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Help me decide on a new hunting rifle.

T

Tumbleweed817

Private
Minuteman
Nov 13, 2023
11
3
Fort Worth
#1
Tired of lugging my heavy ass ar around during deer season. Decided ima pick up one of the Ruger American ranch gen 2.

They all have 16” barrels but I’m stuck on what caliber to go with.

Do I go 6mm arc or 6.5 Grendel

Or neither and opt for 308.

I’m throwing a sandman s on it and would be using it for pigs, yotes and whitetail.

Suggestions and roasting all is welcome and appreciated.
 
#5
Tumbleweed817 said:
Tired of lugging my heavy ass ar around during deer season. Decided ima pick up one of the Ruger American ranch gen 2.

They all have 16” barrels but I’m stuck on what caliber to go with.

Do I go 6mm arc or 6.5 Grendel

Or neither and opt for 308.

I’m throwing a sandman s on it and would be using it for pigs, yotes and whitetail.

Suggestions and roasting all is welcome and appreciated.
Click to expand...
Out of the 6 ARC/6.5G debate... Go 6mm ARC. And this is coming from someone who owns both. Now that you can get heavy 110-115gr heavy 6mm bullets, the 6.5 Grendel has lost even more luster with it's low-BC 123gr 6.5mm bullets.

For deer and whitetails, I would probably recommend going 6.5 Creedmoor, 7mm-08 Rem, or .308 Win.

Also, I would look into something better than the Ruger American. I've had a Ranch 16" .300 BLK for a few years now, and I've upgraded most everything I can on it (Timney trigger, Anarchy Outdoors bolt parts, Magpul stock, AICS .223 mags, JMac Customs KeyMo muzzle brake, etc... So, pretty much everything short of the receiver and barrel...And it shoots pretty good, but it's still a turd...A highly-polished turd, but a turd nonetheless.
 
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#6
I have both an 18" 6.8 SPC, and a 20" 6.5 Grendel. Both have ~ medium weight barrels and come in at about 7.25 pounds without optic...so about a half pound more than the RAR.

I love their adjustability with the carbine stock though. Super fast and you can shoot to your right in heavy clothing without stretching your neck too hard. Add in the ease of installing a three-point sling for treestand hunting and they become a very handy option.
 
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#8
Tumbleweed817 said:
Savage 110 tactical a good alternative?

I didn’t see tikka having a 6mm arc option which is what I’m leaning towards.
Click to expand...
No, Savage is also shit company building Poors rifles. Remember this, you really kind of get what you pay for in this sport. It's kind of like the old cowboy saying... "Good saddles ain't cheap, and cheap saddles ain't good..." Sometimes you stumble into a hidden gem, but for the most part, it's just lucking up and finding something expensive that's on a big discounted sale, so you just pay less for a higher quality product.
 
#9
FuhQ said:
No, Savage is also shit company building Poors rifles. Remember this, you really kind of get what you pay for in this sport. It's kind of like the old cowboy saying... "Good saddles ain't cheap, and cheap saddles ain't good..." Sometimes you stumble into a hidden gem, but for the most part, it's just lucking up and finding something expensive that's on a big discounted sale, so you just pay less for a higher quality product.
Click to expand...
Fml lol,
Spend the money on a 6mm barrel and bolt and swap it out in my 223 sci-20?
 
#10
I will say the howa is probably a much better built/designed action although I don't have a gen2 ruger. I did own a gen1 for a while though.

They have the howa1500 in 16.25" offered in 308 and 6.5 creedmoor. This is with heavy barrels though. If you want lightweight, howa has the 6.5 grenel in 20 or 22" barrels. You'd have to pay to chop it back to 16" but I think you'd still be in on a much better rifle than the ruger.
 
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#11
Choosing a 6mmARC is kinda like fucking yourself dry.
You're limiting yourself to a "mini action" and that's not a wise move.
At least choose something with a short action and then you open up tons of possibilities for future options like rebarreling to something else and the choices become endless with stocks and chassis.
Mini action....not so much.
 
#12
n2ishun said:
Choosing a 6mmARC is kinda like fucking yourself dry.
You're limiting yourself to a "mini action" and that's not a wise move.
At least choose something with a short action and then you open up tons of possibilities for future options like rebarreling to something else and the choices become endless with stocks and chassis.
Mini action....not so much.
Click to expand...
What would you recommend bud?
 
#14
n2ishun said:
Choosing a 6mmARC is kinda like fucking yourself dry.
You're limiting yourself to a "mini action" and that's not a wise move.
At least choose something with a short action and then you open up tons of possibilities for future options like rebarreling to something else and the choices become endless with stocks and chassis.
Mini action....not so much.
Click to expand...
My Christensen MPR 16” 6mm ARC is built on a standard short action, it just has the ARC/Grendel/PPC bolt face, and uses forward feed MDT 6mm ARC AICS mags. Feeds and cycles perfectly fine. So, no, he’s not limited to a mini action, if you use the right components for the build.
 
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#16
If you can swing the pesos, the Sig Cross in .308 is a good option. My Grendel, Black Out and AR10 stay behind these days for deer and pig hunting. Short for shooting out of blinds, 6 1/2 pounds naked, folds up and carries in a backpack and shots sub-MOA all day.
 
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#18
Massive overkill for whitetail. .22-250, .243, 6 arc are perfect whitetail cartridges.

Dude is in texas...you walk your fat ass to a blind and shoot dog sized deer from 50 yards away. Most prs guys just use their match rifles. If you can't kill a deer with a .223, then you have no business hunting anything.
 
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#19
Haven't shot any whitetails, but the Howa mini in 6.5grendel works just fine on blacktails. Thrown in a Stockysstocks VG carbon and its a handy little package. 6arc would do the same as the grendel.

Since your not pushing any of the cartridges you mentioned to the extreme. I don't think any will stand above the rest. So flip a coin and go for it.

I looked at the ruger in grendel before I bought the howa, the howa felt like it was a step above the ruger in quality (subjective).

I would grab a stainless barreled action from brownells.com and a stock from stockysstocks.com and call it a day.
 
#20
^^ hey now…. The shots aren’t usually 50 yards. They are a solid 100 yards. Some stands even stretch to 200 yards- for the marksmen. I’ve actually heard some guys discussing a 200 yard stand and debating if they can shoot that far. Anything 6mm is great. Texas hunting is not great.
 
#21
For deer I wouldn't go bigger than a 6mm of your preferred flavor. And if someone tries to get you to buy a 30 cal + use some dumb bullets like Barnes for deer, don't. That goes double for someone telling you to get a magnum.
 
#22
I can see a valid argument for solid copper bullets. Depending on shot placement and bullet speed. More speed leads to a more blood shot meat and more bullet fragmentation (lead).

Mono metal bullets would limit your exposure to ingesting heavy metals if you're not careful during butchering.
 
#23
Kfive73 said:
^^ hey now…. The shots aren’t usually 50 yards. They are a solid 100 yards. Some stands even stretch to 200 yards- for the marksmen. I’ve actually heard some guys discussing a 200 yard stand and debating if they can shoot that far. Anything 6mm is great. Texas hunting is not great.
Click to expand...
I’ve shot deer at 300-350 yards here in Alabama, and the old timers back at the camp were like, “GD that’s a LONG shot!”

I didn’t have the heart to tell them that it would definitely be a long shot with their 1970’s Rem 760 in .270 or .30-06 with the original 3-9x Redfield, shooting factory Remington Core-Lokt ammo that shoots “minute of paper plate”. But it’s pretty much a “point & click interface” for a custom-built 700 7mm RemMag with German/Austrian glass, and shooting handloads into sub-1/2 minute groups, and a skilled shooter pulling the trigger. 😂
 
#26
DeathBeforeDismount said:
Massive overkill for whitetail. .22-250, .243, 6 arc are perfect whitetail cartridges.

Dude is in texas...you walk your fat ass to a blind and shoot dog sized deer from 50 yards away. Most prs guys just use their match rifles. If you can't kill a deer with a .223, then you have no business hunting anything.
Click to expand...
Ive gotten a few with my Ar in 223 its just heavy af to walk around the property with. And my blind is a solid 75 yards 😅
Prob leaning towards 6 arc from what ive read here.
 
#27
FuhQ said:
My Christensen MPR 16” 6mm ARC is built on a standard short action, it just has the ARC/Grendel/PPC bolt face, and uses forward feed MDT 6mm ARC AICS mags. Feeds and cycles perfectly fine. So, no, he’s not limited to a mini action, if you use the right components for the build.
Click to expand...
I almost had my setup traded for a MPR with glass here local but the dude backed out. If money wasn't an option that's prob what ide go with.
 
#32
I shot a bobcat with a 6.5 PRC 156 Berger 2900 fps at about 10 yards. The scope wouldn’t even focus 🤣🤣🤣
Exit hole was as small and clean as the entry 🤩
 

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#34
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#37
Tumbleweed817 said:
I had thought about this tbh. Mine has a thermal dissipator on it that I could get rid of. I was looking at the proof barrels in 6mm arc but they don't seem to be drastically less weight than the one that's on mine right now.
Click to expand...
How heavy is your AR? Mine with a match service rifle barrel, 1-4.5 scope and a geissele long rail is like 9 pounds.
 
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#39
6.5 Grendel, 120 Nosler BT or Hornady 123gr, lightweight quality 3 - 9 or 4.5 - 14

Kids at the lease been putting deer in the dirt with them for years, build it right and it's easy to tote, even a 9yo can do it.
 
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