Suzanne wrote:

My problem with the AR as a deer rifle is it has so many things to snag on my backpack that it's not too fast or easy to swing up to shoot.

Suz, that is why I used a smooth carbon fiber hand-guard and DPMS upper reciever sans forward assist. Not much to catch on but I miss the ejection port cover when I'm in dusty areas. Weighing 6 lbs san scope and a 16-inch barrel, its very handy. Add a couple of pounds, a longer barrel, and a handguard with rails and its not as fun.

Although it makes for reasonable discussion and valid points have been made I believe the choice of cartridge has already been determined !!!

Personally I too would choose the 30AR over the 6.8 simply for my dislike of anything .277. It simply boils down to personal choice.

Pumpkin, have you gave any thought to using round nose or flat points ???

Chambered, yep. Shots around here would be pretty close anyway. The July 2013 issue of "Rifle" has a load using a 150 grain RN at almost 2500 ft/sec (along with several others). Their loads were developed in a bolt action but could give a starting point (by reducing 10%). I was wondering about the Speer 130 grain FN, designed for the .30-30. The big question would be how they fed in a semiauto. Also the pressure/time curve for function.

now Im really confused???? why a flat nose. if you wanted a 30/30 projectile for the supposed softness/expansion would not the flexitips be a better option???at those velocities a nosler ballistic tip could well be a good option???
one thing for sure in .308 caliber you are spoilt for choice.

The Speer flat nose was designed for 30-30 velocities and is a proven performer as long as the velocity is kept close to that in the 30-30.

Elvis wrote:

now Im really confused????

I was thinking in terms of length restrictions that might come about and the possibility of using a shorter barrel that would result in a loss of velocity !!!

Before I went with the 6.8, I looked at a .300 WSSM that is manufactured by Olympic Arms and Dtech. The issue I ran into there was bullet length and BC. The longer tipped bullets with the better BC wouldn't fit in magazine. The short light bullets or heavier round nose bullets with the low BC in the .2 to .3 range ran out of velocity too fast so were short range. I actually went through Cabela's opening .30-cal boxes and measuring ogive length (can't find the data anymore). Pkslinger, you should be able to get a magazine that lets you load to 2.295 COAL. You can also modify them by putting a grove in the front of the mag to let the tip stick out. The 30AR case is 1.53" long and the 6.8 is 1.675". I can load 130gr bullets through the mag if they don't come with ballistic tips. You may have a similar situation with some bullets but it is good that the 30AR case is about 0.15 inches shorter.

If you want to shoot flat nose, how about the .450 Bushmaster "Thumper" or the .458 Socal. Now there is some muzzle energy.

My bad, forgot, .30-cal bullets.

"Rifle" magazine has a special AR edition for Fall 2013 that has articles and loads for several of the cartridges suitable for ARs.

Pkslinger, I checked on-line but couldn't find it. Did you get it at a newstand?

I subscribe. I didn't see it on their website yet either.

Thanks, Pkslinger. I'll have to look for it on the shelf. Don't through your copy away!

Seems like Accurate has done the most load development for the 30 RAR. Here was an interesting article that listed some load data. It included AA2200, a double-based powder,1 which is one of the powders most use in the 6.8 because it works well with a wide range of bullet weights and achieves higher velocities with lower pressures. Impressive velocities with the 130gr TSX.

I know you like the heavy round-nose bullets for when those pesky trees get in the way, but I'd take the pointed higher velocity bullets in this situation. With a case length of 1.53", I think you will have plenty of room for them.

Where are you gonna find parts to build with? or you already have most of what you need?

Remington says they'll be making more toward the end of the year. DPMS used to make them too but I haven't heard back from my email to them yet. At this point, if I got one, I'd just buy a complete upper. This gun isn't real high on my priority list these days.