a varmint rifle you need to know that your rifle will accept all types of plastic tip and hollow-point bullets. If not, you have a real problem on your hands. During testing I found that several models didn’t like steel case jacketed cartridges at all. Even Black Hills 60-grain V-Max bullets, my “go to” rounds for coyotes, just would not feed much of the time in one test rifle. The same problems surfaced with at least one other AR-15, even with tried and true Winchester JHP loads in the 40-pack white box. When shot, these bullets sometimes would simply push into the case and turn into junk, causing a major jam at the same time.
Half-breed modified rifle, adjustable stock, dot quick sights (A.C.O.G.), but heavy long-range barrel. Build them how you want them is the rule for the AR-15.
Why are all these finicky ammunition problems surfacing? Because, in my opinion, the AR-15 has been moved up into the level of a more accurate rifle of late, and with that change these finely tuned autos have developed major likes and dislikes for certain loads. When the older AR-15 was just a “blammo ammo” gun used for plinking at targets of opportunity, a sloppy group might have been all right, but today hunters want minute of angle or better from their varmint shooting equipment. To reach that accuracy level these guns needed to be tightened up a whole lot, which has created some problems. Some manuals say that “mixing of ammunition” is not advised. Sorry, folks, but again the M1 basic action on the Ruger Mini 14, or Mini 30, can eat anything stacked in the magazine back to back. If the cartridge is a factory load and of a correct type, the gun should accept it without any problems. If not, it is back to the drawing board, in my opinion. As for the AR-15 being able to get it done, you bet it can. Some brands and models have a flawless track record with a wide range of loads (Les Baer’s AR-15 and, a close second, the M&P 15 by Smith & Wesson, to list a couple of fine examples). If you buy an AR-15 and it won’t produce good results with a variety of loads, by all means send it back. These guns are far from low budget items, and, in fact, expensive enough that proper function is a must requirement at all levels.
With the vast number of receivers being made for the AR-15 type rifles today, and all the brands that are associated with them, taking the time to get a good handle on the manufacturer’s track record when selecting a new AR-15 is a good idea as well. I can’t say these are trouble-free systems, but I can tell you that when you get a system that functions, the AR-15/M-16 is simply a joy to shoot.
Add on Parts
With the AR-15 being one of the most decorated rifle systems in use today, the addition of extra hardware to a basic rifle is an area that makes the aftermarket business quite brisk. Extra mounting rails, special stock configurations, add-on sighting systems, and loads of detailed small parts make these rifles almost a firearms category unto themselves. No other rifle I can think of can come close to the extra parts available that can be added to an AR-15.
Several companies offer vast numbers of add-on parts for these rifles. Among them are the folks at Bushmaster and also Rock River Arms Inc. These companies can outfit the AR-15 with every known type of attachment, or offer guns designed for tight river bottom calling stands or open field varmint hunting. Take your pick.
Other parts outfits include GG&G Urban Warrior Products, A.R.M.S. Inc., (throw levers and scope parts), Wilson Combat, DPMS Panther Arms, POF USA, and Buffer Technologies. In terms of what I have covered here, be advised that the outfits I have mentioned just barely scratch the surface when reviewing AR-15 aftermarket and complete gun platform systems.
You can become overburdened with extra junk hanging on your AR-15. As I reviewed material for this piece I covered some ground with professional training instructors who indicated quite often new shooters come to the civilian components of the training course with all kinds of added stuff tacked onto their rifles. After about two hours of working with these rifles there is quite a pile of stripped-off stuff sitting by the trainee’s pack sack. I have to say that the more I work with the AR-15 type rifles the better I like a rather short, stripped down model for actual field work. Lightweight, fast handling, with quick target acquisition sights. Why? Because I don’t believe the AR-15 has much of a place when I am taking on long-range coyotes on the wide open snow-covered rangelands of west-central South Dakota. However, with shorter ranges in a Midwestern woodland state, or even hunting the tight canyons and brush-choked creek bottoms of the American West and, yes, these lead slingers are a real asset to a song dog hunter.
Custom Chamberings - and Other Cartridges
When Doug Tweed, V.H.A. member from North Dakota, explained to me that he was getting some outstanding results shooting his custom-built AR-15 chambered in 25 WSSM, I about fell off my chair at dinner during the 2007 Varmint Hunters Association Jamboree. Doug, as well as his friend Dennis Kari in South Dakota, who shoots the AR-15 in 223 WSSM, indicated that because of the autoloading system of the AR-15 design, the old problem associated with having to lift and operate a bolt action in WSSM cartridges just goes away. In Doug’s words regarding the hot 25, “It’s like having a 25-06 in a Super Short and chambered in a very accurate autoloading action.” As for the 223 WSSM, it is a 220 Swift all wrapped up in the AR-15 platform.
Doug told me that the builder of his rifle, Mike Milli, runs an outfit in Bemidji, Minnesota, under the name Dedicated Technology. The AR-15 built by this outfit in 25 WSSM is trouble-free, and groups from half an inch to 1 inch center-to-center. Doug did say that in 223 WSSM, if shot three rounds back to back, the chamber will get darned hot and require some cool down time. I figure that if you don’t get that ’yote in three shots he is free to run anyway.
Other cartridges also are in the mix of heavy hitting systems on the AR-15. Take the 450 Marlin or 450 Bushmaster, for example. Here you have a dedicated Texas hog killer of the first order on the AR-15 platform. Move to the new (and possibly U.S. military adopted) 6.8 Rem. SPC, and 308 (7.62 NATO) in the AR-10 platform, or the new varmint 204 Ruger, and again the ballistics change in new directions on the AR-15 gun system. Even the little 22 LR gets a place in Bushmaster’s offerings, and that’s great news for a market that is running low on ammo and getting higher in price of late.
Here the author is shooting the M&P 15 from sticks. This lightweight rifle is fast to point and set up for calling situations.
One new test gun that I will be reviewing later on will be a special AR-15 built for Federal Cartridge ATK by DPMS that makes use of the new 338 Federal round. Talk about a blockbuster brush cartridge! I killed, with one shot, a trophy class 281/2" spread mule deer last year at 356 yards using the 338 Federal cartridge. With that round chambered in a 20-round magazine black rifle, the firepower is extremely high and the gun’s flexibility is without question.
I will acknowledge that while there were years when I said that the AR-15/M-16 type rifle had little place in my gun rack, I will say now that after getting involved with these military-based autoloading gun systems I have been somewhat swayed. Now I am entertaining the thought of owning a personal rifle or two of my own in this platform design.
I can assure readers that we have not seen anything even near the end of AR-15 development as applied to the sporting firearms market. As other additions to this subject unfold, I will review at least one more new AR-15 gun system with a name that, at the time of this writing, still is classified within the industry. For now, the safest statement I can make about the whole AR-15 market is to simply review the details regarding these firearms offered for sale and pay attention to who is building the rifles’ uppers and lowers. Learn what kind of added service an individual company offers a shooter in terms of “after the purchase” assistance, and how well do these companies back their products. As a final note, always take your time and do some research when buying an AR-15, because there is a great deal of product out there to choose from these days.
*Copyright notice: Be advised that the trade name AR-15 is a copyright brand of Colt Firearms. All references to AR-15 by this writer are made for basic rifle systems identification purposes only. No reference to Colt AR-15™ is made or implied.
CONTACTS
DPMS Inc. Panther Arms
3312 12th Street SE
St. Cloud, MN 56304
(800) 553-1028 • www.dpmsinc.com
Smith & Wesson
2100 Roosevelt Avenue
Springfield, MA 01104
(800) 331-0852 • www.smith-wesson.com
Rock River Arms Inc.
1042 Cleveland Road
Colona, IL 61241
(309) 792-5780 • www.rockriverarms.com
Bushmaster Firearms Int. LLC
PO Box 1479
Windham, ME 04062
(800) 998-7928 • www.bushmaster.com
Badger Ordnance
1209 Swift Street
North Kansas City, MO 64116
(816) 421-4956 • www.badgerordnance.com
GG&G
3602 East 42nd Stravenue
Tucson, AZ 85713
(800) 380-2540 • www.gggaz.com
A.R.M.S. Inc.
230 West Center Street
West Bridgewater, MA 02379
(508) 584-7816 • www.armsmounts.com
Wilson Combat
2234 County Road, Ste. 719
Berryville, AR 72616
(870) 545-3618 • www.wilsoncombat.com
Patriot Ordnance Factory
23623 North 67 Ave.
Glendale, AZ 85310
(623) 561-9572 • www.pof-usa.com
Buffer Technologies
PO Box 105047
Jefferson City, MO 65110
(877) 628-3337 • www.buffertech.com
Dedicated Technology
PO Box 1612
Bemidji, MN 56619
(218) 444-7419 • www.dtechsuperstore.com
The VARMINT HUNTER Magazine®, a 208-page publication put together for shooters by shooters. Varmint Hunters Association, Inc. hosts several 600-yard IBS matches, a coyote calling contest, and an annual Jamboree in Fort Pierre, SD. The Jamboree is a week-long shooting event known as ‘a summer camp for shooters’.
Join the discussion of this article with the author HERE at the Article Discussion Forum.
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