Hunting & Fishing Using a 308 AR for elk, deer, speed goats, etc, this year

[Skg_Mre_Lght]

I decided to use a 308 AR (unfinished) to hunt everything with this year.

I won't be using a 308 for elk again this year (2014), as I consider it a little too light for anything over a couple of hundred yards. He took 2 shots to the heart, then trotted for another few hundred yards, then stumbled.

Anyway, enjoy.


Elk camp:












This years elk, with an AAR:




Two shots, 326 lased yards:





Recovered 165 SGK





Here is my little Muley....I hadn't seen any shooters, and this was the last day of season, he was taken with one shot at 570 yards.




Here is my little Whitetail, was a fun hunt, though:




Here is the finished rifle:

 

[Accusource8541]

Your rifle looks great! Nice paint/Cerakote job too. Looks like it might be pretty heavy for lugging around the mountains.

 

[Skg_Mre_Lght]

Your rifle looks great! Nice paint/Cerakote job too. Looks like it might be pretty heavy for lugging around the mountains.

Thanks, I just Cerakoted it two weeks ago when the rail finally showed up.

It really isn't too bad, the Vtac distributes the weight pretty well, but it is still a pig.

I am planning on building a 338 Federal in a lighter weight configuration for wapiti.

 

[coldboremiracle]

I see no reason not to keep doing what your doing.

 

[Idaho Savage]

Dumb question: Why shoot a light bullet for elk? Forgive me as I don't know much about AR's but are you limited to lighter grain bullets with them? I'd use at least a 180 if not a 200 on elk.

 

[45.308]

While I have never shot an elk I would use a 308 and never feel under headstamped. I would use a light weight turn bolt with 180grs but as long as it goes bang, the bullet hits the kill spot, the animal will tip over as headstamp means nothing to game, only the kill zone.

Good job taking the two boys along.

Nice rig, a little too nice to tote for hunting

 

[jonthomps]

GREAT pictures! The scenery is spectacular. (Rifle ain't bad either!)

 

[Tx_Flyboy]

skg_Mre_Lght,

Nice to see someone else is also rocking a 20" 308AR for a hunting rig.

Your last build needs a new/different stock...an ace skeleton stock, new Magpul Rifle length, or oldie but goodie A2 stock. That'll help you loose about at least 0.5lbs from the rear.

I picked up another AR...in 30-06 to get more ass in the gun...the goal is to get 178AMAX around 2,800ft/s-2,850ft/s as my go to load.

 

[ahhshoot]

OP - Where is 'elk camp?' It looks amazing.

 

[judgedelta]

Really nice elk. Your OP was right on. If you're not shooting through, you need to send a little more bullet and velocity, maybe?

 

[coldboremiracle]

you need to send a little more bullet and velocity, maybe?

Nah, there is nothing wrong with what he's doing. The 308 shooting anything over 150's should do just fine on elk. It was probably just a fluke.

 

[Rediculous]

Really nice elk. Your OP was right on. If you're not shooting through, you need to send a little more bullet and velocity, maybe?

Shooting through only means that your round is not imparting all of it's energy into the target.

 

[HOOFER]

Not to hijack but what is the general consensus on cerakoting optics. I see it fairly often but have a few questions Does it last about as well as on the action? Don't they have to bake it a lower temp?

 

[Cascade_Sherpa]

Great pics, looks like a spectacular season! I'm with coldboremiracle on this one, your system looks to be working well. Kuddos on getting your sons involved in the hunt, I can't wait until my boys are able to come up to elk camp with me.

Last season was my first season carrying an 18.5" barreled AR rifle in .308. I got some funny looks at the trailheads from the old school Elmer Fudds when I'd insert my 20 round mag and rack the slide but I never felt under gunned or that j didn't have enough horsepower to tip an elk over. The little raghorn I shot with a 168 grain hollow point never new what hit him. Dead within 30 yards.

 

[Skg_Mre_Lght]

OP - Where is 'elk camp?' It looks amazing.

That is down in the Snowy Range, just west of Laramie. We alternate between that, and the Bighorns.

While I have never shot an elk I would use a 308 and never feel under headstamped. I would use a light weight turn bolt with 180grs but as long as it goes bang, the bullet hits the kill spot, the animal will tip over as headstamp means nothing to game, only the kill zone.

Good job taking the two boys along.

Nice rig, a little too nice to tote for hunting

Those guys are like my shadow when I am out in the woods. lol

I know animals do not care about headstamps, but they care about terminal performance. As you can see in the picture, the bullet was about in the middle of it's performance envelope at 326 yards. I know that the temporary stretch cavity matters when killing, and there are other cartridges that offer much more than the .308. To be fair, I have seen a few elk take solid shots from .300 Weatherby Mags, 7mm Mags, etc, and keep running. I was just not impressed with the .308's performance at that distance.

Not to hijack but what is the general consensus on cerakoting optics. I see it fairly often but have a few questions Does it last about as well as on the action? Don't they have to bake it a lower temp?

We used the Air Cure (the weird thing about this stuff is the Ammonia Smell, and it is rated for high heat applications, unlike the oven cure stuff). It takes two weeks to fully cure, and works great for stuff like optics that you shouldn't bake.

 

[Skg_Mre_Lght]

Great pics, looks like a spectacular season! I'm with coldboremiracle on this one, your system looks to be working well. Kuddos on getting your sons involved in the hunt, I can't wait until my boys are able to come up to elk camp with me.

Last season was my first season carrying an 18.5" barreled AR rifle in .308. I got some funny looks at the trailheads from the old school Elmer Fudds when I'd insert my 20 round mag and rack the slide but I never felt under gunned or that j didn't have enough horsepower to tip an elk over. The little raghorn I shot with a 168 grain hollow point never new what hit him. Dead within 30 yards.

The only people that gave me a weird look were the Out-of-State hunters (Most of them are from Wisconsin and Minnesota around here (for some reason)). I imagine I looked somewhat scary with my winter Kevlar beard going at full steam, Army Veteran plates, and a brown 308 AR. HAHAHA!

Most of those guys didn't say a whole lot, waited for me to walk away, then walked in the other direction.

 

[powdahound76]

Great elk and a helluva an area. Thats my go to place so I can get away from the morons who Invade my commie state to the south all the damn time (including many who live here).
I am for sure no expert but have you thought about some different bullets? I have had great success with hornady sst (150 and 165 gr) and nosler partitions. Also have thought of moving to the barnes ttsx as they have good penetration and weight retention as well as a bit betternBC Someone just did a decent test,
probably that von Benedikt..... Oh wait he says the .308 is useless for hunting any big game....
I like the .308 for hunting. Very handy, lighter kick than the LA cartridges for my pansy ass, and you can find good commercial hunting ammo for those that prefer it. I like it so much I picked up a T3 lite in .308 a couple months ago.
Awesome getting your boys out there. Too many kids, even when i was growing up, were passing up hunting for a video game. Hoping my daughter will remain enough of a daddy's girl to want to go hunting.

 

[Skg_Mre_Lght]

Great elk and a helluva an area. Thats my go to place so I can get away from the morons who Invade my commie state to the south all the damn time (including many who live here).
I am for sure no expert but have you thought about some different bullets? I have had great success with hornady sst (150 and 165 gr) and nosler partitions. Also have thought of moving to the barnes ttsx as they have good penetration and weight retention as well as a bit betternBC Someone just did a decent test,
probably that von Benedikt..... Oh wait he says the .308 is useless for hunting any big game....
I like the .308 for hunting. Very handy, lighter kick than the LA cartridges for my pansy ass, and you can find good commercial hunting ammo for those that prefer it. I like it so much I picked up a T3 lite in .308 a couple months ago.
Awesome getting your boys out there. Too many kids, even when i was growing up, were passing up hunting for a video game. Hoping my daughter will remain enough of a daddy's girl to want to go hunting.

I can't say that I could have chosen a better bullet. I don't believe I needed better penetration of a TSX, Accubond, GMX, etc. As you can see, I got plenty of penetration (the bullet was found between the hide and the rib cage), but I don't thin there was enough energy there to drop him. This is backed up by the fact that the bullet shows little expansion, even having passed through both sides of the ribs.

 

[powdahound76]

Guess I didnt say everything i was thinking. I was thinking more of the expansion and energy dump of those other bullets I mentioned, not just the penetration.
Just act like so many and shoot for both shoulders! DRT as they love to say. They love to claim the meat loss to bullet damage is minimal. I try my darndest to keep out of the shoulders.
I love the '06 too and have one just in case i ever decide I want more.